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The England Thread

Riandor

COB Founder
May 26, 2004
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I'm not even certain about Walker or Sterling. Trippier might get the nod because of his set piece delivery and Sterling hasn't looked good for England for a while.
Yeah, Sterling, Lallana, Dele doesn't work for me either. Too much selfishness and not enough passing.

Both Lallana and Sterling like to get their heads down and run, which for me negates the point of the wing backs. Fine-ish if you want full backs, but with Rose and Walker (or Trippier), you want canny creative players in that 3 behind the striker, ones who can also strike from distance, play passes through the opposition back line or dribble. Players who can look for and fill the space.

Adding Sterling to that line up stretches us too much. Our pace becomes our weakness as we will be too direct, too one dimensional and leave too many gaps for the opposition to counter into.
 

tiger666

Large Member
Jan 4, 2005
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I'm not even certain about Walker or Sterling. Trippier might get the nod because of his set piece delivery and Sterling hasn't looked good for England for a while.

Sterling has to be in after the season he's having, England form or not.
 

panoma

Well-Known Member
Jan 16, 2012
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Unless Sterling's form plummet in the second half of the season he have to start. Seems another player so far this season. Should reward the English lads that stand out in a very competetive league.
 

Marty

Audere est farce
Mar 10, 2005
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The biggest issue with that Daily Fail starting 11 is Hart.
He is a liability at the moment and should be dropped to the bench in favour of someone like Pickford.
I hope Adrian edges Hart out of the WHAM side. If he's not playing then hopefully he won't go to Russia, but he'll probably go and start anyway knowing Southgate.

It really should be Butland (if fit) or Pickford. Interesting to follow the latter under Allardyce for the rest of this season, with probably a better organised defence in front of him.
 

Riandor

COB Founder
May 26, 2004
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Sterling has to be in after the season he's having, England form or not.

Unless Sterling's form plummet in the second half of the season he have to start. Seems another player so far this season. Should reward the English lads that stand out in a very competetive league.

Then Lallana has to be dropped (which I am fine with btw...), especially as Lallana has been out so long injured. That said, it should be about player synergy. Does Sterling play nice with Rose, Winks, Dele, Kane, i.e. the payers around him in that advanced position?

His previous form with England suggests not, but I would definitely have him in the squad and loking to see if that can't be remedied prior to the WC. Lallana similarly needs to learn to pass to Dele or Kane more than he does, as he is equally guilty (so far) of wanting to do all the goal scoring himself.

The question for me is more Winks as the third player behind the striker? Or as a replacement for the very mediocre Henderson?
 

panoma

Well-Known Member
Jan 16, 2012
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Then Lallana has to be dropped (which I am fine with btw...), especially as Lallana has been out so long injured. That said, it should be about player synergy. Does Sterling play nice with Rose, Winks, Dele, Kane, i.e. the payers around him in that advanced position?

His previous form with England suggests not, but I would definitely have him in the squad and loking to see if that can't be remedied prior to the WC. Lallana similarly needs to learn to pass to Dele or Kane more than he does, as he is equally guilty (so far) of wanting to do all the goal scoring himself.

The question for me is more Winks as the third player behind the striker? Or as a replacement for the very mediocre Henderson?

First dele, winks and rose have to do enough to get a spot though. That was the point of this, that so far this season only Walker, Sterling and Kane deserve to start based on what they have done.

I would love a team full of Spurs, but handing out starting spots based on reputation is one of the reasons England often struggle. I do believe Southgate will pick the players that have great seasons, as he should. And so far that is kane and sterling in advanced positions. Certainly over Alli ( so far)
 

WiganSpur

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
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There's certainly a case for Sterling over Alli with the way both are playing at the moment. All could change by the WC though.
 

Riandor

COB Founder
May 26, 2004
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First dele, winks and rose have to do enough to get a spot though. That was the point of this, that so far this season only Walker, Sterling and Kane deserve to start based on what they have done.

I would love a team full of Spurs, but handing out starting spots based on reputation is one of the reasons England often struggle. I do believe Southgate will pick the players that have great seasons, as he should. And so far that is kane and sterling in advanced positions. Certainly over Alli ( so far)

There's certainly a case for Sterling over Alli with the way both are playing at the moment. All could change by the WC though.

Raheem Sterling plays from wide positions and yes, has been excellent for CIty, so deserves a call up to the squad, but beyond that... it depends on how other personell fit in and in what formation.

I would say England have struggled not just because they have picked on reputation over form, but because they have defined their shape and style based on reputation and not on tactics. It's about natural fits and sometimes that might mean sacrificing a player for the sake of a better team set-up.

The Daily Mail article was the team Southgate apparently "ideally" wants to play, i.e. assuming everyone is fit and in form. My point to the whole thing is you cannot JUST pick on form, or frankly we could leave most of our defenders at home and just play 1-2-7 formation.

Germany didn't pick on form, not just. They did it based upon an identified formation, played through the youth up to the first team, with a team ethic where players knew their roles and played well together. As just one example, Miroslav Klose scored 8 goals for Lazio in the 2013-2014 season, but Löw trusted him to lead Germany's attack and they won the World Cup.

It's not just about being good at your club, but I agree that form should be a major factor in getting into the squad.
 

nailsy

SC Supporter
Jul 24, 2005
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Sterling has to be in after the season he's having, England form or not.

It depends if he fits into the way that the manager wants to play. We don't want to go back to the days when we were playing Gerrard and Lampard because they were the best players and not really considering if it was the best team.
 

'O Zio

Well-Known Member
Dec 27, 2014
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It depends if he fits into the way that the manager wants to play. We don't want to go back to the days when we were playing Gerrard and Lampard because they were the best players and not really considering if it was the best team.

Exactly. Also someone's club form is irrelevant if they can't reproduce it for the national team. You're better off having a decent PL player who is also decent for England than having a quality PL player who doesn't do anything for England.
 

Marty

Audere est farce
Mar 10, 2005
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I'd take him along with Butland and Pickford. He's really done himself proud. People have been selected for less than he's achieved.
He's been brilliant. If he keeps his place when Heaton's fit again he's definitely my third choice.

Pickford's making a strong case for the number one with his recent performances.
 

Danners9

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Mar 30, 2004
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https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jan/09/fa-rooney-rule-appointing-managers

The FA say they will be implementing the 'Rooney Rule' for their next appointment. That isn't an acceptable number of prossies your captain can have, it's about interviewing candidates from ethnic minorities.

In reality, is it not just a token gesture at this stage? Chris Powell and Paul Ince will go to interviews but not be chosen because neither have the experience or record that should be required for the England job. Nor does Southgate, really, but it'll be after him. Hopefully in the future there will be many candidates of a high enough calibre and skin colour wouldn't even be considered a factor.
 

DanielCHillier

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Feb 26, 2014
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I don't get the point of this, surely it's more racist to include someone purely based on the colour of their skin, whomever is interviewed should be there on merit regardless of ethnicity.
 

Danners9

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and here: The FA says this move will apply to jobs across England teams but BAME applicants will still need to show they meet the relevant recruitment criteria.

so, the same as now where people can apply, the best/most suitable/favoured candidate will be chosen? this is a good start, but also having more coaches, from all backgrounds, qualified up to the required levels would help.

From a different article:
'One of the crucial issues in developing a network of high-quality grassroots coaches in England is the cost of gaining the requisite badges. The fee varies from county to county but the average cost for Level 1 is £152, for Level 2 it is £320, while there is a significant hike to £720 for Uefa B and then again to £2,965 to take the Uefa A licence. So, a coach would have to invest over £4,000 to reach Uefa A status from scratch.
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In Scotland the total cost is 25% more at over £5,000
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In Germany,... the Uefa A course fee is only €800'

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...-grassroots-football-iceland-germany-coaching

I was originally looking for something to compare the numbers of qualified coaches in different countries, thinking that i'd read England has a tiny fraction of Spain or something like that. Found this: http://en.espn.co.uk/football/sport/story/246073.html from 2013.

'St George's Park today celebrates its first birthday but when it comes to qualified coaches England are still being left behind in the dust with a staggering 68,000 not recognised by UEFA.
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However statistics from European football's governing body show England have just 1,161 elite coaches compared to Spain's 12,700 and 5,500 from Germany.'
 

Shadydan

Well-Known Member
Jul 7, 2012
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The problem is if an ethnic minority gets a good job out of this he/she is still going to be looked down upon because people think they only got the job because of their skin colour, it's pointless.
 
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