The England Thread

[Cochise]

Anyone else fed up with watching England's greedy wingers? Grealish was incredibly guilty of hanging on to the ball for too long. Saka whilst not as bad was guilty too and Rashford is likely the worst offender of the three.

Also think Foden at #10 was probably the only bright spot tonight. Proves again imo that Southgate needs to find a way of getting Bellingham in alongside one of Maddison/Foden in a midfield three.

 

[Bluto Blutarsky]

Anyone else fed up with watching England's greedy wingers? Grealish was incredibly guilty of hanging on to the ball for too long. Saka whilst not as bad was guilty too and Rashford is likely the worst offender of the three.

Also think Foden at #10 was probably the only bright spot tonight. Proves again imo that Southgate needs to find a way of getting Bellingham in alongside one of Maddison/Foden in a midfield three.

Bellingham and Kane probably need to form their own country if they want to win anything...

 

[spursville]

Southgate’s has perhaps done some good things off the pitch management wise but perhaps he now has his favourites and seems to have run out of ideas (if he had some in the first place). I think it’s a combination of him not being much of a coach and some English players needing serious coaching and lacking the in certain aspects (Having played under Venables for England you’d think Southgate would understand this. See also Guardiola’s comments on Walker for example and Southgate stating a while back he was not willing to play Foden in midfield because he didn’t play there for his club.

The job of an England coach is surely to find solutions, be creative, take the initiative in matches, keep us entertained and win things. The excuses he gave after Malta were pathetic.

 

[McFlash]

don’t tell Coys 671. He likes to keep Kane locked in a room so he can pet him at will.

Come on man, if you're going to take the piss out of someone, at least have the bollocks to tag them properly.

 

[Japhet]

Just read the last bit of the thread and I'm glad I never watched it. Haven't watched an England game for ages now as I'm utterly bored with International football. Most of the time I have no idea if games are tournaments or friendlies as there are so many of them.

 

[YB123]

In terms of binning Southgate now, wouldn't mind seeing Potter given a go.

Not with our attacking quality. No matter the squad, players or money spent on attackers...Potter Teams have lovely build up but dont score enough goals. We'd have similar problems.

Much rather Eddie Howe.

 

[McFlash]

Much rather Eddie Howe.

Really? After him being in bed with the Saudi regime?
He's a good coach but I'm not sure he's a good choice for England.

 

[YB123]

Really? After him being in bed with the Saudi regime?
He's a good coach but I'm not sure he's a good choice for England.

OK so you wouldn't want Pep on that basis then? Or not happy with Ange as Spurs coach due to his previous association with the City Group?

If we are rightly upset with Saudi, have to be consistent.

 

[McFlash]

OK so you wouldn't want Pep on that basis then? Or not happy with Ange as Spurs coach due to his previous association with the City Group?

If we are rightly upset with Saudi, have to be consistent.

It's more about Howe's attitude and reaction when questioned about it really.
I don't particularly like the way he's handled himself about who his employers are, more than the fact he works for them.
The Saudis and the like are here now and while it may not be ideal, as long as they stick to the rules, we're stuck with them and it would be unrealistic to hold a grudge against everyone who works for them, I just don't really like Howe, I think he's a bit of a scumbag.

I also think Pep's a bit of a dick too.

 

[longtimespur]

It's more about Howe's attitude and reaction when questioned about it really.
I don't particularly like the way he's handled himself about who his employers are, more than the fact he works for them.
The Saudis and the like are here now and while it may not be ideal, as long as they stick to the rules, we're stuck with them and it would be unrealistic to hold a grudge against everyone who works for them, I just don't really like Howe, I think he's a bit of a scumbag.

I also think Pep's a bit of a dick too.

Afraid there's too much money in their kitty.

 

[Bluto Blutarsky]

Between Kane and Bellingham - the only thing stopping England from a Euro title is Southgate.

 

[carmeldevil]

Nations League in Sept. WTF? Don't ya'll have Euro this summer?

2024/25 UEFA Nations League: All you need to know | UEFA Nations League

Draw and match dates, who's playing who, and how it works – all you need to know about the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League.

www.uefa.com

 

[Spriggan]

Nations League in Sept. WTF? Don't ya'll have Euro this summer?

2024/25 UEFA Nations League: All you need to know | UEFA Nations League

Draw and match dates, who's playing who, and how it works – all you need to know about the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League.

www.uefa.com

Yep, but it's all about the money

 

[mightyspur]

Yep, but it's all about the money

Nations League in Sept. WTF? Don't ya'll have Euro this summer?

2024/25 UEFA Nations League: All you need to know | UEFA Nations League

Draw and match dates, who's playing who, and how it works – all you need to know about the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League.

www.uefa.com

It happens every 2 years and simply replaces the friendly games that used to be played on the FIFA matchday calendar and means smaller nations are able to arrange games easier. Money is centralised, so the smaller nations benefit more, as they sometimes wouldn't even get a fixture. It's better than the meaningless friendlies they used to play

 

[Marty]

It happens every 2 years and simply replaces the friendly games that used to be played on the FIFA matchday calendar and means smaller nations are able to arrange games easier. Money is centralised, so the smaller nations benefit more, as they sometimes wouldn't even get a fixture. It's better than the meaningless friendlies they used to play

And as a supporter of a smaller nation the Nations League has been brilliant. Competitive matches against teams of a roughly similar level instead of friendlies makes such a difference to the enthusiasm around the national side here.

Norway have got Austria, Slovenia and Kazakhstan though so a boring af group, but one they can win if they fix their defensive issues and Haaland stays fit. And the rewards for winning the group are promotion and a guaranteed World Cup playoff no matter how well or badly the ordinary qualifying next year goes so that's a brilliant motivator.

 

[aliyid]

And as a supporter of a smaller nation the Nations League has been brilliant. Competitive matches against teams of a roughly similar level instead of friendlies makes such a difference to the enthusiasm around the national side here.

Norway have got Austria, Slovenia and Kazakhstan though so a boring af group, but one they can win if they fix their defensive issues and Haaland stays fit. And the rewards for winning the group are promotion and a guaranteed World Cup playoff no matter how well or badly the ordinary qualifying next year goes so that's a brilliant motivator.

It's probably too early to tell but have you seen any indications of the increase in competitive matches restricting the opportunity to test younger players & give them a chance?

One of the potential issues floated around removing friendlies was that if every game becomes important then it would limit the managers opportunities to give youngsters a try. Obviously this is based on the assumption that they'll revert to 'tried and tested' older players they've relied on before rather than throw an untried player into the mix for a must-win game.

Will be interesting to see with Norway as you have an exciting generation of players coming through at the moment (Nusa, Bobb, Harrland, Odegaad)

 

[Marty]

It's probably too early to tell but have you seen any indications of the increase in competitive matches restricting the opportunity to test younger players & give them a chance?

One of the potential issues floated around removing friendlies was that if every game becomes important then it would limit the managers opportunities to give youngsters a try. Obviously this is based on the assumption that they'll revert to 'tried and tested' older players they've relied on before rather than throw an untried player into the mix for a must-win game.

Will be interesting to see with Norway as you have an exciting generation of players coming through at the moment (Nusa, Bobb, Harrland, Odegaad)

Nusa made his debut in a friendly four days before a must win against Georgia which he then also started, and Bobb's second cap was at home to Spain in another must win, so we at least have form for throwing players in to any scenario if they've shown their talent.

 

[Bluto Blutarsky]

It happens every 2 years and simply replaces the friendly games that used to be played on the FIFA matchday calendar and means smaller nations are able to arrange games easier. Money is centralised, so the smaller nations benefit more, as they sometimes wouldn't even get a fixture. It's better than the meaningless friendlies they used to play

I'd still like to see FIFA abandon the September window - if teams have played a major summer tournament - which in theory, would be every other year.

Or, prohibit teams from using players called up for the summer tournament.

 

[Westmorlandspur]

Time for Kobbie Mainoo to be in the next England squad. Looks a top player in a position where we need some new blood. Kalvin Philips looks knackered, what do you expect when you hardly play for 18 months. Henderson in semi retirement.
Gareth has capped teenagers before , Saka, Rico Lewis .
Kobbie looks the real deal. Only played 11 games this season but how many times do you need to see someone play to know he is good enough. He is 19 in April and looks physically strong enough for the premier league. Completely changed United midfield since he got in the team.
Big mistake if we don’t take him.

 

[Trix]

Time for Kobbie Mainoo to be in the next England squad. Looks a top player in a position where we need some new blood. Kalvin Philips looks knackered, what do you expect when you hardly play for 18 months. Henderson in semi retirement.
Gareth has capped teenagers before , Saka, Rico Lewis .
Kobbie looks the real deal. Only played 11 games this season but how many times do you need to see someone play to know he is good enough. He is 19 in April and looks physically strong enough for the premier league. Completely changed United midfield since he got in the team.
Big mistake if we don’t take him.

More than 11 that's for sure.