Alexander Arnold

Mysonpat. said:
The problem is...Southgate put TÀA in the team for his passing abilities..he can unlock a defense with a bit if magic...now the problem is, we didn't have any forwards running in behind to hit!!! (Watkins did when he came on but TAA had been subbed by) Foden comes towards the ball, Kane comes towards the ball and is way too deep he is practically on top of the midfield, Saka does make runs in behind but he is now getting marked by 2 defenders doubling up on him because he is the most dangerous at getting in behind...that's why most of us are left scratching our heads on what exactly is Southgate trying to achieve?.
Click to expand...
But taa is hopeless off the ball, hes no instinct for danger especially out of position. Crazy selection he has play wharton or mainoo
 
TAA can play in the middle but only in a system that allows that. At Liverpool he goes inside and Liverpool effectively go into a back three and TAA can either overload, or is given loads of space to influence the attacking phase.

He is not a player who can play in a 2 in a 4-2-3-1 formation. He does not have the positioning and lacks the instinct of covering the spaces in that area.

Southgate has to change either the formation and go 4-3-3 with Bellingham played as an 8, or he drops TAA completely sticks to the formation but plays Mainoo or Wharton.
 
Surely people can understand now why he was so keen to get Phillips and Henderson into his squad. Those players gave us real balance and allowed Rice to play his natural game. Without Henderson and Phillips you’re asking a young lad to come in, in Wharton or Mainoo, or asking a talented right-back to do something for his country that he doesn’t really do for his club. There is a dearth of options in central midfield and it’s been there for years and years, this is why Southgate has placed so much emphasis on building a strong defence, to account for that lack of quality in central midfield.

Over the years he’s lost Mount, Henderson, Alli and Phillips. There’s some talent there. You take Rice out of our midfield and it’s teenagers and Gallagher. The lack of a true, elite-level No6 has held this team back for the last 4 or 5 years. England just doesn’t seem to produce them. It’s easy to criticise Southgate and some of it is merited but his hands are somewhat tied imo. Though I do think if he’s picking Mainoo or Wharton then one of them should be playing midfield ahead of Alexander-Arnold.

Alternatively, Bellingham could play there and you could get Foden more central and Eze or Gordon down the left. But there’s a gaping, long-standing hole in our team that’s been completely exacerbated by Phillips’ form nosediving and Henderson moving to Saudi Arabia, and fixing it is much easier said than done because whatever he does is a fairly big risk. It would be the same for any England manager.
 
Last edited:
viv_andersons_nana said:
Surely people can understand now why he was so keen to get Phillips and Henderson into his squad. Those players gave us real balance and allowed Rice to play his natural game. Without Rice and Phillips you’re asking a young lad to come in, in Wharton or Mainoo, or asking a talented right-back to do something for his country that he doesn’t really do for his club. There is a dearth of options in central midfield and it’s been there for years and years, this is why Southgate has placed so much emphasis on building a strong defence, to account for that lack of quality in central midfield.

Over the years he’s lost Mount, Henderson, Alli and Phillips. There’s some talent there. You take Rice out of our midfield and it’s teenagers and Gallagher. The lack of a true, elite-level No6 has held this team back for the last 4 or 5 years. England just doesn’t seem to produce them. It’s easy to criticise Southgate and some of it is merited but his hands are somewhat tied imo. Though I do think if he’s picking Mainoo or Wharton then one of them should be playing midfield ahead of Alexander-Arnold.

Alternatively, Bellingham could play there and you could get Foden more central and Eze or Gordon down the left. But there’s a gaping, long-standing hole in our team that’s been completely exacerbated by Phillips’ form nosediving and Henderson moving to Saudi Arabia, and fixing it is much easier said than done because whatever he does is a fairly big risk. It would be the same for any England manager.
Click to expand...
There's another alternative. That we don't play limited footballers when it comes to this level.

Henderson and Phillips, like TAA and quite possibly Rice, wouldn't get a game in the Spanish midfield, they're just not mobile enough and are poor at the movement and the short ball game, which is what controls the tempo of the game at this level.

We're looking at old style characteristics to compete in the modern game.
 
Corcaigh_the_Cat said:
There's another alternative. That we don't play limited footballers when it comes to this level.

Henderson and Phillips, like TAA and quite possibly Rice, wouldn't get a game in the Spanish midfield, they're just not mobile enough and are poor at the movement and the short ball game, which is what controls the tempo of the game at this level.

We're looking at old style characteristics to compete in the modern game.
Click to expand...
The players to play that style of football haven’t been available to Southgate. Mainoo and Wharton look very positive and do look like they could be the solution to quite a lot of our issues but they are, at the moment, wildly inexperienced. Though as I said, I do think they should both be ahead of TAA in the midfield pecking order.

But the England manager, or any international manager, can only work with the players available to him. England just does not have an orthodox No6 or an elite-level deep-lying midfield playmaker in the style of a Rodri, Kroos, Kante, etc. The big international matches are won and lost in midfield and England’s midfield just doesn’t have those elite-level players, unfortunately.
 
Last edited:
Mysonpat. said:
Foden comes towards the ball, Kane comes towards the ball and is way too deep he is practically on top of the midfield, Saka does make runs in behind but he is now getting marked by 2 defenders doubling up on him because he is the most dangerous at getting in behind...
Click to expand...
Big part of the problem for me.

Lots of talk understandably of can Foden and Bellingham play together, but actually is Kane just as much of an issue?

Kane, Foden and Bellingham all want to play in the same part of the pitch. And all come deep to try and influence the play. It doesn't work.

Get pace on the left, someone who'll run in behind will make a massive difference. It'll create space for the others to play. You either drop Foden or you put Bellingham into cm and play Foden as the 10.
 
It was a little surprising that Kane was withdrawn last night, but we did look more threatening with Watkins, given he was running in behind.

Some big decisions for Gareth ahead of Tuesday's game.
 
Jonny Ingbar said:
It was a little surprising that Kane was withdrawn last night, but we did look more threatening with Watkins, given he was running in behind.

Some big decisions for Gareth ahead of Tuesday's game.
Click to expand...
We are almost certainly qualified. I think he should make some big changes and give lads a chance to play themselves into the team for the knockout phase.
Mainoo or Wharton should start. Maybe give each half each and see which one performs for the right to play alongside Rice.
Take Foden out the team and stick Gordon out on the left.
Palmer deserves some game time. Maybe try him out on the right.
 
viv_andersons_nana said:
The lack of a true, elite-level No6 has held this team back for the last 4 or 5 years.
Click to expand...
Bang on, but think you could go back much, much further. Since the game developed and this position became more central to the game, rather than the old school Box-2-Box midfielders, England have never had a deep lying player who was comfortable on the ball but also had tactical and positional discipline.


The fact Mainoo and Wharton are even in the squad, given their relative lack of experience and top level game time, shows the dearth we have in this area.
 
Mainoo shouldn't be replacing TAA. He's nowhere near disciplined enough. We saw that v Iceland for their goal, how easy it was, just to cut through us.

Wharton is literally the only one in our squad than can play CDM. He's the only one who actually plays there for his club too.

Mainoo doesn't sit, he roams.
 
festa5 said:
Big part of the problem for me.

Lots of talk understandably of can Foden and Bellingham play together, but actually is Kane just as much of an issue?

Kane, Foden and Bellingham all want to play in the same part of the pitch. And all come deep to try and influence the play. It doesn't work.

Get pace on the left, someone who'll run in behind will make a massive difference. It'll create space for the others to play. You either drop Foden or you put Bellingham into cm and play Foden as the 10.
Click to expand...
As I've been saying, I honestly think having Kane up front playing the way he does for England only works if you have runners either side of him. People are saying he doesn't look fit. No, he's playing the way he always has for England, but he doesn't have the players playing in the right positions around him to enable him to be effective.

One of the reasons why it worked so well when we had Saka on the right and either Sterling or Rashford on the left was because Kane would receive the ball in a deep position and then look to play either Sterling or Rashford in behind. Now he's receiving the ball in a deep position and Foden is also wanting to come deep and show for the ball. We just end up having nothing up front.

As you said, pace either side of Kane is the way to go. Southgate took Foden out of the side at the last Euros so that we could employ the runners either side of Kane tactic, and he needs to revert back to it, but this time, try Foden as a 10.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top