England Squad Announced

Marvanelli said:
I don't think he will neither.

He's hardly set the world on fire when wearing an England shirt, but if you were to ask me who I'd trust to bring home the bacon, then I'd still hang my hat on Foden.

Team should be built around Foden & Jude. Then piece the rest together from there.

Those two are the key to any success we may have in the next 10/15 years.
Click to expand...
I like your 4-2-3-1 team selection, but I suspect Foden would get the nod at 10 with Rashford, Grealish or Sterling coming in from the left. That said, I genuinely expect Maddison to get a chance in this World Cup so he's got to grab it when he does.

With regard to Foden, if we want to get the best out of players we need to A. play them in their strongest position and B. trust them with the ball. I don't think Southgate has done Foden any favours playing him on the right and he'd be much more comfortable in the middle or wide left. As for trust with the ball, not necessarily Southgate's fault but it's crazy how often England players won't give the ball to Foden because he only has a small pocket of space. Man City don't worry about that and we shouldn't. Be braver on the ball and trust players like Bellingham and Foden to maintain possession in tight spaces, as that frees up space for others.

The final point I will make about Southgate is this. I'm not so bothered or worried about how he chooses to set up from game to game, but I do hope he is more proactive than in the past in making changes when it isn't working. There's no point having players like Grealish, Rashford, Maddison, Mount and Wilson on the bench, if you're not prepared to use them when we are struggling to score goals.
 
Good squad for me….it’s coming home! Tbf can’t wait until the Boro play after this charade on 10th December against Luton!
 
WilliamMunny said:
The final point I will make about Southgate is this. I'm not so bothered or worried about how he chooses to set up from game to game, but I do hope he is more proactive than in the past in making changes when it isn't working. There's no point having players like Grealish, Rashford, Maddison, Mount and Wilson on the bench, if you're not prepared to use them when we are struggling to score goals.
Click to expand...
This 👍🏻

I said something similar the other day.
 
Marvanelli said:
And he's literally just said he couldn't take James because he wouldn't be fit for the group games.

Bit worrying he's taking Walker who is clearly not fit.

Hopefully, with the group we're in, we won't need him.
Click to expand...
You can't take too many semi fit players, and lets be honest Walker is more important as a CB/RCB to us than another James as yet another RB option. We are well stocked at RB, not at CB
 
TeaCider said:
I do love the people on social media moaning that players should be picked on form whilst simultaneously complaining that Callum Wilson is in ahead of Tammy Abraham.

Barring Maguire and Sterling, I don't think there are many in that 26 that aren't in it on form.
But both of those have been key England players for many years now.
Click to expand...

What gets me is people complaining about managers having favourites.

What is a favourite, other than a player who you believe is better than the alternatives available? Everyone is allowed to believe one player is better than another, except the manager apparently.

I never agree with picking on form. Always pick on class, it's a more reliable indicator of future performance than form.
 
BoroMart said:
You can't take too many semi fit players, and lets be honest Walker is more important as a CB/RCB to us than another James as yet another RB option. We are well stocked at RB, not at CB
Click to expand...
I do think it sounds like James is a bit further away than Walker too when it comes to being fit.

I do agree, we are well stocked at RB/RWB, however I am gutted James is injured as IMO he's the best at RWB in the world. He's a clear above anyone else at RWB we have.

I don't think there's a better RWB out there. Maybe Hakimi?
 
Humpty said:
The defence is poor and will be England's downfall but it's nothing we didn't already know.
Click to expand...
agreed, we have had a poor set of defensive choices since the days of Terry, Ferdinand, Ashley Cole. Since then I don't thin we have had any elite level defenders. We've done well to protect them in the previous two tournaments, it'll take another tactical masterclass to get deep into this one
 
BoroMart said:
It's not nonsense, England have had huge racism problems, to the point that the FA have had to speak out about it, have you had your head in the sand? and yes, that vocal racist element have absolutely got it in for Southgate. The comparisons to Yaxley-Lennon are beyond disingenuous, unless you believe we should be showing tolerance to racists and there beliefs that we should integrate with racists as equals?
Click to expand...
It's you who is being disingenuous. You are equating disliking Southgate with being an anti expert unwoke racist etc. I am objecting to this. I am saying you are using the same process by which racists like yaxley Lennon operate. He sees a pedo who is Muslim. He equates this to all Muslims. You see a right winger who dislikes Southgate. You put everyone who dislikes Southgate into the same box.

I think my point is pretty clear. And I think you are smart enough to understand it. And yet your response is to suggest that im burying my head in the sand about England having issues with racism. Nothing to do with the point I'm making at all. But thanks for the slur anyway.
 
The team I’d pick play against Iran

Pickford
TAA-White-Stones-Maguire-Shaw
Bellingham-Rice
Foden-Kane-Grealish

I think he’ll pick Sterling over Grealish mind
 
Humpty said:
Not to mention the heat. England are going no where far in this tournament.
Click to expand...
Heat could be a factor in the first game against Iran, given it is an afternoon kick off and we'll only have a few days to acclimatise. But we play the USA at 10pm local time and we have an 8pm kick off against a Wales team that are in the same boat as us anyway.

Win the group and all our knock out games up to the final will be at 10pm, when it's likely to be around 21/22 degrees. In which case I just don't see the climate being a factor.
 
Sheriff_John_Bunnell_ret said:
It's you who is being disingenuous. You are equating disliking Southgate with being an anti expert unwoke racist etc.
Click to expand...
IT's hardly disingenuous when you look at the media attacking him for 'being woke' the same media that for the last 7 or 8 years have pushed an anti-expert rhetoric. The media have plenty of influence, white van man who listens to LBC, reads The Sun or Mail or watches GBeebies does exist, there are thousands of them, they're also a vocal bunch. I'm not saying all Southgate haters fall into this category, but a lot do.

A lot of people turned on him when he vocally supported taking the knee, that's pretty bloody obvious.
Sheriff_John_Bunnell_ret said:
You put everyone who dislikes Southgate into the same box.
Click to expand...
Nope, I put a sizeable number of people into that box, but no claim whatsoever that 'everyone' is in it. That claim is on you. I'm sure you're intelligent enough to recognise that. I guess I will need to ask why you chose to put words into my mouth, rather than address what I have said with honesty?

This country has a huge racism problem that's pretty obvious, this country has had a huge lurch to the right, that's obvious. This country has a huge issue with media power and misinformation. That is obvious too. Southgate as an intellectual, articulate and emotionally intelligent person in one of the most visible jobs in the country was always going to be a target for this kind of behaviour from these people. I'm not gonna apologise for calling a spade a spade. Of course there will be some people basing it on other footballing ideologies, but I'd argue that until the last nations league it would be ludicrous to berate the man who took us to only our second final ever. The trend was upwards and the vast majority of his decision making was correct. People who attack at that point in time have other motivation, and for some people I'm sure it was complete coincidence that it aligned to Southgates vocal stance on racial equality.

So now that I have reiterated that I didn't say everyone, or even put any % on how many people that fell out with southgate are from this mindset, the only argument you have is if you think ZERO people berate southgate due to his stance in support of racial equality. Is that your stance? I'm presuming not, but you never know and you are showing such an aversion to the concept that I'm beginning to wonder.
 
Last edited:
Jedi boro said:
I was there in feb and it’s not that ho I mean yes it’s hot but its nothing we haven’t faced before.
Click to expand...
There's a difference between 'facing' the heat and succeeding in that heat. As far as i'm aware England have never done well in hot climates.
 
WilliamMunny said:
I like your 4-2-3-1 team selection, but I suspect Foden would get the nod at 10 with Rashford, Grealish or Sterling coming in from the left. That said, I genuinely expect Maddison to get a chance in this World Cup so he's got to grab it when he does.

With regard to Foden, if we want to get the best out of players we need to A. play them in their strongest position and B. trust them with the ball. I don't think Southgate has done Foden any favours playing him on the right and he'd be much more comfortable in the middle or wide left. As for trust with the ball, not necessarily Southgate's fault but it's crazy how often England players won't give the ball to Foden because he only has a small pocket of space. Man City don't worry about that and we shouldn't. Be braver on the ball and trust players like Bellingham and Foden to maintain possession in tight spaces, as that frees up space for others.

The final point I will make about Southgate is this. I'm not so bothered or worried about how he chooses to set up from game to game, but I do hope he is more proactive than in the past in making changes when it isn't working. There's no point having players like Grealish, Rashford, Maddison, Mount and Wilson on the bench, if you're not prepared to use them when we are struggling to score goals.
Click to expand...
Id like to think Foden would get the nod but Im not convinced GS will.
 
That defence will undo us. Bit odd that Phillips is in there and Henderson hasn’t been pulling up any trees but I’m not sure who’d go instead.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top