Ukraine v England

Henderson wasn't on the pace. I'd be inclined to blame the standard of the Saudi Pro League.

Every good player can have a bad game. The problem is that the standard of the Saudi Pro League is so low we can't tell if it's a one off or he's on the slide. And we can't have Southgate using England games to see if he's still at it.
 
Weirdly I got a massive de ja vu about Gerrard Scholes lampard Beckham
All gifted but cancelled each other
It seemed to happen just like that tonight
 
No matter how bad Maddison and Bellingham were the 2 who replaced them Rashford and Foden were absolutely shocking.
How on earth does Chillwell get a game never passed forward once or tried to beat a man. Waste of a shirt.
 
Italians couldn’t get by North Macedonia so it’s as you were. All in all it was below par performance but Southgate’s negative tactics look like they’re wearing thin with the players.
 
Expat Smoggie said:
Italians couldn’t get by North Macedonia so it’s as you were. All in all it was below par performance but Southgate’s negative tactics look like they’re wearing thin with the players.
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I think that the players trust him, but he is v cautious.

Then again, given how tight the group is, this was one of those must not lose games rather than must win. It lends itself to negativity.

Not losing last night and the Italy result opens things up a little and gives us breathing room to experiment a bit more in the remaining games.

Main issue was a lack of intensity, which isn't helped when you have a player from a pub league in the middle of the park.
 
As soon as you see Rice and Henderson together in the middle of the park, you know what's coming. Time for Henderson to retire - as others have said, his intensity level will inevitably drop. Forward players were underwhelming too, mind; Maddison and Bellingham seemed to be standing on top of each other first half. I think you need Bellingham further back for England, driving from deep. But maybe Trent is the answer in there - or Gibbs-White maybe. There's nothing happening with that midfield last night, that's for sure - except 10 yard sideways passes which kill all momentum.
Would like to see Grealish and Maddison in the same team, to see how they linked up. Can't ever see it with Gareth though
 
Overall below par but I can take some positives.

Maybe the lineup was a little negative but in international football, against an OK side, especially how the group is poised, you don’t go gung ho. We should be beating sides like this with the quality we have but we earned a lot of wiggle room having won in Italy. 4 points from those two away games before a ball was kicked would’ve been seen as a huge positive.

Also impressive was the way we started. Didn’t create much but kept the ball really well and applied pressure. Some of the Ukrainian players had not touched the ball after 10 minutes. That’s not an exaggeration, after a few minutes I was keeping tabs. Everyone who has played the game knows how frustrating it is not to be involved and constantly chasing opponents and having to be switched on and keep your position. It’s a great baseline to start any game.

Didn’t play well but looked most likely to win and never looked in danger of losing as the Ukrainians quite rightly settled for a draw. A few missing and a lot of options all over the field when fit.

I fancy Ukraine to pip Italy to second helped by us beating the Azzuri at Wemble.
 
Doom_On_Horseback said:
Overall below par but I can take some positives.

Maybe the lineup was a little negative but in international football, against an OK side, especially how the group is poised, you don’t go gung ho. We should be beating sides like this with the quality we have but we earned a lot of wiggle room having won in Italy. 4 points from those two away games before a ball was kicked would’ve been seen as a huge positive.

Also impressive was the way we started. Didn’t create much but kept the ball really well and applied pressure. Some of the Ukrainian players had not touched the ball after 10 minutes. That’s not an exaggeration, after a few minutes I was keeping tabs. Everyone who has played the game knows how frustrating it is not to be involved and constantly chasing opponents and having to be switched on and keep your position. It’s a great baseline to start any game.

Didn’t play well but looked most likely to win and never looked in danger of losing as the Ukrainians quite rightly settled for a draw. A few missing and a lot of options all over the field when fit.

I fancy Ukraine to pip Italy to second helped by us beating the Azzuri at Wemble.
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As great a side as Italy are and as enjoyable it is to have them at tournaments, it would be very very very funny if they didn't qualify.
 
LaPennaBianca said:
It's mad given the previous quality of the German academy system that these are the type of players they're producing.

Musiala, their only real positive is a product of the English system.
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I see Flick's paid the price for this latest defeat.

www.theguardian.com

Germany sack head coach Hansi Flick after Japan thrashing proved final straw

Rudi Völler, Sandro Wagner and Hannes Wolf will take interim charge of Germany after Hansi Flick was sacked as head coach
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
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