Just watched the England U17's match against the highly rated Chile at the U17 tournament in India. What a talented young side we have. The present full international England side is mediocre but theres no doubt the future is looking exciting. The match inished 4-0 to England and to be honest that scoreline flattered Chile, our pace, physicality and skill was too much for them. Its a real shame we missed out on signing Jordan Sancho in the summer, he scored two today, fleet of foot, skilful and cuts in from the left onto his right foot, a real superstar in the making. M'eachran and Foden in midfield were a delight to watch, both have so much creativity and vision. Our own Oakley Booth had a solid game playing as a DM, winning the ball, shirking tackles and keeping it simple. Playing alongside Foden, Oakley Booth has to be more disciplined but you can clearly see that he moulds his game on Dembele. At RB our own Timothy Eyoma was excellent again, physically outstanding and was up and down the right flank all game. At CB in a three would probably be his best position though. Finally, Andre Gomes an attacking midfielder from Man Utd who didnt even start the game looks a hell of a player too. Tougher tests lie in wait for England if they are to win this tournament notably Brazil and maybe Ghana but this was a very impressive performance and we have a real chance or replicating the achievements of our U20 side in the summer. This side is better.
I know. If you've got nothing inspiring or positive or useful to say, then say nothing or make something up. I can't see that saying that has any benefit but to try cover his back when he monumentally ****s it up. I've got a tip for you, Gareth. The reason why you get paid more than any other international manager, by a country mile, is that they're coming for you. You can say what you like. It won't make any difference. If we play like we currently are under your stewardship, your goose is cooked and what you experienced in missing THAT PENALTY is going to seem like a happy memory in comparison. Why not affect an air of positivity and just say..... "We have lots of players going to their first World Cup but we've got some really good young players. We're going to be brave and go out to play at our highest level. I know the nation will back us and we won't leaving anything in the dressing room." It's meaningless but at least it speaks in positive tones. What he said is negative.....and it's complete bollocks into the bargain..........and it won't save him, not one little bit.
I've watched a bit of the England youth teams in the last few years and it invariably is more entertaining than watching the Seniors. Yes, they get more time and space on the ball often, but the fluidity of the attacking play and the quality of creative midfielders they have at that level seems to be much better. Anyone who says England cannot produce technically gifted, intelligent players needs to stay away from watching the Seniors for a bit! It's a shame that more of what I call Kane's U21 team haven't transitioned through (their midfield of Carroll, Hughes and co. were a pleasure to watch and the whole team was just very well balanced) and I worry that we won't see the majority of the successful, World Cup-winning U20s team from this summer or many of their talented peers around the current U20 and U21 teams make breakthroughs in the coming years, particularly in that creative midfield position where the Seniors have such a dearth of talent. Why they won't is a tricky question - you'd have thought that Southgate with his background would know of these players and be willing to understand what they bring to the team but we haven't seen much evidence of that yet. Instead we're stuck with Henderson and Dier as a midfield pairing. Yes, I get that many of the U21 stars don't make the final leap of quality needed but there does also seem to be a serious lack of opportunity for some of these talented players.
Heavy rainfall on an artificial surface. Not watching the game as I prefer watching paint dry, but will be playing that none of our lads pick up an injury in these conditions.
Why is Kane playing? It's a nothing game. Picking him when there's a wet artificial surface, as CK points out, is just stupid. England have already qualified and won the group. Pick someone else.
Delighted for the kid. England are crying out for a CM that can keep the ball and see openings and Winks is such a progressive forward thinking player. Let hope this is the start of a long England career.
I will personally murder that buffoon if Kane gets injured. They won't even need to search for the culprit: my written confession will be right here.
Don't think I've ever seen a competitive game refereed by a Jewish ref. Let's hope Mr Grinfeld remembers his loyalties and protects the Yid Army. I'm thinking along the lines of a straight red for any opposition player who approaches within 5 yards of Kane.
Rashford looks off his game at the moment. he's been very good so far this season but doesn't seem to be able t cope with the artificial pitch at all. Harry Winks looks totally at home.
