Never really gave him any game time to get into it to be fair to him.. was our best player in the friendly before
No. Obviously we have had all kinds of Managers. A strange anecdote I have is of being in a Oslo bar with mates trying to work out Graham Taylors England v Norway team and failing. We had no idea, none. Carlton Palmer played full back. Robson if you believe the books fell into using Wright as a sweeper through player pressure. I agree. Terry Venables did very well with what he had. And there is a point he employed attacking talent , he did not shackle it. An opinion is that Mr Southgate could have tested Italy more than he did with the team he had. Its quite hard to attack an opponent without consistently invading territory and to have means of penetrating beyond the flanks. The formation v Italy was ultra defensive. It ceded territory. It had to. And Italys equaliser was inevitable. England are good at defending but not that good. We had pace and power and technical ability shackled by overt caution. The theory of attacking principles are not mine.
Clifton You tell a perfect theory and anecdotes. Don't you think England managers, who are far more qualified/experienced than you or I, are unable to grasp this and/or other theories to win football matches. To find out if any theory works out you need players good enough to make them successful. We don't have these players and I don't think we ever will. And what are your thoughts why English clubs win the Champions League? Are you saying these clubs have managers who understand football theories better than England managers. No, the difference is obvious, they have the players to be successful because 90% weren't born in the UK.
I think fans can have opinions. We can have opinions of those that are good or indifferent. You have a unequivocal view of Lee Johnson. Managers apply different methodologies. We as fans can have views on how successful, efficient etc these methods are. You have a unequivocal view of Lee Johnson. I feel Mr Southgate had players that could have gone beyond no shots on goal from open play v Germany playing his five at the back and two holding system, and one shot from open play v Italy when playing these same system. I feel its fair informed opinion because when the system was altered the shots on goal from open play improved. And what are your thoughts why English clubs win the Champions League? Employing the very best of the best to Manage these teams is a great start. Klopp is brilliant. Better than England managers .. I believe unequivocally he is better than Lee Johnson.
Clifton, you take the biscuit. Lee Johnson and Jugen Klopp is nothing more than a distraction on your part. England haven't won anything for a very long time for one reason alone and is nothing to do with the managers employed. Clear your mind of theory, you are totally wrong and do yourself no credit muddying the waters.
It was a point not a distraction. A light hearted (jokey) juxtaposition. Johnson = Klopp. It was light hearted and silly. No muddying. Its uneven to compare each decade to decade. Eras differ, cycles occur and good England teams led by fine Mangers get beat by better ones. We also had the Graham Taylor era with debutant messr Curle at right back v a Laudrup. Psilocybins must have been in the omelettes to come up with ideas like that, along side the other coaching moments like Fashanu and Bull up top. Managers and coaches have an impact. And that was the point I have been making. England are Managed by a manager who has created a very defensive team that in open play is offensively inefficient. The team can go an hour v the worst German team I have seen for decades without a shot in open play. The team did similar (one goal and shot) v a good Italy. Your view is that that is due due to the players not being good enough, my view is it is due to the overt caution of the Manager.
Whilst we are remembering former England greats here is one of our own, this article has been in the system for a few years ~ John Atyeo He enjoyed a fifteen year career with Bristol City despite offers from Chelsea, Spurs, Liverpool and AC Milan which were worth around £20 million in today’s money and could have made him the most expensive player in England, making 645 appearances and became Bristol City’s all time top scorer with 351 goals by the time he retired in May 1966. He captained the team during their promotion winning season in 1965. Throughout that period he played as a part-timer, working firstly as a quantity surveyor and then training to become a teacher. Atyeo won six England caps from 1955 to 1957. It was conjectured that his part-time status led to his being dropped by the England selectors despite never having been on a losing side in his six international appearances, scoring five goals and having scored the goal that enabled England to qualify for the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden. Read the full story via the link.....https://fampeople.com/cat-john-atyeo
I wasn’t suggesting he’s not good enough, I just thought the occasion got to him, he’s come a long way in a short time remember. Hopefully it’ll give him experience to pull on in the future.
I personally thought Southgate’s approach vs Italy was too defensive and he should have deployed Grealish earlier - that man is a free-kick earning machine. However, he (Southgate) took us closer to winning a major trophy than anyone else in my lifetime (I don’t really count the ‘tournoi de France’) so hats off to him.
Anyone interested should read “Atyeo - The Hero Next Door”. It’s a damn good read about a man and a time gone by, never to be revisited!! Having scored the goal against Ireland that took England to the World Cup in ‘58, he was literally cast aside. The Munich Air Disaster depleted the national side of a significant number of players; when England went to the tournament, they went with a reduced squad in respect to the Man U players who “should” have been there. JA never had a look in again!!
I understand that the reason JA was dropped from England was because he refused to become a full-time professional. It was a straightforward decision on his part - he knew that by refusing to go professional he would not play for England again.
RP - couldn't agree more. Whether it's Italian, German, Spanish, French etc, collectively as overall squads, they are generally superior to their English counterparts in most areas. I'm with you on Sterling. Yes he scores a few goals against poorer opposition, but spends too much time either on his arse or running down blind alleys. Henderson is a carthorse at international level, and Kane does look like he needs more time than most others to be able to decide what he's going to do with the ball once he gets it, like it's come as a total surprise. As I said elsewhere, the Qatar WC won't suit European teams half as well as those from Africa and South/Central America.
