Match Day Thread England v Albania

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Nice to see us going for it ....noting that Albania chose not to put 11 behind the ball, but still.
.... sorry, my fault, I spoke too soon!

-> Southgate is dog ****. We scraped through to the final with negative defensive tactics. We had the resources to blow all the opposition away (and we had a easy draw all the way) and we ****ed it by trying to hang on for virtually 90 mins. I don't understand all the ****ing over Southgate.

I wouldn't go as far as 'dog ****', but I pretty much agree otherwise. He does though seem to manage to keep a happy camp, which can't be easy, but tactically I'd love to see him being a bit more positive / aggressive. He has near an embarrassment of exciting developing talent at his disposal.
 
Bowen can't be far off, but his association with City will be a millstone around his neck. He'll have to move on from west ham.
I'm not really sure what you mean here DB. Jake Livermore got games for England after playing for us and that was despite the fact he'd been found out for using illegal substances.
 
I'm not really sure what you mean here DB. Jake Livermore got games for England after playing for us and that was despite the fact he'd been found out for using illegal substances.
yeah fair point...
Seem to recall Maguire didn't get a cap with Lester.
 
I just watched the highlights, first half that is as good as I have seen us play since beating Spain in their own backyard a year or two back.

Personally, I think to say Southgate is dog ****e is a bit unfair, I know he is a bit defensive-minded, and maybe his style is not to everyone's liking, but our results under him have been much better than the recent past. I know he has a lot of talented players to choose from, but in the past, we also had that, Gerard/Lampard/Beckham etc, but fell well short of what Southgate has achieved.

Credit where credit is due I say, but maybe I am long in the tooth so have seen England teams not reach their potential far too often.
 
I just watched the highlights, first half that is as good as I have seen us play since beating Spain in their own backyard a year or two back.

Personally, I think to say Southgate is dog ****e is a bit unfair, I know he is a bit defensive-minded, and maybe his style is not to everyone's liking, but our results under him have been much better than the recent past. I know he has a lot of talented players to choose from, but in the past, we also had that, Gerard/Lampard/Beckham etc, but fell well short of what Southgate has achieved.

Credit where credit is due I say, but maybe I am long in the tooth so have seen England teams not reach their potential far too often.

When you're an expert arm-chair pundit, with ****-all footballing qualifications, it's de-rigueur to rip any professional football coach to shreds - experts? They're like arseholes, the internet's full of them (arseholes, not experts).
 
Southgates problem is likely that he has so much at his disposal... imagine leaving the likes of Foden or Bellingham or any other 11 players out. The second 11 would be many other countries first 11... good job Vardy retired..
 
Pissed me off with that result, England to win both halves & most corners in each half. Can’t get one ****ing goal in the second half!
Over 3.5 goals, over 3.5 cards & over 6.5 corners! 4 ****ing corners in the game, 3 in first & 1 in second.
Really don’t know why I bother sometimes!
 
Pissed me off with that result, England to win both halves & most corners in each half. Can’t get one ****ing goal in the second half!
Over 3.5 goals, over 3.5 cards & over 6.5 corners! 4 ****ing corners in the game, 3 in first & 1 in second.
Really don’t know why I bother sometimes!
I had England 4-1 win for £105, when the 4th went in, thought it was gonna be a cricket score.
 
When you're an expert arm-chair pundit, with ****-all footballing qualifications, it's de-rigueur to rip any professional football coach to shreds - experts? They're like arseholes, the internet's full of them (arseholes, not experts).
100% right.

Southgate has a job appreciably different to a club manager. He has to borrow players and keep club managers sweet, working players enough to get good results but not so much they go back to their clubs knackered and/or injured. Dicking Albania for 40 minutes then taking the foot off the gas achieves exactly that.
 
100% right.

Southgate has a job appreciably different to a club manager. He has to borrow players and keep club managers sweet, working players enough to get good results but not so much they go back to their clubs knackered and/or injured. Dicking Albania for 40 minutes then taking the foot off the gas achieves exactly that.

Often disagree with you but here agree with you totally.