War hing this Spain Italy game. We are country miles behind these two. The pace we play it is slugfest. These two are full of Action. There has been two boring games at these euros. And England have played in both.
On one hand we're top of the group and unbeaten. On the other, the team looks a shambles, if you factor in the talent available in that squad. Not playing Gordon or Cole Palmer when there was zero intensity on show to my mind is galling. I've never felt that Declan Rice is that good, but the whole team look shadows of their former selves. Saying that, I thought Trips was one of the few players who had a good game against Denmark.
Luck of the draw and also the fact that we are seeded based on previous results. It’s how it works. We need a result like that to make Southgate realise he needs to make changes. Worse thing that could happen would be going into the bigger games with the midfield shape as he started last night. Anyway talk that, like Serbia, we have threatened to pull out because of fans chanting at the end of the game - not sure you can really do that when it’s your own fans.
Southgate won't listen he's on a personal crusade........players ? They're average in the main and this country has consistently overrated players that play for big 6 clubs. The next manager won't get easy groups and then people will argue Southgate did better even if you can see a clearly better football team on the pitch. It's all very predictable.
Second or 4th isnt successful and we had the easiest runs that far ever... I watch the team and I've never once been impressed.... it was obvious they'd get far the minute the draws were made. If we had a better manager we'd have won. How many games can you lose to come 4th ? Amazing Read past the top line .. he made the worst decision ever before pens too.... Seeded competitions and all that ****e man...you could put Bruce in the role and he'd have got them far into the competitions. Gareth Southgate is a crap manager plain and simple.
He's got to tear up the plan in the next game and give something different a go. We can't just wonder into the knockout stages playing this same way or we'll be out straight away. Without my NUFC bias that left hand side is absolutely crying out for Gordon. He just has to play, we need his speed, work rate, ability to stretch the pitch.
If you're harbouring a notion that this manager will change anything in his approach/mentality then you're mistaken. The irony is that the more people make noises for x y or z the less likely Southgate is to go with any of those suggestions. This is because he knows if it works he'll have lost the crusade in his own mind...the change therefore has to be none at all or something far out that nobody external has sighted as the solution.
What’s ****ing absurd is there’s countless friendlies, nations league, qualifiers etc - yet we get to the tournament with not a clue what the best system is, experiment with a full back and the manager lamenting the loss of a dogshit midfielder. Hes utterly useless. Most of these players play high intensity football in an attacking 433. That needs a decent player in the DM role, Rice isn’t it. I’d put Bellingham in there. It requires actual full backs. Why we went with just Shaw, no Chilwell but have Dunk is a mystery. Trippier isn’t even a good right back these days. Foden is never a left winger. Gordon should be in, or Eze. Saka is fine. Kane needs to be instructed or dropped. I’d add Wharton or Mainoo alongside Foden in the middle. it’s not dissimilar to a PL side. You need two per position, but our problem is always the same - we shoe horn players in because on paper they’re our best ones.
Yes I agree. And I don’t recall Eze doing anything when he came on other than losing the ball in a bad position. All he wanted to do like Foden was drift inside. We are the most over rated team. Or the most under performing team. That’s my view.
Think the most damning thing for Southgate is his comments yesterday that we haven’t successfully replaced Kalvin Phillips.
Please tell me he didn’t say that. If so he’s a plonker. He just needs to do these things. Play Gordon on the left. Move Foden into the midfield behind Kane. Play Bellingham and Rice behind Foden. Get shaw back in the team if fit. Push the defensive line 10 yards forward. Press from the front. Play with more pace. Watch Stone he basically slows to walking pace and waits till the attacker is virtually on him before rushing a late panic pass. Play with width and move the ball quickly. Tell Kane to STOP dropping back and play on the last defender or if he doesn’t drop him.
