The pundits said what I said. You need more up front than someone who just puts the ball in the net. Pretty much every other game has been thrilling. There’s no way Southgate can turn that shipwreck around.
Yeah, it's one of the things I noticed too. Apart from Saka and Walker, nobody was making runs in behind or trying to stretch the defense. Trippier slows the game down on the left by always checking back and not taking the full back on or getting early crosses in. Kane is Kane, never up front, he arrives in the box with the timing of your normal box to box midfielder but he doesn't really run the channels or create space for those behind him. It's a really disjointed team that doesn't look organised at all. The spacing between players is all wrong and the only real width is on the right. Trippier, TAA and Foden all out of the position they would be most useful in and it shows. As Hampy says, not much Southgate is going to be able to do with the squad he chose to take.
You have to blame Southgate for his negative tactics. He has got some world class players at his disposal but sadly he hasn’t got a clue how to utilise them! Can you imagine if Kieran was in charge of this group!
Bang on Warky and SD. I think it’s even worse than being a problem with tactics or players. It was obvious five or ten minutes in that we weren’t going to close down the Danes around our box. I couldn’t believe the space we were giving them. It was an absolute shambles from front to back. The interviews have been bizarre too.
perhaps he has been watching the England cricket team ? start off absolutely awful, lull everyone into a sense of false security then turn it on later in the tournament ! ( that is obviously subject to change )
The starting eleven is massively unbalanced. We're weak at left back, we're weak in central midfield, and our attacking players are not being coached effectively/being played out of position. Hopefully this is an example of the 'underwhelming draw in the second group game' under Southgate and we'll get some momentum going over the next few games like previous tournaments - but I don't think it's working this tournament. One of the main reasons, for me, is the poor standard of coaching. Players seem unaware of what they're meant to be doing. We're not pressing as a team. Granted, that's a lot harder to implement for international football than club football, but I cannot see any evidence of a proper press this tournament. Southgate needs to pick players in their natural positions and roles. You can afford to experiment at club football, not on the international scene. If it means dropping someone like Foden or Trent Alexander-Arnold (despite both being great players for their club sides), then do it. We weren't bold enough to do that in the 90s or the 00s and we missed out on potential silverware because of it. The second reason for our struggle is simply player availability. As a country, we're not producing good centre-backs and we have no proper left-backs in the squad. Partially injury enforced, but the idea that Shaw can get fit - let alone match fit - over the next couple of weeks is naïve, I'd suggest. A lot of Premier League fans laughed at the idea of Leif Davis getting a call up - but honestly, with hindsight, I think he should've been on the plane. if not him, at least have a match fit, proper left back in the squad, even if it was someone who doesn't play for a 'Big Club'. There is not much in the way of positives, but we're technically through to the knock outs so we'll have at least another couple of games to suffer through. The substitutions yesterday were proactive and came early enough to have an impact. Guehi, a gamble in the starting eleven, has done really well. For me, he's been our best player so far. For Slovenia, I think we need to change midfield and attack. Rest Stones for another centre-back. Partner Rice with Mainoo or Wharton. Bellingham in the 10 with Gordon on the left and Cole Palmer on the right. Give Watkins an hour starting to see what he can do.
My defence of Southgate hasn't exactly aged well with that performance against Denmark. Needless to say, if we lost McKenna at Ipswich I wouldn't want Southgate to replace him. I also think this should be Southgate's last tournament and we need a replacement for a fresh pair of eyes/new voice in the dug out. I still stand by the fact that Southgate has overseen the best period of the England national team since Sir Alf in terms of results, deep tournament runs, and improving the rotten culture of the team. Just because he's an underwhelming tactician shouldn't take that away from him. We've had great tacticians in charge of England before (Revie, Capello) and they performed much worse than Southgate. This is Southgate's best squad - on paper - though and he really needs to be doing more to get a tune out of this lot. Playing players in their natural positions and not being afraid to drop underperforming big names should be the first thing on his list. He did the latter for the squad, now he needs to do it for his starting eleven.
Agreed. If they can be more ruthless in front of goal, they'd be my favourites for the tournament. They remind me of Ipswich a little bit - the ability to keep calm in possession with tika taka, but then quickly revert to more direct attacks to open the opposition up when required. Rodri and Fabian Ruiz are a great central midfield pair - puts England's to shame - and their young attacking wide players (Williams and Yamal) are lightning in a bottle. Those lads have big futures and I note Williams has a release clause of £40 million odd - hopefully McKenna's putting in a word with Ashton
It’s just like when we had Mick McCarthy. You might get into the play offs but none of it is enjoyable and ultimately the team is ****.
Southgate has done a superb job but in the big matches has come up short tactically. The last 2 performances have been awful, albeit on paper we are through to the next round and therefore could definitely still improve and click. The last 2 performances have reminded me so much of the golden generation, where we had so many good players yet laboured even against poor teams and none of the players anywhere near replicated their club form. I believe we had a better squad with more depth then in comparison to this one. Generally I think Southgate got the squad right although really should've picked a natural left back who was fit. We lack good central midfielders, we lack left backs and CBs, the ones available now are nowhere near the level of the golden generation. I feel people overhyped the quality of our squad, we have some world class players in other areas many of those who have been included wouldn't have been in previous generations. The squad is unbalanced with a huge problem being that the majority of our best players all want to play in the same area, Kane drops deep, Bellingham and Foden like playing 10, Rice wants to get forwards from deep. We have too many players who want to occupy the same space and be a playmaker, not enough runners or players to stretch the team. In some ways this team reminds me very much of the Ipswich team under McKenna before we brought in Luongo, Broadhead and Hirst (although last nights performance was worse) with the balance being not quite right and performances looking laboured. This all being said, we should be playing better than that with the players we have. Some big calls might be need like dropping big name players in favour of lesser players to make sure the balance is better. We are in desperate need of more width and players who can get in behind. I'm not a huge fan of Sterling but I always felt having him in the team complimented Kane as he could run in behind when Kane dropped deep, we've got too many player makers who want to play in the same area.
Trouble is game is now in the hands of law makers who have never played the game and don’t understand the game! I mean nicko? What the fcuk is that all about?? Yes in cricket but in football really?? The essence of the game has been destroyed in my opinion. I’m concerned that our players will not be VAR savvy enough next season and it will cost us! It comes to something that you have refs sitting in a video booth hundreds of miles away determining the outcome of a game just like last night. It’s all very sad
