The problem England might have going forward is that their U21s spend a lot of time playing at levels that aren’t high enough. That squad should be a gateway to the first team, yet there are lads playing at places like Bristol Rovers and Cardiff. The likes of Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Samuel Illing Junior and Jude Bellingham went abroad to play in the top flight, which exposes them to elite men’s football. I look at England and outside of Bellingham, Kane and maybe Foden, I’m not seeing much in the way of world class talent in that squad and the players coming through don’t inspire confidence either. Compare that to Germany, Spain etc, who consistently have squads teeming with talent playing at the world’s biggest clubs. I think for England to progress in the future, the Premier League needs to introduce either an incentive for playing U21 home grown players or a rule that states some have to play a certain amount of games. The likes of Spain, Italy, Germany, Holland and Belgium all have reserve sides that play in the men’s league set up. Even Scotland and Faroe Islands have reserve sides in their respective pyramids. I think for England to advance, EFL clubs need the option to enter a reserve or U23 team into the appropriate regional leagues, with the proviso that they cannot be promoted any higher than Step 3 on the pyramid (Northern Premier League/Isthiman League/Southern League etc). That would get them game time in a meaningful, competitive environment, in front of actual fans against men’s teams instead of meaningless reserve games against other stiffs and fringe players.
This is bollocks. We've regularly switched systems over the years he's been in charge, with a gradual transition from a back 3 to a back 4 as the quality of players has improved. The "he won't change his system" line is frequently thrown at managers and it seems like you've just reached for a popular line there regardless of whether it makes any sense. This is the thing. Southgate is unpopular and so it's always open season to sling whatever criticisms at him, even if they make absolutely no sense. It's the same with most England managers and it's becoming more common at club level too. Southgate will probably be replaced later this summer by Graham Potter and he'll get all the same criticisms. We've been **** so far at this tournament and I'm not particularly hopeful of it improving, and it is of course the responsibility of the manager. But that doesn't mean that absolutely everything he does is wrong, or that we should be constantly in search of the next thing to rage at him over.
hes always played with 2 base midfielders, thats a fact not going into every nuance of change hes ever made,I had to go look back at 2018, I forgot alli and lingard were even there, I'm not applying to be england manager nor writing articles for the athletic, but hes extremely pragmatic, be it a back 3 which is very defensive maybe it will win the tournament, but its not worked so far, scoring early goals against croatia and italy and still losing sometimes i feel like you go against the grain just to be seen as different, you genuinely wanted allsopp to stay
Nobody is saying everything he does is wrong, it’s just becoming clearly apparent that he can’t get enough things right to get us over the line. IMO.
Sadly Soutgate has a defenders attitude, keep it solid, and hope for a bit of inspiration. Little like Rosie in that regard, we have the tools to rip teams a new one if they are allowed off the leash, alas he won't, hence why the likes of Grealish and Maddison aren't in the squad, Bobby Robson had a similar dilemma about Gazza when he first hit the scene, his famous quote being 'we need 2 footballs on the pitch, one for us and one for Gazza', but we all know how that turned out. I desperately hope he decides to go for it, and let them express themselves, but I just can't see him moving away from his tried and tested formula, that's seen us come up just short time and again.
FYI Leon...My next novel features DSI Joe Distell (Retired), 'The Hull Detective' and a series of 12 cold case stories set in and around this gaff.
Will your detective bring the bottle throwers from the derby to justice as the local plod haven’t managed and it now a cold case?
Oddly enough there is a reference to the worlds biggest ever local derby in them there pages. The derby that makes Boca Juniors vs River Plate look like a Sunday school outing.
Another game. I have six hours to clear my head of what has gone before, all of it. I want England to succeed, and for all I detest the man, yes, I want Kane to be succesful. Clean slate, we go again. (Come 10pm I may not be feeling so magnaminous.)
Apropos of nothing really but just listened to a short interview with Benjamin Sesko, Slovenia’s striker, currently playing in Germany. Interview was done in perfect English, presumably he’s fluent in Slovenian and I guess he speaks German too. Impressive for a 21 year old.
BTW...DSI Distell has traced his ancestor back to a time when the English were in Normandy, hence the French sounding surname..Wife is Ingrid...They live in Swanland. His sidekick is Dan Schilling and their local is Duke of Cumberland in North Ferriby.
