We need to start Toney btw. He give us more in 10 minutes than Kane has in 4 games. He’s a nightmare for defenders with his strength, pace and heading ability. The lad should be starting over Kane. Trippier has been awful, surely he gets binned off now. Saka has probably been our most anonymous player this tournament, he’s been really poor and Palmer has looked a level above him whenever he’s come on the pitch. Bin him off as well.
Very much this. I'd also play Eze on the left. Not only was he good going forward but there were a few times he tracked back and made some crucial interceptions. I think him, Toney and Foden will link up well.
Yeah, it was. Not arguing against Toney. I’m saying Kane (and Bellingham) both justified their selection after armchair pundits the length and breadth of England had called for them to be subbed. Me included, btw, I’d have hooked them both off early in the half. And, football being a results business, Gareth Southgate, who would have been expected to resign 5 minutes from the final whistle had we lost, has now earned the right to say to those same armchair critics “Sit down, shut up.”
Oh don’t get me wrong, I’ll support any football supporters right to chat **** while fully convinced he has all the answers Was actually aimed at the ex pros in the ITV studio at half time, none of whom has a single international tournament medal between them. And at least one - Roy Keane, I’m looking at you - who’s international career highlight consisted of a massive public spat with his national coach.
At least Keane gave it to the manager to his face so maybe some justification for him doing so in a studio. Tbh I don't blame the players, not even Trent for being utter garbage. These are all very good players who have proven to be excellent for their clubs. So regardless of the team selection, I do blame Southgate for the performances. Look at it this way, we were **** last season. At least ppl can now understand why winning the FA Cup and the manner of the win against our big rival pretty much got every United fan wanting him to stay. So when England beat Germany in the final Southgate can pretty much expect the same.
He also missed two excellent chances (by his standards) prior to that, so let’s hope he’s got his eye in now.
Always makes me laugh when England pundits talk about individuals not playing how they do for their clubs; he’s not playing for his club now ffs. It’s not the same as playing with the same group of players week in week out. It takes time to make a team, and you have to build momentum, which hopefully we’re doing. We’ll probably look disjointed and awkward against Switzerland too btw, but I honestly only care about winning at this point.
Like I say, it’s a results business. Every neutral wanted Utd to win that final btw, and every one of your rivals wanted Ten Haag to stay
Every country has that issue though. Some raise their game and others don’t. We’ve had the advantage of the manager being in place for years to build a style and it still looks like eleven players who haven’t played together before with no real plan. Playing like **** and stumbling our way through all the way would be glorious but it feels very like one of those ‘go out to the first decent team we play’ tournaments with Switzerland playing the Croatia role.