Sooooo .. 2 x 1-0 snore fests with one addition required due to injury .. think we got enough defenders but got a hunch he may take ward-prowse for set pieces .. just be glad to get the man City and Chelsea lot back involved tbf .. we've been poor without them .. Grealish apart.
We are ****e...we will win fook all....Southgate hasn't got a clue. Last 2 friendlies before major tournament and he rests hid first team. What a load of cack
These friendlies are a bit pointless but it's hard to criticise Southgate for not playing his first 11? O.K,it doesn't give us much of an idea as to his thoughts in terms of his strongest side but by the same token it doesn't give the rest of Europe any idea either.
****ing hell mate that's a bit over the top. Most players needed a rest after an extended season in Europe. I think our first 11 is one of the best in world football. Maybe questions over maguire and stones at the very top level but they still play every week for the top 2 teams in the Prem. It's when you start going to the likes of mings that we look very shallow in the department. We also lack creativity in midfield which is why I think 2 of Bellingham/foden/grealish should play in the middle with Henderson as it will allow us to control the ball in there while still having plenty of options up top. Southgate isn't the best tactically that's for sure but he's a great man manager and if we're lucky with injuries we have a great chance based solely on the players at our disposal.
Ben White has been called up to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold in England's Euro 2020 squad. I'm not sure why he's a late inclusion, I'd put him alongside Maguire in the starting XI (Stones and Mings are both an accident waiting to happen). In fact, it's ironic that Southgate is getting criticised for playing fringe players in the friendlies, but if anything, I think they showed that White and Ward-Prowse should have been in the final 26.
It was way over the top. Especially given the structure of Euros, where the top 2 from each group qualify along with 4/6 3rd place sides. Avoid defeat against Croatia and we've pretty much qualified. We can grow into the tournament slowly and use the group games as tune-up matches. The route to the final is also harder if we top the group than if we finish 2nd/3rd. Personally, I quite like having a shorter camp and it's great that we've made sure all the lads have been able to spend time with their families.
But every tournament we seem to get better the more we play together. Surely this was an opportunity missed to get a head start
Doesn’t matter what happens, I’ve looked at the possibilities, & probability from other groups. 2nd Round will be either France, Germany or Portugal, unless Hungary spring a HUGE surprise, if we win the group. If we finish 2nd, likely to be Spain. 3rd place finish, likely to be Belgium. So the obvious thing to do is, just win the ****ing group. If we can’t get at least 7 points from our group, then we don’t deserve anything from this tournament. Unfortunately failure will cost Southgate his job, anything less than 1/4’s will be seen as a fail. First thing is to just get a winning mentality, win the group & go from there. I know the whole 1 game at a time, I agree with that, but we do need to win the group. I’ve seen glimpses of these 2 friendlies, but they mean nothing anyway, just a chance for Southgate to see the players in action. I want to see Southgate succeed, the last World Cup was the best in a tournament since ‘96 & ‘90, both were with English managers in charge. It just feels so much better. I just don’t think it’d have the same impact if, say Klopp or Pep was England manager & we won a tournament.
Just watching a replay of the Romania game, definitely a penalty. At first I thought the pulling from the defender was the problem then he dived, but the slow motion showed that after the pulling, he caught Grealish’s knee.
I would have seen it yesterday, but the Mrs needed to go out as the 2nd half was kicking off. All I saw was a load of people slating Grealish on social media, so first time seeing it. However, I’ll take the award.
Dear England A message from Gareth https://www.theplayerstribune.com/posts/dear-england-gareth-southgate-euros-soccer
