Tomori and Colwill on the bench and he brings on Maguire in a friendly. What does that achieve? A bit of charity game-time for a man who's not playing. Awful management.
I keep thing I've gone back in time to see us under JM, Nuno or Conte. 8 attempts in 80 mins Pointless sideways passing only to go backwards. Awful football to watch
That was an excellent move. Awful defending, though. Probably isn't helped by having two left-backs confusing each other.
I remember when Birmingham retired his number when he left them, and I thought how ridiculous that was. It shows what do I know and how that a player like that must be a complete generational talent. He was unbelievable tonight. And he’s only 20. It’s mental.
Also very nationalist/imperialist. And the lyrics suck. Talks about expanding the empire and getting all the stronger. Meanwhile here we are, taking six months to fix a pothole. Nice tune though.
England boss Gareth Southgate has condemned the "ridiculous treatment" of Harry Maguire, saying the criticism the defender has faced is "a joke": https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66793217 I've been puzzled by his treatment of Maguire, but something he says here made it click. "It's a joke. Not by the Scottish fans but by our own commentators, pundits or whatever it is." "They've created something that's beyond anything I have ever seen." It's him. He's seeing himself in Maguire. The penalty miss in 1996 and all of the **** that he got afterwards. He is Maguire.
I still think it was ridiculous . But I can now at least understand their reasoning. Phenomenal player already and the fact he’s only more or less at the beginning of his career is scary. I can see him being a genuine contender for the Balon d’Or sooner or later, all this talk of it being a battle between Haaland and Mbappe for a few years, Bellingham will have something to say about it I feel.
I think that Southgate thinks he’s doing Maguire a favour too, he’s not. The best thing is for Maguire to be out of the spotlight for a while. Getting called up to England when he isn’t playing for Utd - just like Phillips at City - is only going to increase scrutiny and slander, especially whenever he does something bad, like last night! If Walker or Tripps scored that own goal there’d be little talk other than them being “unlucky” but because it’s Maguire everyone’s taking the piss.
Bellingham is the closest thing to the 'complete footballer' I have ever seen. Struggling to think of anyone else in my time who has possessed such a broad range of skills and at such quality in each.
I’d probably say Rooney was close to a complete footballer in recent times. Albeit despite being an elite player and having a hugely successful career, I always felt he never quite hit his maximum potential. Edit: PNP’s Bale’s shout is very good too. Another who perhaps didn’t hit their max, albeit that was largely down to injuries.
Nowhere near as good defensively. Bellingham operates in every area of the pitch with ease. Rooney was useful in the box defensively but couldn't tackle without fouling. Bale was never great defensively and it got worse as he pushed further up the pitch.
