I imagine the local newspaper in Stoke did this when they were in the PL. This could be our year, best chance ever to win it They did have a number of CL winners as it turned out. Much more convincing case
Cramp, apparently. Stick Gomez there. He's actually played there a fair amount. Now he's going to give Gordon about three minutes to do something.
He's played in wide areas, but not really stretched the game. He always wants to move into central areas, which is fair enough, because that's where he's most dangerous. Those areas are all packed with players, though.
He's hardly the first England manager to regard the left wing as not a real position, but rather a storage space for someone you can't fit in elsewhere (or don't want to make a hard choice about leaving out "a name"). But generally it was crap. Bellingham will never get criticism but he was annoymous for most of the match and certainly the second half... but is he "too big" to substitute? Mainoo did nothing when he came on. Palmer and Gordon did make a difference in a very few minutes they were given.
I really have no idea how he still being used, probably the most useless co-commentator since Jim Beglin, (which is quite an achievement seeing as though the beeb use both Murphy and Keown), but Dixon constantly contradicts himself and just can't hide his gooner bias. Criticises Kane for the long ball into the corner (not his best pass, but not awful, and within 10 mins says occasionally we need to take a chance with a longer ball to break the lines. A twat of the highest order. England were better than they were against Denmark, but that was not difficult, the last 16 game with the dutch would appear to be likely to be won by the team that plays the least **** on the day. But once again Southgate has fluked his way into the 'easier' side of the draw and maybe just maybe we might actually turn up for a game. Mainoo 2nd half was a positive and Palmer too had some decent involvement.
Should have been Gordon, the last thing we needed was another right footed full back at that point, we needed to someone to provide width and pace on the left, clueless from Southgate but that sums up his whole tournament so far.
If I had any sympathy for Southgate it just evaporated as he complained about the reaction to the games he has served up. I wonder how a failed Middlesbrough manager gets the England job in the first place. He doesen't get what almost everyone sees, we have nothing on the left, we have no balance in the team and little positivity.
Southgate is the international analogue of late-era Wenger in the CL (tournament finals qualification is his CL group stage) . And the analogy completes at the business end with a manager who is clueless + a squad of players who are collectively over-rated. It is what it is, England are meh, and tournament final QFs at best (knowing this means you do not waste time watching them, and waste no emotion when the inevitable comes) .
