Catching up on the Copa America reports. Three observations come to mind: 1) The footballing world doesn't comprehend the fact that whilst the sport has grown enormously in North America since the 1994 world cup, it is still way down the priority list compared to other sports. 2) The American sporting community cannot comprehend the mentality of the football community, especially that of Central/South America and large regions of Europe to whom football resembles open war rather than the family-friendly day out cultivated by American sports. 3) We caught a glimpse into the very possible future in which American ownership and influence over the European game grows, and half time becomes a 'show' instead of a short break for people to take a wee and buy a pint.
Agreed. Romero was imperious. He and Martinez, the keeper, were the ones organizing the side. He may have been Argentina's second best player after Lautaro Martinez, the forward. He is the epitome of a ball playing CB, who also got the aggression exactly right at this tournament. I think he gets it right in general. That crucial red card was due to Klopp influenced bad officiating, not bad play. The way Sanchez shined was really very interesting. Scaloni did wonderfully well making the best of what he had. Sanchez's job was to be the last man back, with the task of keeping anyone from getting in on goal. His ability to race back and win challenges is exceptional. They didn't pass to him much, both because he doesn't have great close control and because there would be no one behind him if he did lose the ball. He was also an aerial threat, with what probably should have been two goals. (One was chalked off for an offside that probably wasn't--no auto offside at the Copa, just crappy camera angles.)
I think the best summary of Southgate's tenure is this: He was incredible at literally every aspect of the job, apart from the bit that takes place between kick off and the final whistle.
His contract expires in December, though he did say he'll leave before the WC qualifiers begin a while back
Qualifying for the world cup doesn't start until March 2025, we have the joys of the nations league in the autumn. And its also worth noting that getting relegated in the last nations league will leave us unseeded for the world cup qualifying draw and with only group winners definitely going we may have to beat a decent team to qualify.
Right decision. I said either way he should step down, shame it’s not as a European champion though. His overall record was superb and his successor has to win either World Cup or euros to be an improvement. Exciting football but an exit at the group stage or quarter finals won’t cut it anymore
On the balance of things, he leaves with his head held high and can be very proud of what he has accomplished. But in the pages that won't be included in the history books, we might read a story of a manager who benefitted enormously from an outstanding set of players, all emerging at the same time and - importantly - all gaining massively from the influence of top foreign coaches now ubiquitous at PL level. The same pages will also tell the story of how he benefited from successive favourable draws, and that when all is said and done, there wasn't a single game won against opposition who could have expected to beat us. Defeats to Croatia, Belgium, Italy, France and now Spain provide ample evidence of this.
This "outstanding set of players" IMHO is a myth in the making. The style of play, for the best set of players he had at any given time, is fair game for debate. To suggest he squandered an "abundance of riches" is IMHO part of a underlying problem (the England squad is not as good as many supporters may believe) .
Your comments strike a cord as I've been thinking/saying the same for a number of years now. I do wonder if I'm looking at a different game sometimes, but I learned a long time ago to ignore the tsunami of s**** that one reads in the media nowadays....
I disagree with this. On paper, the only squad that looked stronger than England was France. Even looking at the eventual champions, the only players I would have pinched before the tournament (Yamal was still an unknown) would have been Rodri and Ruiz instead of Rice and Mainoo and Williams instead of one of the attackers. Spain's wider squad was nowhere near as strong as ours. The difference is they had a clear identity and style of play, and stuck to it. We didn't. That falls on the manager.
Southgate's definitely raised the bar for the next manager, whoever that ends up being. He even largely had the media on side for most of his time at the helm, which is remarkable. His greatest achievement was eliminating the cliqueness of the England squad.
please log in to view this image Club goals last season: Kane: 44 goals. Watkins: 27 goals. Foden: 27 goals. Palmer: 25 goals. Bellingham: 23 goals. Saka: 20 goals. Bowen: 20 goals. Gordon: 12 goals. Eze: 11 goals. Gallagher: 7 goals. Just for comparison, Morata got 21, Yamal got 7 and Williams got 8.
