Dropped by and England and it doesn't surprise me. He can't kick the ball to save his life. He'll need replacing soon for the same reason I feel. Your thoughts?
Great shot stopper and cross catcher - pretty poor at anything else tbh. Not surprised to see him dropped as he is a limited keeper if we are honest. What does frustrate me thought is Henderson, Phillips and Maguire being in that squad. Henderson playing a farmers league and Maguire and Phillips haven't started for Man U/C in 2 years. How they keep being selected is beyond me. Not sure what Ben White did at the WC but for him not to be involved makes it seem very suspect.
I sort of get it with Maguire as we are short of CB's with caps due to injury. BTW if Burn has to cover Botman for a while and does well he could play himself into contention as ideally Maguire should not be getting a look in with the amount of football he is playing. Henderson, maybe I can live with that as he's fit and has been playing and has been an important part of the squad Phillips...!?! He's barely kicked a ball since he's signed for City. It's not even at the point where he is unlucky because Rodri is in front of him. Pep must just think he's cr*p as he doesn't give him a look in. I think Southgate has done well but he needs to start factoring in club form now. In reality Maguire and Phillips should be no where near the squad and be told unless they start getting game time at club level they are not getting back in.
Yeah players that don't even play getting caps must be a sickened for players that are playing well for their clubs and not getting picked.
It's daft. I know he's not played there for us really by Burn as an example would be an instant upgrade on Maguire at LCB surely. He's playing every week, fully switched on and could even provide cover at LB if needed.
He will do what they all do and manage himself out of a job because of blind faith and misplaced loyalty.
How is that over blowing it? Recovery time on a major component for their position is still required. Maybe he’s more apprehensive than normal.
I think he's been criticized a bit harshly. Sure he's not a great kicker of the ball, but he's a great shot stopper, fantastic at handling the ball and his positioning isn't bad either. The only thing that lets him down is his ability on the ball with his feet. He's a perfectly fine option for now.
It will get better, and he can hardly be to blame for that, we've been more open recently when attacking.
Agree - I'm not criticizing the lad just acknowledging that he is a limited keeper - as per your above: good shot stopper, poor distribution, and distribution is a key factor in how England want to play out from the back so it's not a surprise he's been dropped. The amount of kicks Pope sends into the stands is exceptionally frustrating and I'm sure it is something Eddie and the backroom staff are trying to work on but equally looking for a keeper with a better natural ability to play out. Unfortunately there's no evidence he is improving his kicking at all, you can tell he panic kicks the ball instead of even trying to hit a player he just boot's it as far as he can away from danger - sometimes that's fine but you'd think a pro keeper could at least attempt to hit a team mate with a kick.
