As for Wes, some managers lacked the imagination to do anything but judge him by what he couldn't do.
Ireland were the poorer for it.
Ireland were the poorer for it.
Match Day Thread Today's Games
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If you compare their stats you can see that, currently, Mount is a more versatile player than Maddison. Interestingly, Brendan Rogers has started deploying Maddison on the left of midfield, rather than centrally, maybe in recognition that there are both costs and benefits in having a particular player in the team and, in Maddison's case, trying to reduce the costs without detracting too much from the benefits. (As I said in my post, there is a strong resemblance here to how various managers dealt with Wes H.)
Would you say we were the poorer last season for not having Maddison in the team?
I certainly think so!!!
GS says he doesn't play with a No 10, but JM is capable of playing in a variety of positions and I believe Rogers had developed that side of his game.
Pukki is the perfect example of why it simply doesn't make sense to talk about how good a player is without adding "in a team playing this or that way". We heard how our analysts identified Pukki as the ideal player for our team given how we play. Does this make Pukki a "must have" player for any team? No it doesn't. Nor is Maddison a "must have" player for any team. To justify his selection he has to deliver what the team he's playing in need from him.
I'm with Robbie on this, for me and the rest of you who do not see the training sessions it is tough to say how well any player is adapting to what Southgate wants of them. It's clear against the lesser teams we are not struggling for goals or at least an element of creation. What last night highlighted was that we still have a soft underbelly. Is Maddison going to significantly improve us both defensively and in attack? Does he fit the system? Does Mount better? Southgate obviously thinks so on current evidence and he has more evidence to hand. Southgate has broadly speaking got us moving forwards again (I was a serious doubter when he was appointed) so I'll trust his judgement for the time being.
Henderson on the other hand, if we are that poor defensively, then what is he bringing to the party?
Bah!
Henderson on the other hand, if we are that poor defensively, then what is he bringing to the party?
Bah!
England have had this problem for years.
Matt Le Tissier 8 caps.
Tony Currie 17 caps
Alan Hudson 2 caps
Stan Bowles 5 caps
Steve Bruce 0 caps
etc etc
Matt Le Tissier 8 caps.
Tony Currie 17 caps
Alan Hudson 2 caps
Stan Bowles 5 caps
Steve Bruce 0 caps
etc etc
As the good General points out JMF, many players "offer something that is missing", but including them weakens the team in other ways. You keep focussing on the benefit you think Maddison would bring, without addressing the issue of accompanying cost. I remember an interview Adam Drury gave about Darren Huckerby, the main gist of which was that having Hucks in the team significantly increased the defensive load on the other nine outfield players. Drury's comment was that the rest of the team happily shouldered that extra burden because of Hucks' ability to win the game almost single-handedly. The defensive side of football has developed hugely since then and even Huckerby would almost certainly be considered a luxury no top team could nowadays afford. You have to be in the Ronaldo/Messi class to justify being granted the freedom from defensive discipline that Drury says Huckerby enjoyed.
I find it difficult to trust Southgate's selection process, I mean, he even played Fabian Delph for Christ's sake 
What about Guardiola's judgement then Dave? Delph made 22 appearances for Man City in the 2017--18 season (2018 being the year he featured most for England as well). If he does a certain job well enough to get the nod from one of the best managers in the world, he surely can't be so bad as to deserve aI find it difficult to trust Southgate's selection process, I mean, he even played Fabian Delph for Christ's sake
? 
What about Guardiola's judgement then Dave? Delph made 22 appearances for Man City in the 2017--18 season (2018 being the year he featured most for England as well). If he does a certain job well enough to get the nod from one of the best managers in the world, he surely can't be so bad as to deserve a
I never understood his move to Citeh, every time I have seen him play he has been very poor!
Some intriguing looking ties in tonight's league cup.
Colchester v Spurs and Alex Neil vs Pep Guardiola, for example
Colchester v Spurs and Alex Neil vs Pep Guardiola, for example
- Arsenal 19:45 Nottingham Forest
- Colchester United 19:45 Tottenham Hotspur
- Crawley Town 19:45 Stoke City
- Luton Town 19:45 Leicester City
- Portsmouth 19:45 Southampton
- Preston North End 19:45 Manchester City
- Sheffield Wednesday 19:45 Everton
- Watford 19:45 Swansea City
Some intriguing looking ties in tonight's league cup.
Colchester v Spurs and Alex Neil vs Pep Guardiola, for example
- Arsenal 19:45 Nottingham Forest
- Colchester United 19:45 Tottenham Hotspur
- Crawley Town 19:45 Stoke City
- Luton Town 19:45 Leicester City
- Portsmouth 19:45 Southampton
- Preston North End 19:45 Manchester City
- Sheffield Wednesday 19:45 Everton
- Watford 19:45 Swansea City
I wonder if DD, I mean, ColUMike will be going to see The Spuds ?
My goodness, that brings back happy memories. ColUMike! Resurrecting some of his classic posts would be like watching the Golden Age of Comedy. But you have to hand it to him; he was spot on in his heartfelt opinion of the ship-jumping Lambert.
I always thought it was to make up the English numbers, like Rob Green going to Chelsea.
No idea how he gets an England call up though.
I seem to remember Ian Holloway got into deep scheisse and
heavily fined (?) for doing exactly this a few years ago while in charge of Blackpool?
So why nominate a squad of 26+ players....if you're not supposed to use them?
Crawley beat Stoke and Colchester beat Spurs to progress to the next round of the Carabao Cup!!
Cue Colu Mike 7 'risen from the dead!!'
Cue Colu Mike 7 'risen from the dead!!'
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