Rossman Posted July 15 Share Posted July 15 12 hours ago, TibBo said: really feels like England are playing with 10 men whenever Kane is on the pitch though. The tactics just don’t suit his style of play. In 3 hours of play between the finals of euro 2020 and 2024 he touched the ball once in the opponents box. We also have Declan sideways, backwards pass Rice. He doesn't play like that for Arsenal, so I don't get why he's so shit for England. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted July 15 Paid Members Share Posted July 15 10 minutes ago, Rossman said: We also have Declan sideways, backwards pass Rice. He doesn't play like that for Arsenal, so I don't get why he's so shit for England. Probably either instructions from the manager or the same maddening inferiority complex that has plagued the team for ages. Likewise the best player in the Prem, the best player in La Liga and the top scorer from the Bundesliga all looking crippled by fear because they aren't playing with the same standard of teammate they get to every week, despite playing with each other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SuperBacon Posted July 15 Members Share Posted July 15 I feel bad for Jordan Pickford and Marc Guehi. Both deserve to be commended for their performances and were brilliant. The rest were absolutely rubbish. There are reasons for that sure (wrong system, tactics, fear, knackered, couldn't get their Coco Pops in Germany) but at the end of the day they were simply shit for 95% of the tournament. They aren't bad players and dont turn crap overnight. Get that mad fucker Poch in with his lemons and "cosmic energy" and have a laugh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted July 15 Paid Members Share Posted July 15 As much as Southgate has driven a more positive attitude towards England and has gathered together a (mostly) likeable team, he's clearly reached the ceiling of what he can achieve. The stats tell us that when England play really good teams in tournaments, they don't win. They stumbled their way to the final without playing well at any point and it's clearly not because the players are good enough. Southgate's conservatism and lack of bravery with his team selections, being reactive rather than pro-active and being too late with his substitutions - these are why England haven't won anything despite now having the most complete set of players I've ever seen available to this country. Having a go at Alexander-Arnold and Foden doesn't work for me. These two players walk into every country's team in the world but you watch how they're asked to play for England compared to their clubs and there lies a glaring problem. You can't play them all and I'm not actually that bothered that Palmer or Gordon or Toney didn't get much football, it's what he's doing with what he's got. He showed some semblance of backbone in taking Kane off in games but England playing a lot better when he came off should have been his indication that Kane shouldn't be starting. A hard call, obviously, but this isn't a team set up to create chances for a central striker so he was peripheral. But then you look at Spain and they're set up in a similar way with Morata, but they were more direct and positive and Morata didn't go wandering off all over the pitch. He held his position. So if he insists on continuing to play Kane then he has to hold his position. I don't know if that's an instruction or Kane's choosing to do that. Kane isn't good enough on the ball to be a playmaker and he just gets in Bellingham and Mainoo's way. He's one of the best at finishing but he's also good enough as a hold-up forward to bring those around him into play. It's a bit of a muddle, really, but the FA need to make a decisive and positive decision and bring in a strong personality who knows how to win big games. I just hope it's not Klopp because I love him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SuperBacon Posted July 15 Members Share Posted July 15 30 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said: Morata didn't go wandering off all over the pitch. He held his position. True, but att times he dropped in to allow his wingers to push up and bring them into the game, which is a real strength of his. I was really impressed by Morata this tournament. 32 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said: He's one of the best at finishing but he's also good enough as a hold-up forward to bring those around him into play. Absolutely, but again as per the Morata point, if he's doing that he needs willing runners (like Son, like Rashford) to be making those darts. At no point did anyone do that or attempt to do that over the entire tournament. It also goes to show that Watkins when he came on had fuck all chances and anything into him as well. They just aren't a creative team at the end of the day. It's a shame that we now think 442 is a dirty word as someone like Watkins would work really well in a 2 with Kane, but there was no way Southgate was going to do that. He, like everyone else, is far too obsessed with this "two number 10" business and is afraid to try something that while "old hat" probably would've worked a lot better. He also sacrificed TAA at RB, for someone who just runs fast (Trent is no slouch though) and didn't take a creative passer such as Grealish or Maddison, which are the most glaring omissions for me. Every decent teams needs at least one of those profile of player when games are tight. He got praised for making bold decisions in his squad selection but ultimately he wasn't brave at all with his line ups or subs, which is a bit sad. 2x finals in 2x Euros and 3x semis in 4x tournaments is a great achievement, and I think Southgate seems a decent man and I don't like to badmouth him, but he's got to leave. I genuinely think Poch would be a good fit. He's really weird about transfers, and his training at club level clearly knackers people out, so I think he'd fit international football. Obviously he'd make Connor Gallagher captain and start Danny Rose at left back but these hurdles can be tackled when we get there. There was a moment last night where England having scored were buoyant, and from a throw in on the Spanish 18 yard box, Walker threw it to Stones on the half way line who played it back to Pickford who launched it all the way for a Spanish goal kick. That summed it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fog Dude Posted July 15 Share Posted July 15 19 hours ago, SpiritOfTheForest said: On their way to the final, Spain beat Italy, Croatia, Albania, Germany and France. England got past Slovenia, Denmark, Serbia, Georgia, Slovakia, Switzerland and the Netherlands. A victory for football tonight, If England had to play 7 games to get to the final and Spain only 5, then I'd have had a lot more sympathy for the excuse about the players being knackered last night. What's happened is you've moved Georgia into the wrong list there, but it's actually instructive to look at what happened in Spain's rare matches against lesser opponents: a second XI still beat Albania (who still had a chance to make it out of the group going into that game) and then in the knockouts they stuffed Georgia 4-1. England's results against "inferior" opposition, on the other hand, went: 1-0, 1-1, 0-0, 2-1 (AET) and 1-1 (won on pens). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaitoRyo Posted July 16 Share Posted July 16 Southgate has resigned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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