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Would have been nice to see this fabled extra gear exhibited in the last 3 games. If Gary thinks we can just switch it on when it's crunch time then we're on a hiding to disappointment
If I were an England fan, the thing that would really concern me is the inability to generate a decent volume of quality chances. I read they have something like 7 SOG in their first 3 matches. They have no clear attacking strategy and aside from a few short stretches in matches, don't really look all that dangerous.
It's sort of like periods for us under Jose where we were getting results without generating many chances, when those chances dried up or we played quality opposition, we really struggled.
It'd be one thing to say, sure, we've only scored 2 goals but we've had a lot of chances and it's only a matter of time for them to start going in. That's not the case though. England are barely generating chances and it seems strange to me people would think they would start doing that as the quality of opposition increases.
We haven't been great. We've been functional but we've been in complete control of each game, even when the oppo has applied pressure and upped the tempo against us, more importantly, we've looked comfortable at the back when we've been pressed!! This has always been our issue and where we've lost games. Iceland is perhaps the most extreme, the moment they pressed us (which wasn't very often) we coughed up possession and looked extremely vulnerable. Even worse is that it affected our "game state", this undefinable presence that we can all feel as too do the players on either side.
Whilst Mings has defended just fine, his inability to join attacks with progressive line braking passes and bringing the ball out of defence is non-existent, Maguire and Stones both capable of doing this, which allows us to draw oppo onto us, step into midfield with the ball or as evidenced last night play some very incisive balls to advanced forwards or FB's pushed higher and staying wide creating space in oppo defence.
I get wanting to see a higher tempo game from us but screaming at the moon about having 2 DM's when we aren't playing 2 DM's is nonsense.
I want to see us play with a higher temp, press more and move the ball faster but aside from Kane the players are there to do that but why do that when you've already qualified, why expend all that energy and go into fatigue against a better side than us which is when you are going to need to do that, to empty yourself. If you go into a game already half-cooked what good is that, especially against better oppo? (Stones went off last night not because of injury but because of fatigue).
We've looked comfortably in every game, even against Scotland where we didn't look good (outplayed in midfield), but I disagree with the commentary around it in that I thought we completely deserved to win that game and were unlucky not to score from our chances we created, which were far bigger opportunities than Scotlands.
We absolutely do need to up our tempo and I'm hoping that we are able to do that in a game when it demands such.
What does Phillips offer as an 8? I'm not certain but for Leeds he plays as a 6, so in my mind he is competing with Rice for the 6 spot. We are essentially playing two dms but one is being used to roam around (Phillips) however I'd rather have someone else play that role, someone who offers more as an 8. That's why I couldn't believe Ward Prowse wasn't selected after a good season and he has the added advantage with his ability in dead ball situations. Can Grealish play in the 8 role? I just think against the better teams we are going to struggle with both Rice and Phillips in the same side
have picked two players that play DM for their clubs doesn't mean they paly DM for England, that simply hasn't been the case in ANY of the games we've palyed.
As I stated during the game (half-time) yesterday to illustrate this, Rice played the holding role all on his own. Phillip's played as an RCB in a back three when we had the ball (or alternated this with Walker, so Walker would play RCB and Phillips would hold the width as RB, this is exactly how we managed to score!! Phillips on the touchline pulls them out towards him, creates the space behind for Saka to continue his run into. This is seriously good movement, very difficult for oppo to cover. I really liked it.
Ward-Prowse is a brilliant freekick taker, wouldn't want him patrolling our midfield for all the tea in China! There might be a time when we will need him, depends who we'll be up against, suspect that if we need to go full Pullis and have Grealish and Kane draw fouls high up the pitch he would be perfect.
So against better teams (dependant on how much better and how they play) will determine how we use our Midfield. I just wish everyone would stop fucking obsessing about them, the way they've been used has been absolutely fine so far. (Scotland we lost the midfield but that was because the Scots overloaded it and we didn't support it with our FB's). The first game Phillips was MoTM and yesterday was really, really inventive in the first half and conventional in the second (before and after subs + played yet another formation different to 1st half), where they controlled the game.
May as well have it’s own thread
so we’ve qualified . Can you please be a bit more attack minded Cpt Waistcoat?
so we’ve qualified . Can you please be a bit more attack minded Cpt Waistcoat?
Yawn.
Let's fucking do 'em. A win and a good performance today will show that the Scotland game was a blip, which can happen to any team.
We have the forward players to beat anybody on our day if used correctly, it's about time Southgate realizes this.
Kane to score and for some numpties to remember what a good player he actually is.
We have the forward players to beat anybody on our day if used correctly, it's about time Southgate realizes this.
Kane to score and for some numpties to remember what a good player he actually is.
At the end of the day, the coward ultra defensive approach will get you so far..... And when you inevitably get knocked out, all you have left is memories of Shite football games.
He pretty much did this all through the last World Cup.
With no real pressure as such today, I really hope Southgate goes with an open, attacking selection.
Use the vast array of attacking talent that you have, for fuck sake.
Prediction: 0-0
Use the vast array of attacking talent that you have, for fuck sake.
Prediction: 0-0
In Southgates footballing career he was pretty defensive midfielder , nothing extraordinary about him , just very conservative. It comes across in his managerial approach
Shouldn't that whole Scotland team self-isolate by the same logic then? Sure they were a lot closer to Gilmour and for longer periods. Just seems bizarre to me.
Henderson in for Mount I reckon - midfield 3 of Rice, Philips and Jordan. Dear me.
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As a Czech supporter, I'm nervous that Southgate will be forced to play a better team than the one he's been picking due to the COVID stuff and also wanting to rest some of his "first choice" players.
It's a strange one though as finishing 2nd in the group is undoubtedly a better result than finishing 1st given the next round matchups, but I'd still like to see a good performance.
It's a strange one though as finishing 2nd in the group is undoubtedly a better result than finishing 1st given the next round matchups, but I'd still like to see a good performance.
So defensive, you may even have called him a defender...
He wants to give the other teams a false sense of security by playing Sterling
the man is a genius
I know it's not a popular opinion but I think Sterling is/was arguably our second best player. OK he's not been as good this season, but he's one of the few players we have who can approach world class levels when he's really at it. He's also our only goalscorer so far let's not forget.
Sterling is one of the least of our problems as far as I'm concerned.
He’s been awful
The game against Scotland , every time he got the ball it was infuriating