England Vs Scotland - Friday 18th June, 8pm.

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Kane was far from great but he really wasn't as bad as people are making out. When he drops deep some people moan that he should be in the box, and when he doesn't drop deep the same people moan that he's not influencing the game at all. He's not quite at it but at the end of the day, we're not creating chances for him. Simple as that. He had two half chanced today at best.
Have to disagree, thought he looked very lethargic and indecisive
After watching bits of it again ( glutton for punishment) we were so slow to the ball,didn't complete for the second ball and totally toothless up top.
The two holding midfield players is a head scratcher, its not like we were playing Brazil...
You’ve got some stomach watching that twice 😂 completely agree on the infamous “double pivot” - watched enough of that boring shite under mourinho
 

Yep sorry. Always about playing to strengths and not enough honesty about Kane taking control and doing more.

Kane is a long way off being a very good striker at present let alone a World class one

Lukaku at the moment would be infinitely better than Kane even with the so called lack of service.

Kane is simply in because of his reputation and being the captain. That aside no justification right now.

Hopefully it changes but it's hope more than expectation as things stand.
 
Have to disagree, thought he looked very lethargic and indecisive

You’ve got some stomach watching that twice 😂 completely agree on the infamous “double pivot” - watched enough of that boring shite under mourinho

Yeah, he was poor. But he wasn't alone, yet he seems to be getting the bulk of the blame. Nobody played to an acceptable level yesterday other than the back line, Foden and Mount, and obviously those two are capable of so much more.
 
Yeah, he was poor. But he wasn't alone, yet he seems to be getting the bulk of the blame. Nobody played to an acceptable level yesterday other than the back line, Foden and Mount, and obviously those two are capable of so much more.

I was disappointed by Mount last night..... He's proving less of an all round presence than I was anticipating in this tournament so far.

I hope he's not burned out by the Chavs having such an long, intensive season.
 
With James I could understand it a little last night as Robertson and Tierney on their left will cause anyone problems if they play well.

Outside of Kane not performing our biggest issue right now, for me, is Rice/Phillips. Against sides we should be beating they should never play together. And Rice needs to move the ball much more quickly and positively, as he regularly does for West Ham. But together they slow things down for us far too much, and it sets the tempo for the whole game. We are crying out for Jude Bellingham.
IMO the biggest issue is how we are using the FB's. I'll leave the debate about individual aside as it's not that important for now but BOTH FB's were very, very deep yesterday.

This has a profound effect on how we manufacture our attacks. The biggest disappointment was Scotland played with a back 3. The easiest way to beat a back three is to go around them down the sides as back three's play narrow and ultimately control the spaces between the width of the box. We didn't do that at all (we attempted 3 crosses from our FB's all night, Robertson created 11 on his own!).

To play deep is clearly an instruction as it was exactly the same when Tripps and Walker played in the previous game. Also, in both games now it's clear we are not looking to use them to progress the ball and link play in the oppo half, they barely touch the ball in the oppo half.

It means we aren't stretching the oppo, it doesn't matter if we invert the FB's or have them stay wide to create width, if they play inverted then it's the wide AM that should be overlapping or just staying wide to stretch the pitch.

The knock-on is oppo always defend with a numerical advantage, a back three isn't put under duress about having to make a decision of remaining narrow or being forced out wide and out of shape to stop a cross etc. Basically, they are set, in shape.

Without them involved in the build-up, even used as a wall pass from Midfielder with a one-two there nothing to cause problems for the oppo defence, this massively reduces the space that Kane has, in fact, it means Kane has none at all to work with, as the CB's can remain in shape and narrow, even if he looks for space across the line, they can just pass him off between them.

On the very rare occasion Shaw went forward we created spaces in their defence.

It doesn't matter who the personnel is be that the FB's, midfield (Mount, Sterling, Foden, Grealish or Kane, Sancho, Rashford) the problem will still be there is he don't push our FB's up.
 
I was disappointed by Mount last night..... He's proving less of an all round presence than I was anticipating in this tournament so far.

He's done alright in the two games but hasn't hit the level he's capable of. But we're not getting the ball to the likes of him and Foden anywhere near enough like their clubs sides do. I have a feeling the game on Tuesday will be a bit of a turning point for us, and one or two players will click into gear. But obviously it's only a feeling and remains to be seen in a few days time.
 
He's done alright in the two games but hasn't hit the level he's capable of. But we're not getting the ball to the likes of him and Foden anywhere near enough like their clubs sides do. I have a feeling the game on Tuesday will be a bit of a turning point for us, and one or two players will click into gear. But obviously it's only a feeling and remains to be seen in a few days time.

That's why I'd like to see him deeper as part of a 3 with Rice + Phillips/Bellingham/Grealish depending on the opp.... We'll need that extra body and energy as the tournament progresses too.

....But Gary.
 
That's why I'd like to see him deeper as part of a 3 with Rice + Phillips/Bellingham/Grealish depending on the opp.... We'll need that extra body and energy as the tournament progresses too.

....But Gary.
I'd be surprised if changes aren't forthcoming in the game on Tuesday. If fullbacks aren't going to be pushing on then pick your best defenders and drop the 2 holding players. I'd mix it up and pick Bellingham in next game.

Grealish should have started against Scotland - it was tailor made for him, but think Gareth is just digging his heels in at this point. Whenever he plays for england he's our best player and still the only guy that can do what he does. If he starts yesterday we'd have won that game, simple as.
 
We absolutely have to find a way to start getting the best out of Kane. Without clever movement around him he's struggled. It's all well and good having all these creative midfielders but we've got one quality goalscorer and he's looked a shadow of himself. I think Grealish at 10 and Sancho and Serling/Rashford either side of him could work.
 
I'd be surprised if changes aren't forthcoming in the game on Tuesday. If fullbacks aren't going to be pushing on then pick your best defenders and drop the 2 holding players. I'd mix it up and pick Bellingham in next game.

Grealish should have started against Scotland - it was tailor made for him, but think Gareth is just digging his heels in at this point. Whenever he plays for england he's our best player and still the only guy that can do what he does. If he starts yesterday we'd have won that game, simple as.

Gary should have gone for 5 x RBs then and picked WanBissaka too. :sherwoodlol:
 
I'd be a neutral more or less in that match yday and my god England fans get a grip never heard anything like it.

Scotland obviously played out of their skin yday and probably won't play anywhere as good for the tournament.

Foden and Kane were awful yday but that's about it for me. It had nothing to do with Southgates tactics, they started very quick, to me it seemed a slightly immature performance. They allowed it to become the emotional Derby it was.

Fans crying all over the place and the media about England were awful, maybe I've watched spurs too much this year but fuck me. Another day they would've had 3 goals just one of those games.

To me the last 2 England games theyve looked more a team than I think I've ever seen at a finals since the 1998 team. They're creating chances, they're playing a particular way so have an identity, they also will probably qualify for the next round.

Belgium, France, Italy, England seem to be the top teams in the competition based on performances. Holland and Spain will always be dangerous aswell. There's no clear frontrunner for me so if you're crying over England's performances get a grip.

Scotland well done yday they played above their usual standard to match England. If they were able to play like that all tournament they probably would've done alright but I think they will probably lose to croatia and England will beat Czech.
I agree, though I would say that our performance was lacking. I can accept that though at this early stage.
I think too many expect us to just run over any opposition we face, and a lot of disrespect was shown to the Scots before a ball was kicked. Many were predicting 4-0 up to 8-0 score lines, so they obviously hadn’t watched the Scots against the Czechs, who have beaten us previously.

Having said that, I think the England team showed the Scots too much respect and played well within themselves, regardless of who was on the pitch. I don’t think we saw Shaw get beyond their fullback once, whilst James turned into Kyle Walker and kept turning back to lay the ball off. That one cross to Kane should have woken him up to the damage he could do with his crossing, but he just didn’t do it.

So a disappointing performance overall, but I’d rather have that at this point than in the knockouts.
 
I agree, though I would say that our performance was lacking. I can accept that though at this early stage.
I think too many expect us to just run over any opposition we face, and a lot of disrespect was shown to the Scots before a ball was kicked. Many were predicting 4-0 up to 8-0 score lines, so they obviously hadn’t watched the Scots against the Czechs, who have beaten us previously.

Having said that, I think the England team showed the Scots too much respect and played well within themselves, regardless of who was on the pitch. I don’t think we saw Shaw get beyond their fullback once, whilst James turned into Kyle Walker and kept turning back to lay the ball off. That one cross to Kane should have woken him up to the damage he could do with his crossing, but he just didn’t do it.

So a disappointing performance overall, but I’d rather have that at this point than in the knockouts.

At the end of the day, a motivated Scotland played really well on the night, to there maximum level. We didn't quite simply, and fell well short of ours. But we didn't get beat and we've got 4 points from 6 without Kane turning up yet and nobody really excelling. I have a feeling we'll be a team that perform much better when we're not expected to win, such as against a Portugal or Italy etc. I believe at some point in this tournament, someone like Foden or Kane is going to produce a really big performance seemingly from nowhere.
 
I always think he's really good for West Ham generally. He actually moves with the ball at times. For England he plays it far too safe and simple. Does his job but offers no more than that. He looks far classier in a West Ham shirt.
Classy???

West Ham shirt???

:avbnaa:
 
I was disappointed by Mount last night..... He's proving less of an all round presence than I was anticipating in this tournament so far.

I hope he's not burned out by the Chavs having such an long, intensive season.
I think Gilmore did a number on him

England’s best player was Foden and they subbed him?

Pickford had a good game imv as the busier of the two keepers
 
I think Gilmore did a number on him

England’s best player was Foden and they subbed him?

Pickford had a good game imv as the busier of the two keepers

So long as he keeps his head, I like Pickford.... Still young; solid future.
 
Yep sorry. Always about playing to strengths and not enough honesty about Kane taking control and doing more.

Kane is a long way off being a very good striker at present let alone a World class one

Lukaku at the moment would be infinitely better than Kane even with the so called lack of service.

Kane is simply in because of his reputation and being the captain. That aside no justification right now.

Hopefully it changes but it's hope more than expectation as things stand.
I wouldn't say Kane is in the England team on reputation, he's in it because he is a very good striker, most probably the best out and out striker for a generation.
He hasn't played well so far but hopefully Southgate will stop trying not to lose and unleash the attacking players and try and win.
 
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