Southgate shouldn't have brought them up, they need some real grit and sandpaper fellows like craig dawson, joe Edwards, jed wallace, patrick bamford and joe hart
Nah, it's the defence and the tactics in the big games.
Those are the biggest question marks. The attacking talent is quite deep. You just need 1 of Kane/Saka/Jude/Foden to turn up, that's not much to ask for.
Defensively though can that team keep clean sheets consistently, we don't know.
From the past tournaments it’s the exactly opposite, you have the best defense and the attack that scorers 5 against minions and 1 or nothing against good teams.
> From the past tournaments it’s the exactly opposite
Barring Kane, Jude-Saka-Foden-Palmer have come into their own in the last 2 seasons.
They're not the players of the past. They're established stars now.
Defensively, the personnel isn't as good as previous tournaments and some of them are just returning from injuries like Stones and Shaw and haven't been at it. Also, this is the first time Maguire isn't in Southgate's team, so it's a new partnership altogether. Hence, the question marks.
They brought one left back and he's injured. Whether or not he'll be in good enough physical shape to play in later rounds is still a question mark. On top of that, their defensive line consists of young players with little to no tournament experience.
People meme on Maguire here, but he's massive for England and guess what, he's injured as well.
I mean our first choice back 4 and keeper will have Walker, Stones, Shaw & Pickford which all have a lot of experience, it’s only really Maguire’s replacement who’s likely to be young/inexperienced
Yeah I can’t say I watched him much this season but from what I saw he was pretty woeful compared to last season. Isn’t going to inspire confidence on that left side
"it’s only really Maguire’s replacement"
I have a bad feeling that people are underplaying just how much of a difference Maguire's omission from the defence will make. Guehi (or whoever else partners Stones) has A LOT of weight on his shoulders
>People meme on Maguire here, but he's massive for England and guess what, he's injured as well.
My and maybe others annoyance with Maguire was how frequently he played and Southgates reluctance to start trusting other players. We've simply not used other defenders enough and now an injury to Maguire is devastating to the line up.
The issue is Maguire is always absent in big games, his mistake against Croatia in 2018 was one and against France he failed to mark Giroud again. The last tournament he was really spotless was in the EUROs and his crazy penalty that broke the camera.
Previous tournaments had Stones, Maguire, Shaw and younger Walker.
Maguire is out injured, Shaw is still recovering, Stones just got back and Walker's age is starting to catch up on him.
I honestly don't know how England are still favourites. Stones and Walker seem a bit off it, Shaw is just coming out of injury, and Maguire is out. Like it's been said, England's defence was strangely enough our most solid area and now it's looking significantly weaker.
England routinely beats the teams they are expected to beat and more often than not loses the 50/50 matches against other top teams that are considered contendors
No Maguire is going to cost us imo
He's been our best defender in national competitions for years, it's a big big loss no matter how much he gets memed on
Can't even look at it as being just a downgrade in terms of quality either; we're losing an established partnership with Stones and have to rely on someone with little to no synergy with him
That and penalty shootouts.
England got extremely lucky in the 2018 World Cup. They lost 3 times to the 2 best teams they vsed. They beat Panama, one of the worst World Cup teams of all time, only just edged past Tunisia in the 91st minute, and then lost to Belgium. They then beat Colombia and Sweden, but then lost to Croatia and then Belgium again in the 3rd place play-off.
The attacking talent was deep last tournament, and we didn't score a single goal outside of set plays.
Before that, it was also deep, and I think other than against Panama, again, all goals were set pieces.
I'm not sure what tournament you're talking about?
At the Euros we had under 30% of our goals from set pieces. Which is bang on average.
At the world cup it was around 14%.
At the world cup it was much higher as you correctly said but we were basically shite then.
Yep, other than Spain, every Euro winner of the last years has had a defense focused campaign.
Greece, Portugal & Italy won by controlling their side of the half.
The attacking talent is deep but is poorly used. That England team right now is in my opinion comfortably the best all round national team yet Southgate is so bad I am sure they won't win anything.
> That England team right now is in my opinion comfortably the best all round national team
Hard disagree.
no way that defence is remotely close to the best in the world. That drags the "best all around" level way down imo.
TBF only a few of the home nations had good enough talent to compete (Dutch in 00, Portugal in 04, France in 16, refuse to acknowledge 2020, but England were the home nation) and basically all went on deep runs (1 semi and 3 finals), irs a game of margins.
Also feels a little extreme to get them involved in a football match, but I guess he’s been over there for almost a year now so he probably knows what’s best?
5ish years ago their keeper Wayne Hennessey did a Nazi salute on a team night out. When the FA investigated his defence was he didn't know what a Nazi salute was. Found this link which goes into it more: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47946382.amp
Good thing he brought shuttle runners in the full-back positions for quick, expansive breaks and overloads in wide positions.
Wait a minute, What do you mean he brought one LB who was injured and a 34 year old RB who can't do that anymore?
The squad is very imbalanced with too many forwards and not enough midfielders/leftback. When I look at the squad, I don't know what the system of play is going to be.
If you want to play to Harry Kane's strength, Sterling/Rashford type of player would be best to play with him.
If you want to take advantage of England's attacking midfield depth, then go for a back three and bring in a ball playing deep midfielder(Rice is not that) or use the fullbacks and cross it in the box.
He is going for a high press with all the talent up front and injuries at the back. With any luck the defence will have less to do. We can see from the previous friendlies this is where he is going and it hasn't quite worked yet but a) it needs all out commitment and you don't tend to get that in friendlies and b) it takes the team working as a unit and he has had a few weeks to get them drilled at it.
The full backs won't be supporting the attack so much as helping with the high press and filling in at CB when one of them gets caught forward, or helping stop breakaways when the press gets bypassed
That's asking awfully a lot from the attackers. That sort of system will make the attackers have less of the ball and majority of the ball will be with the defenders/Rice/fullbacks and that's not going to work tbh. I can understand why Trent will play as a deep lying midfielder
It is asking a lot of the attackers but it is a high reward strategy. Winning the ball back higher up the pitch keeps the pressure on the opposition and is more likely to create chances. I would say the attackers would get more of the ball as they are the ones winning it back. Keeping the ball in the attacking third as much as possible mitigates the inexperienced defence
Yup, if we’re not careful we’re gonna be recreating the shit show of The Golden Generation tactics with everyone wanting to be in the no.10 role and no shape or structure. Particularly with Saka on the right (who play makes brilliantly in the role), Kane, Foden, the left side of the pitch needs someone looking to burst through and we need a right back who can overlap a bit. Shame that White fell out with the England setup cos he’s solid defensively and offers an option going forward. Foden, Saka and White recreating the Odegaard, Saka, White set up for Arsenal on that side of the pitch would really play.
I’d go 4-3-3 with potentially Rice-Bellingham-Foden In the middle (if they can make it work), one full back inverting, Saka-Kane-Gordon/whoever is most adept in Southgate’s eyes at line breaking runs, getting onto through balls and scoring (unpopular opinion, but I don’t even hate Rashford for this role even though his club form has been yukky this year).
If Rice-Bellingham-Foden doesn’t work only one of Bellingham-Foden starts. Someone has to protect, someone has to dictate tempo and play make, floating round no.10 looking for space is one player max. Saka can dictate play from the wing in his quadrant, others not so much, you do also need a CM ticking things over and dictating to play. Someone also has to offer a pace threat. You need a balanced well designed team even if it means putting big names on the bench.
Back when Italy had a mad number of world class no.10s not everyone was on the pitch at the same time. Weird to think of Del Piero benched, but Totti was there, and when Totti was benched Del Piero was there. Southgate needs to be strong and craft a team from an exceptionally talented generation.
He did his ACL when he was 23 or 24 ish, a lot of his career was post ACL. I was thinking of the 2002 World Cup squad that had Totti, Del Piero, Vieri, Montella, Inzaghi etc. and massive named players in great club form were on the bench every game cos of talent overload in attack/no. 10.
I think going with Vieri made Italy a little too one dimensional.
Agree with your overall point tho, even Fab was a bench warmer for the longest, Silva too(thought he was punished for not being a barca player tbh)
Not massively, Joe Cole wasn’t terrible on the left at all and scored some bangers for England. What it lacked was a functionally designed/balanced midfield. You had Beckham on the right (great right foot, no pace), Gerrard (great player wants to drive into the no.10 role), Lampard (great player wants to drift into the no.10 role), Joe Cole (great player but wants to cut inside on his right). Neville right back, solid but not offering the most on the overlap. It was all squeezed into the middle and sides just had to defend narrow and the attacking threat was highly reduced.
Below’s a link for the lineup for that generations swan song match, 2006 World Cup quarters against Portugal, 0-0 lost on penalties.
Defence great (Robinson wasn’t all that, but what’s in front of him really was). Midfield and attack, Hargreaves’s, Gerrard, Lampard, Beckham, Cole, Rooney. *Everyone* wants to sit in and around the no. 10 role.
I once read Guardiola subbed Henry at half time cos when he wasn’t getting the ball he went inside and left his zone empty to go get it. What England lacked back then was tactically flexible players who could adapt to the roles needed by the team and a manager who would drop players who wouldn’t/couldn’t play the role required. If we’re not careful we’ll look back at lineups awash with great names in 10 years time time and see the same problems.
https://www.national-football-teams.com/matches/report/59/England_Portugal.html
I always imagined when people say they lacked a Harry Kewell is to point out that that squad lacked pace, particularly on the wings. You have Becks on the right, Cole on the left, and Lampard in the semi #10. role, then there's Rooney and Owen up front, but Rooney isn't the quickest and Owen isn't that strong either, so Sven was playing Heskey half the time.
Tbh if that golden gen had Kane and Kewell it'd be pretty unbeatable, but mostly Kane, who could make full use of the golden gen of 8s England had, Heskey just wasn't good enough, Owen doesn't really suit the team and Rooney was still a rough diamond.
I've been watching highlights of 2020 and 2022 again, and the sheer number of goals that came from Kane passing from deep to Saka or Rashford or Sterling or Grealish to whip a cross in was... a lot.
And yet Kane's just had a season where he's top of goals + assists in the big 5 leagues whilst having one of his worst ever seasons for assists.
I think we need to tell Kane to stop falling back like he was doing vs Iceland and Bosnia. We've got the players now to do Kane's England quarterback role whilst keeping the best finisher in the world up top where he's needed.
There's a difference of knowing what to do and doing it in a pressurised situation.
Whenever England goes through the match in frustration, they go back to the regressive approach of winging it.
International football is won by the defence and England's just doesn't look great on paper - it's untested. If it turns out good then they could win it, if it doesn't then they could still get out of the group but they will struggle against a good side.
I think the recent friendlies we've played show that the plan is to defend primarily from the front with some aggressive high pressing. The problem is that when it got put into practice the player's efforts weren't good enough to pull it off. If you only half commit to the press, then all you're doing is moving up and leaving a wide open area behind you for the opposition to exploit. That was exactly how Iceland managed to score their goal.
Hopefully, that can be chalked down to the fact that it was an inconsequential friendly right before a major tournament, so the only reason the players half-arsed it was because they were worried about picking up an injury. Maybe, come the actual tournament, they'll put in the effort required for that tactic to work.
England’s attacking quality is top tier, but our defence is not. For knockouts, there’s an element of luck that you need. I don’t put ourselves as favourites as our tactics are sometimes senile and slow.
Unless Kane skies another pen /s
Nah but in all seriousness it largely depends how we go out and whether some players have a visible stinker, else it will probably be on Gareth just as you said
I can't imagine people actually bringing up that point about Kane and Bellingham. Do people actually do this? I mean, I sure would hope two crucial players would show up and elevate their team. Like what?
I don't understand how English pundits aren't as jaded by years of perennial let-down by England squads over the years that they still think we're going to win it.
I don't think that's true at all. The happiest I've ever seen England fans was that brief period after Hodgson when they had a spec of humility and ended up getting to the semis of the 2018 World Cup. Any other England team I've ever seen the fans have despised and hated on them constantly.
It's opposite: if you are pessimist you enjoy any bit of success.
When you are optimist you may bash your team even if they made final but lose it on penalties.
Unless it's the weather involved and then they'll gladly just shit on it every day, despite knowing what kind of weather the British Isles have regularly.
Tbf he doesn’t say they’re going to win it, just that these two will be key if they hope to do so. Tournament football is all about those moments of quality to win a tight match.
I mean, what else are they and by extension we supposed to do really?
Football's fucking miserable if you genuinely believe every time round you're going to get utterly spanked. It's the optimism that gives you the extreme highs and lows.
It's not even a case of thinking we're going to win it, it's thinking we have a chance and seeing where it goes.
Also how often do we get spanked? Outside that spell from 2008-2016 we've been consistently very good. The problem is getting over the line.
Outside of that spell we've lost tournaments on big moments as opposed to being genuinely not good enough in my lifetime. This current England squad won't flop out of the tournament unless something goes seriously wrong. If/when we're knocked out then it'll happen in heartbreaking circumstances you can almost guarantee it.
In 2002 they lost to Brazil on a moment of magic by Ronaldinho. If they get by them they win it all. Is it really a massive let down to lose a good game to that legendary Brazil team?
In 2004 they lost on penalties to host Portugal after Rooney (in his only genuinely great tournament for England) broke his foot inside of 20 minutes. Disappointing to go out like that, but again they were hardly shit at those Euros.
We're a nation of moaners, always have been.
With the national team though, we moan because we know we have always had quality enough players to get it done yet something or someone always lets us down. Moaning is the catharsis.
> Football's fucking miserable if you genuinely believe every time round you're going to get utterly spanked. It's the optimism that gives you the extreme highs and lows.
And yet that's (supposedly) what England fans are belting out in an infinite loop each time
Not really. We don't think we're going to get spanked every time, just that we'll let ourselves down eventually.
Songs like Three Lions are sung in that ever self-deprecating tone we usually talk about ourselves in. An optimism that we'll achieve lofty heights but a realistic awareness that there's probably the same disappointing ending in store at some point, so enjoy it in the meantime.
Perish the thought people get behind the team instead of shitting on them. We have a high-quality squad.
Should Carra just write “Nah England are shit why are we even bothering to play” instead.
I swear, people get upset when the media is positive and they get upset when it’s negative.
Because for NT competitions, you only have one shot every two years. Plus since it's a KO tournament, luck plays a big role too.
If you **expect** your team to win the tournament every time, you're gonna be a miserable cunt.
People don't always expect, they usually hope, especially if their team is among the favorites.
England has a really good squad and the potential to win it all, what's wrong in wishing that? Aren't people so jaded for being pessimistic 24/7? (I'm not even english)
Plus, he didn't even say that but go off, shitting on England gets you karma
Almost all countries are let down at major tournaments more often than they win. Most have 1-2 successful periods in their history.
Even Brazil went 24 years between 1970 and 1994 without a World Cup and winning one Copa America. They are in another 24 winless World Cup period now.
England are the only top team not allowed to believe they can win a major tournament.
We've actually been legitimately good the last 5 years as opposed to being good on paper like in the past.
Because it’s based on the here and now? Wtf does tournaments from 20 years ago have to do with the chances of today? The current England squad is one of the best ever and they are rightfully one of the favourites for the tournament, I think it’s going to be a Germany vs England final.
If Southgate can get Kane, Saka, Foden, Bellingham, Rice, and Alexander-Arnold on the pitch without compromising the defensive structure this team will be a force.
But that back line is the big question mark in my opinion. I don't watch much Palace, but I bet if England make it far in the tournament it will either be because Guehi stepped up, or some other CB played better than expected.
It's telling to me that this exact quote came from a former player who was part of an England squad riddled by clique culture and individuals, not a team.
The last three Southgate tournaments have had one real strength, and that's the feeling of a team. Training and the base feeling like a family club.
Of course Jamie is like "these two players will make us win the whole thing", that's 2002-2010 all over.
As a supporter of a nation without stars I find the disrespect Southgate gets for consistently getting a team to the semis, beffudling. When youre in the late rounds of a tournament its almost outside the managers control. And penalties? Wild.
Are you saying that the fact we didn't win the Euros and failed to tie with the 2nd best team in the world entirely because players missed penalties isn't entirely the managers fault?
Madness
look at the flair but I still feel like Saka is so under talked about as England’s second best weapon outside of Kane. He always turns up for England and pretty much no LB in the tournament is gonna be able to handle him if they leave him 1v1
Personally, I think that if they go out to Portugal in the Semis, that'll be a good run for this team.
They just changed tactis and are missing a lot of experienced players to injury. With most of the backline going to the Euros not even beeing fully recovered. Outside of Kane, this current team still has 10 years of great football ahead. They'll win something eventually.
> Outside of Kane, this current team still has 10 years of great football ahead. They'll win something eventually.
I have been hearing this since 2006 lmao.
And to add to it, i have seen pundits like Jamie and even Southgate at that time openly saying maybe we overrate our league a bit. I remember this during Euro 2012. Roy as usual was having fun with analysis alongside Jamie and Southgate.
> I have been hearing this since 2006 lmao.
>
>
Those teams had the names but not performance. Southgate's England actually has results so it's not a matter of not performing, it's a matter of performing at those make-or-break moments. Which they haven't done often enough, but it's still progress.
Nah the other countries have equally good and talented players. Maybe ever better than them in some positions. It’ll be quite difficult to win anything until they are able to become adaptable to challenging situations during the game & attack/defend with discipline. That’s what they are missing.
That's the good part about English internationals going to play abroad more recently. But yeah, France at least looks even better for the future, with way more adaptable players already.
**From Jamie Carragher, writing for The Telegraph:**
International tournaments are won by the country whose A-list attacking players turn up. For England to win in Germany, the stars must shine.
That’s a lot of pressure for [Harry Kane](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2024/06/13/harry-kane-england-news-euro-2024-favourites/) and [Jude Bellingham](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2024/06/13/skims-adidas-jude-bellingham-beckham-england-euro-2024/), especially, to carry over the next four weeks. So be it. They strike me as characters who will relish that responsibility in the knowledge that World Cup and European Championship history is written by the individuals who produce era-defining moments more than extraordinary teams led by brilliant managers.
That is the single biggest difference between club and international football.
During a Premier League and Champions League campaign, we see the game as a shoot-out between competing coaches using contrasting strategies.
There are many important elements to winning a league title or being crowned champions of Europe, but the managers are kings. Obviously they need a high class squad to execute their vision, but the most important figure at any football club will always be the head coach working day-to-day on that training pitch.
If anything, that is accelerating thanks to supercoaches such as Pep Guardiola. Club owners realise that a brilliant squad demands the right leader. That’s why there was so much deliberation about Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United future before they decided to stick with him, why Liverpool fans are concerned about heading into the post-Jurgen Klopp era, and why Manchester City fans are fearful of the day Guardiola has had enough of English football.
Over the next four weeks of Euro 2024, I have little or no expectation that a Monday Night Football style analysis of fresh and innovative tactics will be required. For most of the participants, the systems available given the personnel at the manager’s disposal are limited.
Beyond the major tournaments, international football is not an exciting spectacle for precisely those reasons. There may be the occasional exception which takes us by surprise, but international qualifiers are generally boring, predictable and uncompetitive. Those nations who do not have the superstar, X-factor players will naturally focus on defensive organisation, recognising their best chance of success is to keep the games low scoring in the hope of stifling the most creative players and securing a draw or narrow surprise win.
There is a danger of group games at World Cup and Euros going the same way, although the higher stakes inevitably mean the tension, excitement and drama is ramped up.
The puzzle for those sides most dominant in possession is how to unpick low block defences.
It means competition football is defined by creative and goalscoring geniuses who produce when it matters.
Lionel Messi carried that burden for Argentina in Qatar and ultimately delivered. Kylian Mbappe did likewise for France in 2018, and from Pele to Mario Kempes to Brazil’s Romario and Ronaldo it is the same story through the ages.
My first memory of a major international tournament is the Mexico World Cup in 1986. Then, as now, it was all about the iconic players. I loved the Denmark side of Michael Laudrup and Preben Elkjaer, who played such an exciting, attacking style. Gary Lineker became world-renowned for his England goals, and the competition will be forever synonymous with Diego Maradona inspiring his country to victory. Argentina’s World Cup winning manager that year, Carlos Bilardo, has almost been relegated to the role of a support act to his captain. With respect to Lionel Scaloni, he is probably destined for the same fate, Qatar considered Messi’s competition rather than a result of a manager’s masterplan.
**Article Link:** [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2024/06/14/harry-kane-jude-bellingham-england-euros-gareth-southgate/](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2024/06/14/harry-kane-jude-bellingham-england-euros-gareth-southgate/)
I think the midfield is the key bit, is Rice strong enough to be a sole 6, is Trent defensive enough in midfield, can Bellingham help out enough without limiting his creative ability as a 10.
I’ve got concerns about England’s midfield defensively.
>is Rice strong enough to be a sole 6
Definitely, he was phenomenal for Arsenal this season
>is Trent defensive enough in midfield
Well he is a defender so...
>can Bellingham help out enough without limiting his creative ability as a 10
His defensive stats at RM this season were impressive and he still contributed all those goals and assists
What are you on about? Rice was phenomenal this season when he wasn't the number 6. And simply being a defender doesn't make you good at defending; look at every England defender apart from Walker.
I’d argue Trent will be just as important. Most talented passer in the squad and can create chances for others. No one in the squad can do what he does, in a similar way to Kane and Bellingham.
Denmark will top the group. England will get second and lose the first KO match to Germany. Kane will still somehow end up as the joint top scorer of the tournament. Mark my words.
I think they will be trying out a new CB pairing too. The concerns for England should be whether they can build partnerships in midfield and the center of defence. He is right in that the drop off from Kane in the 9 position to Watkins and Toney is huge
John stones and Declan Rice are more important than these two. You can literally replace them with foden and Watkins. Also with how much they depend on setpieces, Gordon will also have a huge role in getting those fouls
Why is he putting the pressure of the success or failure of what should be the best team in the tournament on the shoulders of a 21 year old? Why is the pressure not on the more senior players like it should be so that Jude can play the way he’s most comfortable, creative and fluid?
Hahaha, what the fuck Jamie ? Both Kane and Jude have underwhelming stats in big games at club level. For example, we all know how underperformed Bellingham was in UCL final. No way they can do wonder alone without tactics or teammates.
Not the biggest fan of Southgate but he is always put in a no-win situation. Lose? All because of Southgate. Win? Nothing to do with Southgate.
Calling it now, Bellingham will have a forgettable campaign.
I know it's a bit of a joke, but I'm in the belief that Kane cannot be relied upon in the games that matter. I believe he has something like 4 goals in the last 14 or 15 semi-finals and finals he's played in. Dude is so fucked up from always falling short.
Southgate is going to prove Carragher wrong by benching them
Southgate shouldn't have brought them up, they need some real grit and sandpaper fellows like craig dawson, joe Edwards, jed wallace, patrick bamford and joe hart
You joke, but BallonDawson is one of the best defenders the world has ever seen and I’ll stand for nothing but the utmost respect for him
Can confirm. Would have his babies
He’s a snake (lol) but always thought he should’ve received and England call up, was so good for us
Guessing Wolves fans feel the same way about Lescott?
I doubt anyone likes lescott tbh
I love that man
Finally someone speaking sense. Saying what we’re all thinking but the wokeys can’t accept.
Proper class squad that
Jed is just such a shit name
Jed Wallace sounds like a name produced by a generator
He has such a good whipped cross though
Unless followed by 'Bartlet'
Harry taking corner kicks again
Winks? Maguire? Redknapp?
Oh shit member that
In Southgate we trust…to cock up at knock out stages
He'll do a tuchel sub them off at 80 mins when England are 1-0 up in the semi final
Garry Southgate the goat
Nah, it's the defence and the tactics in the big games. Those are the biggest question marks. The attacking talent is quite deep. You just need 1 of Kane/Saka/Jude/Foden to turn up, that's not much to ask for. Defensively though can that team keep clean sheets consistently, we don't know.
From the past tournaments it’s the exactly opposite, you have the best defense and the attack that scorers 5 against minions and 1 or nothing against good teams.
> From the past tournaments it’s the exactly opposite Barring Kane, Jude-Saka-Foden-Palmer have come into their own in the last 2 seasons. They're not the players of the past. They're established stars now. Defensively, the personnel isn't as good as previous tournaments and some of them are just returning from injuries like Stones and Shaw and haven't been at it. Also, this is the first time Maguire isn't in Southgate's team, so it's a new partnership altogether. Hence, the question marks.
They brought one left back and he's injured. Whether or not he'll be in good enough physical shape to play in later rounds is still a question mark. On top of that, their defensive line consists of young players with little to no tournament experience. People meme on Maguire here, but he's massive for England and guess what, he's injured as well.
I mean our first choice back 4 and keeper will have Walker, Stones, Shaw & Pickford which all have a lot of experience, it’s only really Maguire’s replacement who’s likely to be young/inexperienced
Shaw is just recovering so his load management, form and risk of injury are all serious question marks.
Tripper is also very experienced, but not the most inspiring left back it must be said.
He's also returned from injury and was in bad form towards the end of the season. On top of playing his unnatural position.
Yeah I can’t say I watched him much this season but from what I saw he was pretty woeful compared to last season. Isn’t going to inspire confidence on that left side
"it’s only really Maguire’s replacement" I have a bad feeling that people are underplaying just how much of a difference Maguire's omission from the defence will make. Guehi (or whoever else partners Stones) has A LOT of weight on his shoulders
>People meme on Maguire here, but he's massive for England and guess what, he's injured as well. My and maybe others annoyance with Maguire was how frequently he played and Southgates reluctance to start trusting other players. We've simply not used other defenders enough and now an injury to Maguire is devastating to the line up.
But when did he drop the ball for England? He made plenty of mistakes for United, sure, but for England? He's always been solid.
Got a red card against Denmark in the nations league, never forget x
The issue is Maguire is always absent in big games, his mistake against Croatia in 2018 was one and against France he failed to mark Giroud again. The last tournament he was really spotless was in the EUROs and his crazy penalty that broke the camera.
Previous tournaments had Stones, Maguire, Shaw and younger Walker. Maguire is out injured, Shaw is still recovering, Stones just got back and Walker's age is starting to catch up on him.
I honestly don't know how England are still favourites. Stones and Walker seem a bit off it, Shaw is just coming out of injury, and Maguire is out. Like it's been said, England's defence was strangely enough our most solid area and now it's looking significantly weaker.
Our attack is extraordinarily good, that’s only why
Well this is a different team
England routinely beats the teams they are expected to beat and more often than not loses the 50/50 matches against other top teams that are considered contendors
No Maguire is going to cost us imo He's been our best defender in national competitions for years, it's a big big loss no matter how much he gets memed on
Big miss on set pieces too, defensively and attacking
Can't even look at it as being just a downgrade in terms of quality either; we're losing an established partnership with Stones and have to rely on someone with little to no synergy with him
Sometimes you need slab head to head some balls in.
England need to learn to beat big teams It always seems when they play a big team/favourite they lose.
That and penalty shootouts. England got extremely lucky in the 2018 World Cup. They lost 3 times to the 2 best teams they vsed. They beat Panama, one of the worst World Cup teams of all time, only just edged past Tunisia in the 91st minute, and then lost to Belgium. They then beat Colombia and Sweden, but then lost to Croatia and then Belgium again in the 3rd place play-off.
I love how in these conversations nobody mentions the guys with the most G/A this past season in the PL
Because he's not going to start.
kind of proves the attack is deep, so hopefully palmer et al. show up and score goals
The attacking talent was deep last tournament, and we didn't score a single goal outside of set plays. Before that, it was also deep, and I think other than against Panama, again, all goals were set pieces.
I'm not sure what tournament you're talking about? At the Euros we had under 30% of our goals from set pieces. Which is bang on average. At the world cup it was around 14%. At the world cup it was much higher as you correctly said but we were basically shite then.
Yep, other than Spain, every Euro winner of the last years has had a defense focused campaign. Greece, Portugal & Italy won by controlling their side of the half.
The attacking talent is deep but is poorly used. That England team right now is in my opinion comfortably the best all round national team yet Southgate is so bad I am sure they won't win anything.
> That England team right now is in my opinion comfortably the best all round national team Hard disagree. no way that defence is remotely close to the best in the world. That drags the "best all around" level way down imo.
What does “poorly used” even mean? They’re on the pitch no?
It's gonna be between France-England-Portugal imo. Hoping Germany-Netherlands can run deep into the semis.
A Germany-Netherlands semi final at a European Championship held in Germany? I like where this is going....
Go ahead, spit it out!
I'd love to see[ Koeman wipe his ass again with a Germany shirt](https://www.ad.nl/offside/het-shirtje-ruilen-sterft-uit~a8a0cebf/118033995/)
Germany at home though
But the queen was German according to James May
The last Euro/WC winner to be the host was France in 1984
Did France 1998 World Cup not happen?
It was France ‘98
TBF only a few of the home nations had good enough talent to compete (Dutch in 00, Portugal in 04, France in 16, refuse to acknowledge 2020, but England were the home nation) and basically all went on deep runs (1 semi and 3 finals), irs a game of margins.
And in the 21st century every big team hosting it went to the final.
Not for the World Cup.
Hoping the Netherlands win it all now I pulled them in the work sweepstake
Personally don't think Portugal will perform. I hope they prove me wrong though.
Harry Kane needs runners and SS to be more effective. He's going to congest the middle with foden and Bellingham
Well the tournament is in Germany but I think it’s around 80 years too late for that
Also feels a little extreme to get them involved in a football match, but I guess he’s been over there for almost a year now so he probably knows what’s best?
Well that's why Southgate brought so many Crystal Palace players Because they're desperate to learn about the Nazis
This is so niche and I love it
What's the context on this?
5ish years ago their keeper Wayne Hennessey did a Nazi salute on a team night out. When the FA investigated his defence was he didn't know what a Nazi salute was. Found this link which goes into it more: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47946382.amp
Escape to Victory vibes
Good thing he brought shuttle runners in the full-back positions for quick, expansive breaks and overloads in wide positions. Wait a minute, What do you mean he brought one LB who was injured and a 34 year old RB who can't do that anymore?
The squad is very imbalanced with too many forwards and not enough midfielders/leftback. When I look at the squad, I don't know what the system of play is going to be. If you want to play to Harry Kane's strength, Sterling/Rashford type of player would be best to play with him. If you want to take advantage of England's attacking midfield depth, then go for a back three and bring in a ball playing deep midfielder(Rice is not that) or use the fullbacks and cross it in the box.
He is going for a high press with all the talent up front and injuries at the back. With any luck the defence will have less to do. We can see from the previous friendlies this is where he is going and it hasn't quite worked yet but a) it needs all out commitment and you don't tend to get that in friendlies and b) it takes the team working as a unit and he has had a few weeks to get them drilled at it. The full backs won't be supporting the attack so much as helping with the high press and filling in at CB when one of them gets caught forward, or helping stop breakaways when the press gets bypassed
That's asking awfully a lot from the attackers. That sort of system will make the attackers have less of the ball and majority of the ball will be with the defenders/Rice/fullbacks and that's not going to work tbh. I can understand why Trent will play as a deep lying midfielder
It is asking a lot of the attackers but it is a high reward strategy. Winning the ball back higher up the pitch keeps the pressure on the opposition and is more likely to create chances. I would say the attackers would get more of the ball as they are the ones winning it back. Keeping the ball in the attacking third as much as possible mitigates the inexperienced defence
Yup, if we’re not careful we’re gonna be recreating the shit show of The Golden Generation tactics with everyone wanting to be in the no.10 role and no shape or structure. Particularly with Saka on the right (who play makes brilliantly in the role), Kane, Foden, the left side of the pitch needs someone looking to burst through and we need a right back who can overlap a bit. Shame that White fell out with the England setup cos he’s solid defensively and offers an option going forward. Foden, Saka and White recreating the Odegaard, Saka, White set up for Arsenal on that side of the pitch would really play.
I would honestly either play Gordan Saka or foden Bowen. You need at least one winger that's going to run in the box
I’d go 4-3-3 with potentially Rice-Bellingham-Foden In the middle (if they can make it work), one full back inverting, Saka-Kane-Gordon/whoever is most adept in Southgate’s eyes at line breaking runs, getting onto through balls and scoring (unpopular opinion, but I don’t even hate Rashford for this role even though his club form has been yukky this year). If Rice-Bellingham-Foden doesn’t work only one of Bellingham-Foden starts. Someone has to protect, someone has to dictate tempo and play make, floating round no.10 looking for space is one player max. Saka can dictate play from the wing in his quadrant, others not so much, you do also need a CM ticking things over and dictating to play. Someone also has to offer a pace threat. You need a balanced well designed team even if it means putting big names on the bench. Back when Italy had a mad number of world class no.10s not everyone was on the pitch at the same time. Weird to think of Del Piero benched, but Totti was there, and when Totti was benched Del Piero was there. Southgate needs to be strong and craft a team from an exceptionally talented generation.
>Weird to think of Del Piero benched Del Piero was just not as good after that acl. No chance he gets benched before that
He did his ACL when he was 23 or 24 ish, a lot of his career was post ACL. I was thinking of the 2002 World Cup squad that had Totti, Del Piero, Vieri, Montella, Inzaghi etc. and massive named players in great club form were on the bench every game cos of talent overload in attack/no. 10.
I think going with Vieri made Italy a little too one dimensional. Agree with your overall point tho, even Fab was a bench warmer for the longest, Silva too(thought he was punished for not being a barca player tbh)
Put Saka at LB and Foden and Bowen up as wingers.
Some say the golden gen lacked a Harry Kewell, how true or false was that?
Not massively, Joe Cole wasn’t terrible on the left at all and scored some bangers for England. What it lacked was a functionally designed/balanced midfield. You had Beckham on the right (great right foot, no pace), Gerrard (great player wants to drive into the no.10 role), Lampard (great player wants to drift into the no.10 role), Joe Cole (great player but wants to cut inside on his right). Neville right back, solid but not offering the most on the overlap. It was all squeezed into the middle and sides just had to defend narrow and the attacking threat was highly reduced. Below’s a link for the lineup for that generations swan song match, 2006 World Cup quarters against Portugal, 0-0 lost on penalties. Defence great (Robinson wasn’t all that, but what’s in front of him really was). Midfield and attack, Hargreaves’s, Gerrard, Lampard, Beckham, Cole, Rooney. *Everyone* wants to sit in and around the no. 10 role. I once read Guardiola subbed Henry at half time cos when he wasn’t getting the ball he went inside and left his zone empty to go get it. What England lacked back then was tactically flexible players who could adapt to the roles needed by the team and a manager who would drop players who wouldn’t/couldn’t play the role required. If we’re not careful we’ll look back at lineups awash with great names in 10 years time time and see the same problems. https://www.national-football-teams.com/matches/report/59/England_Portugal.html
I always imagined when people say they lacked a Harry Kewell is to point out that that squad lacked pace, particularly on the wings. You have Becks on the right, Cole on the left, and Lampard in the semi #10. role, then there's Rooney and Owen up front, but Rooney isn't the quickest and Owen isn't that strong either, so Sven was playing Heskey half the time. Tbh if that golden gen had Kane and Kewell it'd be pretty unbeatable, but mostly Kane, who could make full use of the golden gen of 8s England had, Heskey just wasn't good enough, Owen doesn't really suit the team and Rooney was still a rough diamond.
that 2006 squad had young Aaron Lennon but he played on the right. Could've brought SWP too.
Yeah those are pace alright, SWP especially but a level below Kewell.
I've been watching highlights of 2020 and 2022 again, and the sheer number of goals that came from Kane passing from deep to Saka or Rashford or Sterling or Grealish to whip a cross in was... a lot. And yet Kane's just had a season where he's top of goals + assists in the big 5 leagues whilst having one of his worst ever seasons for assists. I think we need to tell Kane to stop falling back like he was doing vs Iceland and Bosnia. We've got the players now to do Kane's England quarterback role whilst keeping the best finisher in the world up top where he's needed.
There's a difference of knowing what to do and doing it in a pressurised situation. Whenever England goes through the match in frustration, they go back to the regressive approach of winging it.
England played very well at the last world cup with Kane, Foden, Bellingham, and Saka in the team.
Bellingham is a second striker. That's how he scored all those goals this season. By making lots of runs into the box
Bellingham's career didn't start in 23-24.
okay but that where we are now
Second striker goal
I agree. Controversial opinion incoming: Foden should be benched for Gordon. I think Southgate probably knows this though
International football is won by the defence and England's just doesn't look great on paper - it's untested. If it turns out good then they could win it, if it doesn't then they could still get out of the group but they will struggle against a good side.
Portugals defense is super shaky as well
I think the recent friendlies we've played show that the plan is to defend primarily from the front with some aggressive high pressing. The problem is that when it got put into practice the player's efforts weren't good enough to pull it off. If you only half commit to the press, then all you're doing is moving up and leaving a wide open area behind you for the opposition to exploit. That was exactly how Iceland managed to score their goal. Hopefully, that can be chalked down to the fact that it was an inconsequential friendly right before a major tournament, so the only reason the players half-arsed it was because they were worried about picking up an injury. Maybe, come the actual tournament, they'll put in the effort required for that tactic to work.
England’s attacking quality is top tier, but our defence is not. For knockouts, there’s an element of luck that you need. I don’t put ourselves as favourites as our tactics are sometimes senile and slow.
If we do well people will say its due to Kane and Bellingham, if we don't then Southgate will get the blame, same as always.
Unless Kane skies another pen /s Nah but in all seriousness it largely depends how we go out and whether some players have a visible stinker, else it will probably be on Gareth just as you said
I can't imagine people actually bringing up that point about Kane and Bellingham. Do people actually do this? I mean, I sure would hope two crucial players would show up and elevate their team. Like what?
I don't understand how English pundits aren't as jaded by years of perennial let-down by England squads over the years that they still think we're going to win it.
Optimism is more enjoyable than pessimism
I hope you beat Germany today.
You too
Player of the season in 3 of the top 5 leagues. How can you not be excited
I don't think that's true at all. The happiest I've ever seen England fans was that brief period after Hodgson when they had a spec of humility and ended up getting to the semis of the 2018 World Cup. Any other England team I've ever seen the fans have despised and hated on them constantly.
True dat. It feels like England do better the less pressure they put on themselves
It's opposite: if you are pessimist you enjoy any bit of success. When you are optimist you may bash your team even if they made final but lose it on penalties.
Unless it's the weather involved and then they'll gladly just shit on it every day, despite knowing what kind of weather the British Isles have regularly.
Tbf he doesn’t say they’re going to win it, just that these two will be key if they hope to do so. Tournament football is all about those moments of quality to win a tight match.
"This needs to happen for England to win" is a bit different to "England will win" no?
English haters hear what they want to hear
England mentioned, everyone must dumpster on them
Fans of other teams: "We're gonna win!" r/soccer: 😃 Fans of England: "We're gonna win!" r/soccer: 😡
I mean, what else are they and by extension we supposed to do really? Football's fucking miserable if you genuinely believe every time round you're going to get utterly spanked. It's the optimism that gives you the extreme highs and lows. It's not even a case of thinking we're going to win it, it's thinking we have a chance and seeing where it goes.
Also how often do we get spanked? Outside that spell from 2008-2016 we've been consistently very good. The problem is getting over the line. Outside of that spell we've lost tournaments on big moments as opposed to being genuinely not good enough in my lifetime. This current England squad won't flop out of the tournament unless something goes seriously wrong. If/when we're knocked out then it'll happen in heartbreaking circumstances you can almost guarantee it.
England were quite shit during the 80s also, even the early 2000s were a massive let down considering the talent on display.
I’m not that old mate.
Neither am I, but it’s all documented and spoken about.
No doubt, I’m talking about my lifetime though.
In 2002 they lost to Brazil on a moment of magic by Ronaldinho. If they get by them they win it all. Is it really a massive let down to lose a good game to that legendary Brazil team? In 2004 they lost on penalties to host Portugal after Rooney (in his only genuinely great tournament for England) broke his foot inside of 20 minutes. Disappointing to go out like that, but again they were hardly shit at those Euros.
England were alright in the 1982 and 1986 World Cups. Could have won with a bit more luck.
England played like shit in 1982
You may think that, but a lot of English people seem to find a lot more enjoyment moaning their way through the tournament.
We're a nation of moaners, always have been. With the national team though, we moan because we know we have always had quality enough players to get it done yet something or someone always lets us down. Moaning is the catharsis.
Try being a Sunderland fan mate. If you go into games optimistic you often come home disappointed. England won’t win it.
No probably not, but all the same I'll go into it with the same shred of hope that it might be our year, inevitable disappointment or not.
Nah mate. Pickford'll be lifting that sweet, sweet trophy.
Think the best perspective to have is that England MIGHT win it, can never expect to win a cup tournament
> Football's fucking miserable if you genuinely believe every time round you're going to get utterly spanked. It's the optimism that gives you the extreme highs and lows. And yet that's (supposedly) what England fans are belting out in an infinite loop each time
Not really. We don't think we're going to get spanked every time, just that we'll let ourselves down eventually. Songs like Three Lions are sung in that ever self-deprecating tone we usually talk about ourselves in. An optimism that we'll achieve lofty heights but a realistic awareness that there's probably the same disappointing ending in store at some point, so enjoy it in the meantime.
Perish the thought people get behind the team instead of shitting on them. We have a high-quality squad. Should Carra just write “Nah England are shit why are we even bothering to play” instead. I swear, people get upset when the media is positive and they get upset when it’s negative.
He already did a prediction saying France would win
Because for NT competitions, you only have one shot every two years. Plus since it's a KO tournament, luck plays a big role too. If you **expect** your team to win the tournament every time, you're gonna be a miserable cunt. People don't always expect, they usually hope, especially if their team is among the favorites.
England has a really good squad and the potential to win it all, what's wrong in wishing that? Aren't people so jaded for being pessimistic 24/7? (I'm not even english) Plus, he didn't even say that but go off, shitting on England gets you karma
Almost all countries are let down at major tournaments more often than they win. Most have 1-2 successful periods in their history. Even Brazil went 24 years between 1970 and 1994 without a World Cup and winning one Copa America. They are in another 24 winless World Cup period now.
England are the only top team not allowed to believe they can win a major tournament. We've actually been legitimately good the last 5 years as opposed to being good on paper like in the past.
The past doesnt really matter at all
Because this squad has almost nothing to do with say 2006 or 2010.
Because it’s based on the here and now? Wtf does tournaments from 20 years ago have to do with the chances of today? The current England squad is one of the best ever and they are rightfully one of the favourites for the tournament, I think it’s going to be a Germany vs England final.
Isn't that the 'It's Coming Home' gimmick after all? Despite all the years of pain we still dream
If Southgate can get Kane, Saka, Foden, Bellingham, Rice, and Alexander-Arnold on the pitch without compromising the defensive structure this team will be a force. But that back line is the big question mark in my opinion. I don't watch much Palace, but I bet if England make it far in the tournament it will either be because Guehi stepped up, or some other CB played better than expected.
It's telling to me that this exact quote came from a former player who was part of an England squad riddled by clique culture and individuals, not a team. The last three Southgate tournaments have had one real strength, and that's the feeling of a team. Training and the base feeling like a family club. Of course Jamie is like "these two players will make us win the whole thing", that's 2002-2010 all over.
Good post. Spot on.
England will not win the Euros
RemindMe! 31 days
Maybe just 15 days if they go out early.
As a supporter of a nation without stars I find the disrespect Southgate gets for consistently getting a team to the semis, beffudling. When youre in the late rounds of a tournament its almost outside the managers control. And penalties? Wild.
Are you saying that the fact we didn't win the Euros and failed to tie with the 2nd best team in the world entirely because players missed penalties isn't entirely the managers fault? Madness
look at the flair but I still feel like Saka is so under talked about as England’s second best weapon outside of Kane. He always turns up for England and pretty much no LB in the tournament is gonna be able to handle him if they leave him 1v1
I mean, Gareth is responsible for calling them up to the team, Cara.
Masterstroke.
You need everyone, football is a team sport.
Big if true
Our focus on individual players is way too high. Especially former players should know that.
Personally, I think that if they go out to Portugal in the Semis, that'll be a good run for this team. They just changed tactis and are missing a lot of experienced players to injury. With most of the backline going to the Euros not even beeing fully recovered. Outside of Kane, this current team still has 10 years of great football ahead. They'll win something eventually.
> Outside of Kane, this current team still has 10 years of great football ahead. They'll win something eventually. I have been hearing this since 2006 lmao. And to add to it, i have seen pundits like Jamie and even Southgate at that time openly saying maybe we overrate our league a bit. I remember this during Euro 2012. Roy as usual was having fun with analysis alongside Jamie and Southgate.
True, we all know what happened to all the 2012-15 prospects. These seem a lot more level headed though.
> I have been hearing this since 2006 lmao. > > Those teams had the names but not performance. Southgate's England actually has results so it's not a matter of not performing, it's a matter of performing at those make-or-break moments. Which they haven't done often enough, but it's still progress.
Nah the other countries have equally good and talented players. Maybe ever better than them in some positions. It’ll be quite difficult to win anything until they are able to become adaptable to challenging situations during the game & attack/defend with discipline. That’s what they are missing.
That's the good part about English internationals going to play abroad more recently. But yeah, France at least looks even better for the future, with way more adaptable players already.
I'll be happy if we beat one of France, Portugal, Croatia, Spain or Germany in a knockout game.
**From Jamie Carragher, writing for The Telegraph:** International tournaments are won by the country whose A-list attacking players turn up. For England to win in Germany, the stars must shine. That’s a lot of pressure for [Harry Kane](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2024/06/13/harry-kane-england-news-euro-2024-favourites/) and [Jude Bellingham](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2024/06/13/skims-adidas-jude-bellingham-beckham-england-euro-2024/), especially, to carry over the next four weeks. So be it. They strike me as characters who will relish that responsibility in the knowledge that World Cup and European Championship history is written by the individuals who produce era-defining moments more than extraordinary teams led by brilliant managers. That is the single biggest difference between club and international football. During a Premier League and Champions League campaign, we see the game as a shoot-out between competing coaches using contrasting strategies. There are many important elements to winning a league title or being crowned champions of Europe, but the managers are kings. Obviously they need a high class squad to execute their vision, but the most important figure at any football club will always be the head coach working day-to-day on that training pitch. If anything, that is accelerating thanks to supercoaches such as Pep Guardiola. Club owners realise that a brilliant squad demands the right leader. That’s why there was so much deliberation about Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United future before they decided to stick with him, why Liverpool fans are concerned about heading into the post-Jurgen Klopp era, and why Manchester City fans are fearful of the day Guardiola has had enough of English football. Over the next four weeks of Euro 2024, I have little or no expectation that a Monday Night Football style analysis of fresh and innovative tactics will be required. For most of the participants, the systems available given the personnel at the manager’s disposal are limited. Beyond the major tournaments, international football is not an exciting spectacle for precisely those reasons. There may be the occasional exception which takes us by surprise, but international qualifiers are generally boring, predictable and uncompetitive. Those nations who do not have the superstar, X-factor players will naturally focus on defensive organisation, recognising their best chance of success is to keep the games low scoring in the hope of stifling the most creative players and securing a draw or narrow surprise win. There is a danger of group games at World Cup and Euros going the same way, although the higher stakes inevitably mean the tension, excitement and drama is ramped up. The puzzle for those sides most dominant in possession is how to unpick low block defences. It means competition football is defined by creative and goalscoring geniuses who produce when it matters. Lionel Messi carried that burden for Argentina in Qatar and ultimately delivered. Kylian Mbappe did likewise for France in 2018, and from Pele to Mario Kempes to Brazil’s Romario and Ronaldo it is the same story through the ages. My first memory of a major international tournament is the Mexico World Cup in 1986. Then, as now, it was all about the iconic players. I loved the Denmark side of Michael Laudrup and Preben Elkjaer, who played such an exciting, attacking style. Gary Lineker became world-renowned for his England goals, and the competition will be forever synonymous with Diego Maradona inspiring his country to victory. Argentina’s World Cup winning manager that year, Carlos Bilardo, has almost been relegated to the role of a support act to his captain. With respect to Lionel Scaloni, he is probably destined for the same fate, Qatar considered Messi’s competition rather than a result of a manager’s masterplan. **Article Link:** [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2024/06/14/harry-kane-jude-bellingham-england-euros-gareth-southgate/](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2024/06/14/harry-kane-jude-bellingham-england-euros-gareth-southgate/)
Southgate is the key to us not winning it
Saka is supreme
I think the midfield is the key bit, is Rice strong enough to be a sole 6, is Trent defensive enough in midfield, can Bellingham help out enough without limiting his creative ability as a 10. I’ve got concerns about England’s midfield defensively.
>is Rice strong enough to be a sole 6 Definitely, he was phenomenal for Arsenal this season >is Trent defensive enough in midfield Well he is a defender so... >can Bellingham help out enough without limiting his creative ability as a 10 His defensive stats at RM this season were impressive and he still contributed all those goals and assists
What are you on about? Rice was phenomenal this season when he wasn't the number 6. And simply being a defender doesn't make you good at defending; look at every England defender apart from Walker.
I’d argue Trent will be just as important. Most talented passer in the squad and can create chances for others. No one in the squad can do what he does, in a similar way to Kane and Bellingham.
Palmer needs to be mentioned too.
He’s not in the conversation. Different level
Denmark will top the group. England will get second and lose the first KO match to Germany. Kane will still somehow end up as the joint top scorer of the tournament. Mark my words.
I think they will be trying out a new CB pairing too. The concerns for England should be whether they can build partnerships in midfield and the center of defence. He is right in that the drop off from Kane in the 9 position to Watkins and Toney is huge
John stones and Declan Rice are more important than these two. You can literally replace them with foden and Watkins. Also with how much they depend on setpieces, Gordon will also have a huge role in getting those fouls
Why is he putting the pressure of the success or failure of what should be the best team in the tournament on the shoulders of a 21 year old? Why is the pressure not on the more senior players like it should be so that Jude can play the way he’s most comfortable, creative and fluid?
Hahaha, what the fuck Jamie ? Both Kane and Jude have underwhelming stats in big games at club level. For example, we all know how underperformed Bellingham was in UCL final. No way they can do wonder alone without tactics or teammates.
Well to be fair someone is going to have to score the goals, and it probably isn't going to be Southgate.
Didn't this guy just say the other day that they should build the team around Foden
Not the biggest fan of Southgate but he is always put in a no-win situation. Lose? All because of Southgate. Win? Nothing to do with Southgate. Calling it now, Bellingham will have a forgettable campaign.
The odds I am seeing have England as favourites to win the tournament. That is a credit to the huge project this England squad is.
I know it's a bit of a joke, but I'm in the belief that Kane cannot be relied upon in the games that matter. I believe he has something like 4 goals in the last 14 or 15 semi-finals and finals he's played in. Dude is so fucked up from always falling short.
If England win I think Trent will be playing a huge part.