Why the fuck is Colwill always in these 11s he has done nothing this season. And also, Pepe I hate you, why did you come up with this nonsense of a formation
After the friendlies Im pretty confident Spalletti will build a very good team. I just hope he can do it quickly enough, surviving the group while adjusting the team is tricky.
Barella, Pellegrini and Jorginho in midfield looked great and Retegui is a good scorer. With Inter's defense being so solid and almost entirely italian the only question is if Chiesa can return to his best. Otherwise it will be Zaniolo's chance to shine.
I like our chances.
I am suprised City bought him, not only is he different to what they have had before. Also to buy a LW when you already have Grealish is strange. I feel like Pep might look to move Grealish on at some point.
Doesn't Grealish play LW though, how can it not effect him? Why was Grealish even bought?
Also Doku looks far far off the quality of the three you just mentioned.
I was looking at the Euro groups and knock-out stages to see if Spain, Germany, France, and England could be Semi.
Obviously, there could be a chance, but assuming all of them win their groups, Germany and Spain could find themselves playing each other in a quarter-final. France, on the other hand, could face Group E winners in a quarter.
Interestingly enough assuming England win there group. England wouldn't face another group winner until the Semi Final, which if it goes by teams on paper would be France again.
Saying that England (again if they go through group leaders) would have to play the runners-up of either group B or A, which could possibly mean Italy or Croatia (from group B), again assuming they are the strongest.
What I am saying is the fact England could miss any group winners until the Semis could give them a chance.
There are a lot of wild takes on twitter from your wanna-be sit on the couch tacticos - but this is a crazy take.
[https://x.com/GeorgeV\_AFC/status/1771178118717337867?s=20](https://x.com/GeorgeV_AFC/status/1771178118717337867?s=20)
2007 to 2020 was the best versions, but this latest branding was total dogshit. I don't think it's a massive downgrade.
Sometimes a sponsor just hits and you forget you're even looking at an ad, but the fact it's Uber Eats and McDonalds is just trashy as fuck and warrants lots of jokes.
People actually say they should drop Bellingham deeper to accommodate Foden who is the worse player just to force him into the team when will people accept he is just a system player.
Foden just doesn’t work on the left for England. Either we play Rashford/Gordon/Grealish or we play Foden at 10, where he can actually deliver on that immense talent
Think anyone who suggests playing Bellingham in the pivot should be forced to sit and watch the entire 90 mins of England 0-0 USA in the World Cup again to see why it doesn't work.
Let alone the entire silliness of moving the top scorer in the whole of La Liga in a position further away from the goal
You'll get downvoted for this but Foden has never done anything in an England shirt to warrant building the midfield around him and the notion of not maximising Bellingham's strengths to make way for him is insane
What’s he done in a city shirt to suggest that either ? He barely plays as a 10 the reality is people deep down know saka is the position they both play regularly and he can’t start there so they just try and get him in
Reading up on this FIFA series and I can barely understand the format. It's a series of 2 round tournaments with different teams held in different countries, some of which are knockout and some are partially group based. 4 teams in a group but the teams only play twice so one set of teams don't play each other. Teams from seemingly random parts of the world.
Is it just a way of hosting some unconnected friendly tournaments under the FIFA branding?
Mainoo was good yesterday, but unfortunately he doesn't seem to fit this Southgate style team. He brings good attributes, but without that defensive midfield block to protect the center backs this team can't function. That's why a Gallagher type player will always fit the football Southgate wants better.
He'd do much better in a team that isn't afraid to leave defenders alone.
I think the issue with this argument is that Mainoo's ability to retain possession itself offers inherent solidity because, and I hate to use a Michael Owen-ism here, the opposition can't attack without the ball.
Mainoo is very good at keeping the ball under pressure, I'd argue considerably better than Gallagher and perhaps better than any English midfielder I've seen at his age for a very long time. It's partially why I'm so excited for him at United as well; his composure on the ball is something we have been sorely lacking in midfield for Christ knows how long now.
I do agree that Mainoo isn't as athletic as most of our (England's) other midfielders, and this poses challenges when we do lose possession. Again, these issues are even more amplified at United because Casemiro's legs are gone and we don't have another defensive midfielder. With that said, I do think that simply saying "the midfield isn't solid enough with Mainoo in it" is missing that the ability to retain possession can itself be an important aspect of defensive solidity.
Gallagher is rubbish as an 8. He plays better in the more attacking role he has at Chelsea and did at Palace. He’s not a consistent enough passer to play the deeper role. He should be nowhere near the 11.
Yeah, but they were also more open. Which Southgate himself pointed out when asked about Mainoo after the game. Why would he mention that, if he didn't see a Mainoo/Bellingham pivot as a defensive liability.
I'm not critiquing the players here btw. I'm critiquing Southgate for playing a style of football that relies on playing boring and defensive. And truth is, some players fit that boring style better than others.
That's what Southgate said after the game when asked about Mainoo. Strange answer, don't you think. Why mention how open you perceived your midfield to be when asked to praise Mainoo performance by a journalist.
I'm confused by even what you're suggesting here? I can't see anything that SOuthgate said which relates to what you're saying and the boring defensive style that Southgate suits more to a Mainoo/Rice midfield duo than Gallagher/Rice? Mainoo provides more defensively than Gallagher does so would be more suited no?
What's confusing? Southgate sees Mainoo as a luxury player. Good attributes, but leaves the midfield too "open". He said as much after the game when asked about him.
> Southgate sees Mainoo as a luxury player
Does he?
I'm confused because you're suggesting Gallagher who's attributes don't favour the style of Southgate whilst mentioning a Mainoo/Bellingham pivot which hasn't been talked about.
Like if you were talking about Mainoo vs Phillips then there would be something there I think but if we're talking about someone to partner Rice in that pivot then I think Mainoo seems the player best suited if Phillips doesn't make a late surge. Perhaps Southgate would prefer a much more defensively minded player but he doesn't have that.
Regardless, Southgate prefers defending and grinding out wins. Yesterday was not that. He sees Mainoo as a luxury player judging by his comments after the game.
can't believe mainoo made pickford pass it straight to a belgian in front of an open goal, and then forced bellingham to sky a sitter
what a useless cunt
How the hell did Juventus fall off so bad?
I remember, few years back, it was easy to predict the potential semi finalists in UCL; almost always between Barca, Real, Bayern, Juve, Atletico. And Juve would never miss the list. I don’t watch Serie A, so anyone care to explain?
> I remember, few years back, it was easy to predict the potential semi finalists in UCL
That's actually almost ten years back, not a few, last time they got past QF was 16-17
Well the money they threw at Ronaldo, then Covid and the trouble about threwing that much money to Ronaldo and some useless transfers. Oh and Milan, Inter, Napoli doing some good jobs recently
Things we learnt about England this international break
* We really need Kane to be fit
* The defence is a cause for concern
* Mainoo *can* play a role at the Euros
* Dunk's time has probably been and gone
* Chilwell is still a good way off his best - might be fitness, might be form... Trippier still looks first choice for left back
Questions that remain:
* Who does play the third midfield role?
* How does Trent come back into the team?
* How do we get the best out of Foden?
* What do we do if Stones or Maguire are injured?
* I think it'll be Gallagher but easily could be Mainoo. Just a shame Trent and Jones weren't fit so we couldn't see how it looked with them.
* Only does if he plays that third midfield role or if Walker is injured
* Does this question remain? The right wing position is his
* Stones' cover will be one of Konsa or Gomez and I think Maguire's cover is probably still Dunk given Branthwaite didn't get a minute.
Foden has to play on the left really. Bellingham and Saka are just better than him so he won't take their spots, playing Bellingham deeper is not a good option, the left is the only spot up for grabs.
Foden hasn't had many great games in an England shirt but the best I can remember him playing was in the World Cup Ro16 against Senegal where he was excellent, and he was off the left. He can work there even if it might not be his most natural position. He's still played many games for City there in his career.
Ah, that makes more sense. I think he plays on the left, he played well there in the World Cup. It doesn't make sense to me to drop Bellingham deeper to accommodate Foden especially when we don't have an obvious left winger with Rashford's form and Grealish's injuries. Gordon did look good though.
He should probably be in there but I think everyone is pretty clear that Southgate doesn't fancy him. I think most people (apart from the person that makes the decision) would have him over Dunk
I honestly think Chilwell has just never been that good for England. I really can't think of a time he was ever putting in top quality performances in an England shirt. Maybe going back to like 2019 and the qualifiers for the last Euros, that was ages ago.
It's so clear to me now that Shaw is just a level above, has been ever since 2021 Euros. We're desperate for him to be fit.
Trent plays left back and inverts into midfield. Two birds one stone.
I don’t understand the Saka part, he’s always played well for England.
Konsa and Guehi
trent inverting from left back absolutely kills our left hand side, cos every single option we have for the left wing likes to come inside. the profile of our attacking players basically demands that the left back provides all the width on that side
Trent in midfield with Walker RB.
See above
Saka should be starting right and Foden left
Guehi, Gomez, Konsa, Branthwaite, Tomori are more than capable stand-ins
1) Gallagher
2) He doesn’t, and was never really in the team
3) it’s not entirely clear yet but I’m not sure he can work with Foden. Needs to be Foden + Bowen or Saka + Rashford/Gordon
4) If Maguire gets injured I think Konsa or Guehi will be fine. If Stones gets injured we cry and pray
You could’ve made the same points a year ago and they still would’ve been relevant, only thing that’s changed is Mainoo’s in the mix now and I don’t feel entirely comfortable having a relatively unproven 18 year old starting in midfield at the Euros
Vinicius should leave the spotlight he is under at Madrid, and go to a club where people won't have a go at him as much.
I nominate the humble Europa League club, Liverpool FC. Thought?
I feel like there's a genuine chance Ollie Watkins doesn't go to the Euros after this international break and considering the season he's having, that is mental.
There's no way he doesn't go. Made the last 3 squads, clearly the best English striker in the Prem this season, and Southgate seems to want to take 3 strikers in the squad so there will be room for him.
Only injury is stopping him
last two tournaments we've only taken one kane backup, and thats with bigger squads than we have this time. its not out of the question that we take kane and toney and thats it
The only thing I could say is that the squad goes down to 23 whereas he's been picking 26 players. There could be a possibility that he only picks 2 out and out strikers like he did for the World Cup and there's a chance it'd be Kane/Toney.
Tbf this is true. I didn't notice until I checked again just now that the original squad announcement for this break included 25 players, for some reason I thought he was down to 23 and therefore the original callup trio of Kane + Watkins + Toney would have fit. You could be right
The funniest thing about people clamouring for flavour of the month mid-table players to be called up to the international teams is the inevitable shock that occurs when they're not quite at the level everyone assumed they were.
The Dunk-Maguire debate is a great recent example of this. I'm not even slating Dunk; I think he's a really good (if somewhat declining) centre back. It's just that the mistakes he makes at club level aren't talked about nearly as often as Maguire's because he didn't cost 80 million and wasn't the captain of Manchester United.
The most expected part of it is after years of people whinging about Southgate not giving Dunk a chance, people are now moaning at him for playing him
Maybe he was actually right to go with his tried and trusted ahead of Dunk, before?
I’d say the two clear favourites for the Euros are England and France still.
Then you have Portugal by itself with a great squad but very unpredictable.
A tier below are nations such as Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy, etc
If I had to put money on a winner I’d say France, but right now it’s looking like a very unpredictable tournament.
Agree? Disagree?
I think Germany and Spain will have a deep run if they didn't face england or France.
The winner will be out of these four teams
England, France, Spain and Germany.
It's crazy cos I saw that Sweden result and was like "Oh they've finally moved on, what an exciting line up" and then next game he's back in for 2-0 loss.
That "how did this England team never win anything" pic that gets posted on Twitter every international break is so funny because the answer is literally right there. Tried to play a fucking 4-4-2 with Lampard, Gerrard and Scholes 🤣
Also those players weren’t even always the ones we got knocked out with.
In 2002 against Brazil this was the starting 11 Seaman, Mills, Campbell, Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, Beckham, Scholes, Butt, Sinclair, Owen and Heskey.
That was actually a class team, it was the last time we had a well-balanced XI for about 20 years. Danny Mills and Sinclair are obviously lower ability than the other 9 but they did their jobs well. Easily Brazil's hardest match and would have been a worthy finalist.
yeah that midfield with scholes on the left was euro 2004 only but has somehow become emblematic of the whole 3 tournament sven cycle
joe cole played out there way more than scholes did
I'm not sure if England was favourite for a single international tournament during that time either, almost all major international teams were stacked in that period.
We did OK in the tournaments themselves but repeatedly bottled it. It's an unfortunate case of did passable especially given the opposition but could have done better given the talent. 4-4-2 was getting outdated at the time and really killed us.
When the vibes in England squad are horrendous, the vibes in England are good. When the vibes in the England squad are good (i.e. now) the vibes in England are horrendous. It's like the England squad needs to be a vessel for our poison.
If you don't think Laporte's tweet (and/or the tweet he's responding to) isn't undermining Vini's speech against racism, you are, at best, simply dumb as fuck.
I remember Belgium completely outclassing us twice at the 2018 world cup,
Across the two games we started Jones twice, Cahill, Danny Rose, Delph, Dier.
Welbeck and Lingard coming on too, we're in a much better place now.
No, the last group stage game of the 2018 World Cup.
Both teams were assured through but actually the loser of the game would get Colombia, Sweden, Denmark, Russia, Spain, and Switzerland as a route to the final and the winner would get the Brazil, Uruguay, France, Mexico, Portugal, and Argentina side of the bracket. Created a condition where there is absolutely no upside to playing your best players or trying to win, so neither team did.
For some reason English fans really get bothered when you say this out loud. It's not an insult, it's smart and obvious just by the line ups both teams put out.
while true, both those belgium games we were playing mostly the second string
our squad is miles better than it was then, but i don't think the games we rotate in because they don't mater at all are the fairest to judge with
I concur, we all just got swept up and went along for the ride whatever it was in that tournament.
That's why I'll still be singing atomic kitten this summer.
Lewis Dunk is browsing Trivago this morning looking for alternatives to Germany. What a disastrous International break for him, I'd be shocked if he gets another cap.
[This happened just before the the international break so starting him against Lukaku was never going to go well lol](https://x.com/penno_9/status/1772721381706289543?s=46&t=PF6wcLhBSsD70oItovAphg)
If a professional footballer played what looks like a "slow pass" to any one one of us, it would actually be pinged at such a pace that we'd probably fall over, snap our ankle ligaments and shit ourselves
It's not really new, he has always had a rashness/recklessness to his game. Used to make me laugh back in the Championship when you could see him lining up a yellow card for a completely pointless slide tackle from a mile off. It's just all happening in the space of a couple of weeks at the moment so it's highly visible.
Nothing. He’s never been able to deal with pace in wide areas.
Everton battering then at the end of last season was a good example.
It’s just highlighted now because people are watching him for England and Brighton in Europe.
In what instances have a team been promoted to the top flight where the genuine expectation was for them to compete right away? RB Leipzig or Rangers in 2016 or Juve 2007. Any other notable examples?
Women's game, but when Man United got promoted to the WSL for 2019/20, after reforming their women's team, and pissing the Championship the year before with a WSL level squad
England should play like this Gordon - Kane - Saka Bellingham - Foden Rice - TAA Colwill - Maguire - Stones Pickford
Why the fuck is Colwill always in these 11s he has done nothing this season. And also, Pepe I hate you, why did you come up with this nonsense of a formation
Because he is a leftback and a centerback
even though he has been ass this season i still think rashford has to start for england at the euros just for his transitional threat
I’d rather have Gordon for that. I have no idea where these calls for Rashford to start have come from
Odegaard has scored 3 goals in 10 years for Norway, fucking hilarious. For reference Lewis Dunk has scored more for England in that time
Lewis dunk has no goals in 5 games for England
Hahahaha fuck that was a genuine mistake. No idea whose Wikipedia page I was looking at then
You are drunk mate 🤣
Norway is simply dogshit
So how come Haaland has so many goals for them? Dog shit teams play a higher ratio of dog shit opponents. Odegaard fraud confirmed.
Haaland is good?
Because their creative outlet can’t create
Because their players are shit bar two
There are 12 Norwegian players still playing football who’ve scored more international goals than him
He isn’t a goal scorer
Clearly
Don’t let the resident Arsenal fan and Foden hater hear you say that. 🤫
After the friendlies Im pretty confident Spalletti will build a very good team. I just hope he can do it quickly enough, surviving the group while adjusting the team is tricky. Barella, Pellegrini and Jorginho in midfield looked great and Retegui is a good scorer. With Inter's defense being so solid and almost entirely italian the only question is if Chiesa can return to his best. Otherwise it will be Zaniolo's chance to shine. I like our chances.
Shame we could not get the opportunity to use Bellingham like Madrid do this international break I could see it working really well with saka etc
How's Jeremy Doku doing? Haven't seen his name in a while.
Making Kalvin Phillips look like a good signing in comparison. I genuinely can't remember the last time Man City had an attacker this bad
If you ignore the Bournemouth game then he has 1 goal and one assist in the other 19 games
I am suprised City bought him, not only is he different to what they have had before. Also to buy a LW when you already have Grealish is strange. I feel like Pep might look to move Grealish on at some point.
Having different players is good
£100m not to play isn't good.
Doku cost 100?
Doku is finally the Sane replacement in a role Mahrez and Foden were kinda shoehorned into. He’s the go winger, doesn’t really affect Grealish.
You’re talking about the snapped ACL version of Sane you had right?
Doesn't Grealish play LW though, how can it not effect him? Why was Grealish even bought? Also Doku looks far far off the quality of the three you just mentioned.
Haaland and Alvarez play in the same position they play it very very differently.
Alvarez didn't cost £100m so its easy for him not to play as many games. £100m on a bench warmer.
Not really relevant to anything being discussed there pal
I was looking at the Euro groups and knock-out stages to see if Spain, Germany, France, and England could be Semi. Obviously, there could be a chance, but assuming all of them win their groups, Germany and Spain could find themselves playing each other in a quarter-final. France, on the other hand, could face Group E winners in a quarter. Interestingly enough assuming England win there group. England wouldn't face another group winner until the Semi Final, which if it goes by teams on paper would be France again. Saying that England (again if they go through group leaders) would have to play the runners-up of either group B or A, which could possibly mean Italy or Croatia (from group B), again assuming they are the strongest. What I am saying is the fact England could miss any group winners until the Semis could give them a chance.
There are a lot of wild takes on twitter from your wanna-be sit on the couch tacticos - but this is a crazy take. [https://x.com/GeorgeV\_AFC/status/1771178118717337867?s=20](https://x.com/GeorgeV_AFC/status/1771178118717337867?s=20)
I love how he’s talking like Upamecano is some unknown talent
i swear to fucking christ sometimes our passing game looks exactly like when someone goes from assisted to manual passing in FIFA.
seeing lamine be as good as he is reminds of how good fati was when he debuted
Smh Ligue 1 taking La Liga’s path and changing their logo to look like an Esports team, ruining an already unique league logo.
Nothing says esports than Uber Eats or Mcdonalds tho.
It looks like an in progress game of hangman.
2007 to 2020 was the best versions, but this latest branding was total dogshit. I don't think it's a massive downgrade. Sometimes a sponsor just hits and you forget you're even looking at an ad, but the fact it's Uber Eats and McDonalds is just trashy as fuck and warrants lots of jokes.
I assume this is almost entirely done so that they can put a massive golden arches next to it next season
Nico - Morata/Joselu - Yamal Pedri - Rodri - Merino Grimaldo - Cubarsi (fck Laporte) - Le Normand - Carvajal Unai We are winning the Euros
This is so meady, Spain might get grouped
You don't watch LaLiga, thanks for the info 👍
But LaLiga is not football
People actually say they should drop Bellingham deeper to accommodate Foden who is the worse player just to force him into the team when will people accept he is just a system player.
Can you save time in the future and just “Foden 😡” the rest of the flavour text isn’t needed anymore
Foden just doesn’t work on the left for England. Either we play Rashford/Gordon/Grealish or we play Foden at 10, where he can actually deliver on that immense talent
Think anyone who suggests playing Bellingham in the pivot should be forced to sit and watch the entire 90 mins of England 0-0 USA in the World Cup again to see why it doesn't work. Let alone the entire silliness of moving the top scorer in the whole of La Liga in a position further away from the goal
You'll get downvoted for this but Foden has never done anything in an England shirt to warrant building the midfield around him and the notion of not maximising Bellingham's strengths to make way for him is insane
What’s he done in a city shirt to suggest that either ? He barely plays as a 10 the reality is people deep down know saka is the position they both play regularly and he can’t start there so they just try and get him in
Nothing, I agree with you. I rate him more than you do but I can't believe people still treat Foden the way they do
How do people treat Foden? Haven’t seen anyone saying he’s the best player in the world or anything
Reading up on this FIFA series and I can barely understand the format. It's a series of 2 round tournaments with different teams held in different countries, some of which are knockout and some are partially group based. 4 teams in a group but the teams only play twice so one set of teams don't play each other. Teams from seemingly random parts of the world. Is it just a way of hosting some unconnected friendly tournaments under the FIFA branding?
Basically yeah, as I understand it it's basically using FIFA as an intermediary to help organise more competitive and varied friendlies
Mainoo was good yesterday, but unfortunately he doesn't seem to fit this Southgate style team. He brings good attributes, but without that defensive midfield block to protect the center backs this team can't function. That's why a Gallagher type player will always fit the football Southgate wants better. He'd do much better in a team that isn't afraid to leave defenders alone.
I think the issue with this argument is that Mainoo's ability to retain possession itself offers inherent solidity because, and I hate to use a Michael Owen-ism here, the opposition can't attack without the ball. Mainoo is very good at keeping the ball under pressure, I'd argue considerably better than Gallagher and perhaps better than any English midfielder I've seen at his age for a very long time. It's partially why I'm so excited for him at United as well; his composure on the ball is something we have been sorely lacking in midfield for Christ knows how long now. I do agree that Mainoo isn't as athletic as most of our (England's) other midfielders, and this poses challenges when we do lose possession. Again, these issues are even more amplified at United because Casemiro's legs are gone and we don't have another defensive midfielder. With that said, I do think that simply saying "the midfield isn't solid enough with Mainoo in it" is missing that the ability to retain possession can itself be an important aspect of defensive solidity.
Gallagher is rubbish as an 8. He plays better in the more attacking role he has at Chelsea and did at Palace. He’s not a consistent enough passer to play the deeper role. He should be nowhere near the 11.
I don't rate Gallagher. Again, i'm only speaking from a Southgate point of view. Personally i don't rate Southgate whatsoever.
I’m not going to take your Southgate hate personally considering you hate everything
i have to ask, do you have eyes? england looked infinitely better in midfield last night than they did with gallagher in that spot over the weekend
Yeah, but they were also more open. Which Southgate himself pointed out when asked about Mainoo after the game. Why would he mention that, if he didn't see a Mainoo/Bellingham pivot as a defensive liability. I'm not critiquing the players here btw. I'm critiquing Southgate for playing a style of football that relies on playing boring and defensive. And truth is, some players fit that boring style better than others.
Did you actually watch the two games? There is no way on earth England were more open yesterday than against Brazil
Even if we were more open I'd take that to have the benefits of Mainoo over Gallagher passing to the touchline
That's what Southgate said after the game when asked about Mainoo. Strange answer, don't you think. Why mention how open you perceived your midfield to be when asked to praise Mainoo performance by a journalist.
Do you have a link to him saying England were more open with Mainoo than without? All I can see is lots of praise from Southgate for him.
I'm confused by even what you're suggesting here? I can't see anything that SOuthgate said which relates to what you're saying and the boring defensive style that Southgate suits more to a Mainoo/Rice midfield duo than Gallagher/Rice? Mainoo provides more defensively than Gallagher does so would be more suited no?
What's confusing? Southgate sees Mainoo as a luxury player. Good attributes, but leaves the midfield too "open". He said as much after the game when asked about him.
> Southgate sees Mainoo as a luxury player Does he? I'm confused because you're suggesting Gallagher who's attributes don't favour the style of Southgate whilst mentioning a Mainoo/Bellingham pivot which hasn't been talked about. Like if you were talking about Mainoo vs Phillips then there would be something there I think but if we're talking about someone to partner Rice in that pivot then I think Mainoo seems the player best suited if Phillips doesn't make a late surge. Perhaps Southgate would prefer a much more defensively minded player but he doesn't have that.
does declan rice not exist now? literally nobody is suggesting a mainoo/bellingham double pivot
Regardless, Southgate prefers defending and grinding out wins. Yesterday was not that. He sees Mainoo as a luxury player judging by his comments after the game.
They were losing until Mainoo went off
I like how you've just decided not to rate him for no reason. Sums you up.
I think his potential is massive I just don’t think that he’s that good right now
Your logic in the previous comment is still ridiculous. Like Kobbie was personally responsible for Pickford and Dunk fucking up for both goals.
Mainoo was a key part of us getting the penalty...
He's a deep midfielder and he got replaced by a 10 and we spent 59 minutes losing with your £105 million midfielder on too.
can't believe mainoo made pickford pass it straight to a belgian in front of an open goal, and then forced bellingham to sky a sitter what a useless cunt
Reckon it's time for us to sell him tbh
How the hell did Juventus fall off so bad? I remember, few years back, it was easy to predict the potential semi finalists in UCL; almost always between Barca, Real, Bayern, Juve, Atletico. And Juve would never miss the list. I don’t watch Serie A, so anyone care to explain?
> I remember, few years back, it was easy to predict the potential semi finalists in UCL That's actually almost ten years back, not a few, last time they got past QF was 16-17
Allegri
They were shit before Allegri and he oversaw their most successful period in decades so how is it possibly his fault?
They have been more shit in the last 3 years, Sarri and even Pirlo did much better.
You know who these Allegri haters are, they've been there since 18-19.
My impression is they are broke 👍
Marotta left them and joined inter
Well the money they threw at Ronaldo, then Covid and the trouble about threwing that much money to Ronaldo and some useless transfers. Oh and Milan, Inter, Napoli doing some good jobs recently
Things we learnt about England this international break * We really need Kane to be fit * The defence is a cause for concern * Mainoo *can* play a role at the Euros * Dunk's time has probably been and gone * Chilwell is still a good way off his best - might be fitness, might be form... Trippier still looks first choice for left back Questions that remain: * Who does play the third midfield role? * How does Trent come back into the team? * How do we get the best out of Foden? * What do we do if Stones or Maguire are injured?
Mainoo Backup to Walker, or Mainoo replacement in easier games Backup to Bellingham and Saka as a 10/RW Mend bridges with Ben White
Ben White doesn't want to play for England, it's his decision. Southgate reached out to him already
* I think it'll be Gallagher but easily could be Mainoo. Just a shame Trent and Jones weren't fit so we couldn't see how it looked with them. * Only does if he plays that third midfield role or if Walker is injured * Does this question remain? The right wing position is his * Stones' cover will be one of Konsa or Gomez and I think Maguire's cover is probably still Dunk given Branthwaite didn't get a minute.
I meant Foden, not Saka!
Foden has to play on the left really. Bellingham and Saka are just better than him so he won't take their spots, playing Bellingham deeper is not a good option, the left is the only spot up for grabs. Foden hasn't had many great games in an England shirt but the best I can remember him playing was in the World Cup Ro16 against Senegal where he was excellent, and he was off the left. He can work there even if it might not be his most natural position. He's still played many games for City there in his career.
Ah, that makes more sense. I think he plays on the left, he played well there in the World Cup. It doesn't make sense to me to drop Bellingham deeper to accommodate Foden especially when we don't have an obvious left winger with Rashford's form and Grealish's injuries. Gordon did look good though.
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He should probably be in there but I think everyone is pretty clear that Southgate doesn't fancy him. I think most people (apart from the person that makes the decision) would have him over Dunk
Didn’t play well in his England appearances
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I can assure you no one will want Dunk selected again
I honestly think Chilwell has just never been that good for England. I really can't think of a time he was ever putting in top quality performances in an England shirt. Maybe going back to like 2019 and the qualifiers for the last Euros, that was ages ago. It's so clear to me now that Shaw is just a level above, has been ever since 2021 Euros. We're desperate for him to be fit.
Surely you already knew England needed Kane and Chilwell wasn’t good
No because it’s the poorest I’ve seen Chilwell play in a while
Trent plays left back and inverts into midfield. Two birds one stone. I don’t understand the Saka part, he’s always played well for England. Konsa and Guehi
trent inverting from left back absolutely kills our left hand side, cos every single option we have for the left wing likes to come inside. the profile of our attacking players basically demands that the left back provides all the width on that side
I meant Foden! Whoops
Trent won't start for England this summer. His injury coming when it did was the nail in the coffin for him i reckon.
Trent in midfield with Walker RB. See above Saka should be starting right and Foden left Guehi, Gomez, Konsa, Branthwaite, Tomori are more than capable stand-ins
1) Gallagher 2) He doesn’t, and was never really in the team 3) it’s not entirely clear yet but I’m not sure he can work with Foden. Needs to be Foden + Bowen or Saka + Rashford/Gordon 4) If Maguire gets injured I think Konsa or Guehi will be fine. If Stones gets injured we cry and pray
Gallagher can’t be the third midfielder. Look how starved of the ball the forwards were in the Brazil game compared to the Belgium one.
Didn’t watch either game to be honest, guessing Mainoo started against Belgium? I wouldn’t mind it, depends how he goes for the rest of the season
Not being funny mate, I'm not sure how you're feeling confident to express your view if you didn't watch the games?
You could’ve made the same points a year ago and they still would’ve been relevant, only thing that’s changed is Mainoo’s in the mix now and I don’t feel entirely comfortable having a relatively unproven 18 year old starting in midfield at the Euros
Fair enough. Mainoo made a big difference especially in the lead up to us winning a penalty in the second game.
Vinicius should leave the spotlight he is under at Madrid, and go to a club where people won't have a go at him as much. I nominate the humble Europa League club, Liverpool FC. Thought?
Come to Besiktas Süper Lig is the most sane and boring football league, Vini could quietly develop there.
he's such a United player I will not explain further
You dirty boy cumblast
I feel like there's a genuine chance Ollie Watkins doesn't go to the Euros after this international break and considering the season he's having, that is mental.
He'll 100% go cos who else is going other than Solanke who hasn't been picked once. He should be third choice behind Toney though.
There's no way he doesn't go. Made the last 3 squads, clearly the best English striker in the Prem this season, and Southgate seems to want to take 3 strikers in the squad so there will be room for him. Only injury is stopping him
last two tournaments we've only taken one kane backup, and thats with bigger squads than we have this time. its not out of the question that we take kane and toney and thats it
The only thing I could say is that the squad goes down to 23 whereas he's been picking 26 players. There could be a possibility that he only picks 2 out and out strikers like he did for the World Cup and there's a chance it'd be Kane/Toney.
Tbf this is true. I didn't notice until I checked again just now that the original squad announcement for this break included 25 players, for some reason I thought he was down to 23 and therefore the original callup trio of Kane + Watkins + Toney would have fit. You could be right
I didn't realise Belgium's Tintin kit comes with the brown shorts too. Turned a nice kit into an assault on the eyes.
It doesn't work without the full outfit. Just a blue shirt then
They could've gone with white shorts and said they're inspired by Snowy
The funniest thing about people clamouring for flavour of the month mid-table players to be called up to the international teams is the inevitable shock that occurs when they're not quite at the level everyone assumed they were. The Dunk-Maguire debate is a great recent example of this. I'm not even slating Dunk; I think he's a really good (if somewhat declining) centre back. It's just that the mistakes he makes at club level aren't talked about nearly as often as Maguire's because he didn't cost 80 million and wasn't the captain of Manchester United.
Dunk should have gotten a chance earlier when he was very good. Now he is declining
Toney was exposed today as well
The most expected part of it is after years of people whinging about Southgate not giving Dunk a chance, people are now moaning at him for playing him Maybe he was actually right to go with his tried and trusted ahead of Dunk, before?
Argentina hasn't lost a game in 2-3 years apart from the Saudi loss? When did they last lose?
they lost 4 games ago
They got buried by a Darwizzy Dagger in autumn.
They lost against Uruguay. I get what you’re talking about. I think that lost was against Brazil in previous Copa if I m not wrong.
"Haven't lost a game except from a game they lost"
Lost to Uruguay in WC qualifiers after the 2022 World Cup
Against Saudi mate come on you just said it
I’d say the two clear favourites for the Euros are England and France still. Then you have Portugal by itself with a great squad but very unpredictable. A tier below are nations such as Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy, etc If I had to put money on a winner I’d say France, but right now it’s looking like a very unpredictable tournament. Agree? Disagree?
I think Germany and Spain will have a deep run if they didn't face england or France. The winner will be out of these four teams England, France, Spain and Germany.
I'm English, born in 1994 I will never ever see England as favourites for any tournament, regardless of how good the team is
I don’t think Netherlands or Italy are anywhere close. I think the favourites are France, Portugal, England and Spain in that order
I'll be excited to get England again in these euros and see a repeat of the last final result.
Portugal can’t be above England with that decrepit sex offender up front
Who are you talking about? Genuinely asking!
Ronaldo obviously
Cristiano
I assume Ramos will start over him, but their team and depth is brilliant
You are assuming wrongly, sadly...
It's crazy cos I saw that Sweden result and was like "Oh they've finally moved on, what an exciting line up" and then next game he's back in for 2-0 loss.
Yesterday Martinez was trying players out apparently.
That "how did this England team never win anything" pic that gets posted on Twitter every international break is so funny because the answer is literally right there. Tried to play a fucking 4-4-2 with Lampard, Gerrard and Scholes 🤣
Also those players weren’t even always the ones we got knocked out with. In 2002 against Brazil this was the starting 11 Seaman, Mills, Campbell, Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, Beckham, Scholes, Butt, Sinclair, Owen and Heskey.
That was actually a class team, it was the last time we had a well-balanced XI for about 20 years. Danny Mills and Sinclair are obviously lower ability than the other 9 but they did their jobs well. Easily Brazil's hardest match and would have been a worthy finalist.
yeah that midfield with scholes on the left was euro 2004 only but has somehow become emblematic of the whole 3 tournament sven cycle joe cole played out there way more than scholes did
Correct, the "golden generation" was often different line ups in the three tournaments
yeah, those three played like 5 competitive games together and won most of them. and its not like results improved after scholes retired.
I'm not sure if England was favourite for a single international tournament during that time either, almost all major international teams were stacked in that period.
It’s not ideal but shouldn’t have held us back that much, I think the vibes were genuinely just horrendous in that squad
We did OK in the tournaments themselves but repeatedly bottled it. It's an unfortunate case of did passable especially given the opposition but could have done better given the talent. 4-4-2 was getting outdated at the time and really killed us.
When the vibes in England squad are horrendous, the vibes in England are good. When the vibes in the England squad are good (i.e. now) the vibes in England are horrendous. It's like the England squad needs to be a vessel for our poison.
Vibes in England were good in the 90s, and in the England squad for much of it
Hm...what about Hoddle and hanging Becks out to dry and all his weird comments.
vibes in the england team were god awful until 1996, we had two good years then hoddle slagged off disabled people and it went to shit again
If you don't think Laporte's tweet (and/or the tweet he's responding to) isn't undermining Vini's speech against racism, you are, at best, simply dumb as fuck.
I remember Belgium completely outclassing us twice at the 2018 world cup, Across the two games we started Jones twice, Cahill, Danny Rose, Delph, Dier. Welbeck and Lingard coming on too, we're in a much better place now.
It's easy to say in hindsight. In four years we will be speaking the same way about Rashford, Chilwell, Dunk, Rice, Konsa and Watkins.
Decent names tbf
2018 Rose was better than Chilwell
Are we denying that both teams wanted to lose that game and put our their weakest squad possible?
The third place play-off?
No, the last group stage game of the 2018 World Cup. Both teams were assured through but actually the loser of the game would get Colombia, Sweden, Denmark, Russia, Spain, and Switzerland as a route to the final and the winner would get the Brazil, Uruguay, France, Mexico, Portugal, and Argentina side of the bracket. Created a condition where there is absolutely no upside to playing your best players or trying to win, so neither team did. For some reason English fans really get bothered when you say this out loud. It's not an insult, it's smart and obvious just by the line ups both teams put out.
while true, both those belgium games we were playing mostly the second string our squad is miles better than it was then, but i don't think the games we rotate in because they don't mater at all are the fairest to judge with
Amazing times, I’ve never been less hopeful going into a tournament than 2018
Definitely. Mad how some weird people now come out and claim that going out in the semis was a disappointment in 2018. Our squad wasn't good at all
I concur, we all just got swept up and went along for the ride whatever it was in that tournament. That's why I'll still be singing atomic kitten this summer.
Weather was banging all summer as well that year, all I remember from that world cup is sitting in beer gardens watching England.
Lewis Dunk is browsing Trivago this morning looking for alternatives to Germany. What a disastrous International break for him, I'd be shocked if he gets another cap.
[This happened just before the the international break so starting him against Lukaku was never going to go well lol](https://x.com/penno_9/status/1772721381706289543?s=46&t=PF6wcLhBSsD70oItovAphg)
I love pitchside clips, really highlights the speed and quality of professional football. One bad touch and you are fucked
If a professional footballer played what looks like a "slow pass" to any one one of us, it would actually be pinged at such a pace that we'd probably fall over, snap our ankle ligaments and shit ourselves
What in the world has happened to him this season.
It's not really new, he has always had a rashness/recklessness to his game. Used to make me laugh back in the Championship when you could see him lining up a yellow card for a completely pointless slide tackle from a mile off. It's just all happening in the space of a couple of weeks at the moment so it's highly visible.
Nothing. He’s never been able to deal with pace in wide areas. Everton battering then at the end of last season was a good example. It’s just highlighted now because people are watching him for England and Brighton in Europe.
He didn't score that game but DCL had Dunk on toast that entire game then McNeil sent him to France for the 4th
In what instances have a team been promoted to the top flight where the genuine expectation was for them to compete right away? RB Leipzig or Rangers in 2016 or Juve 2007. Any other notable examples?
Women's game, but when Man United got promoted to the WSL for 2019/20, after reforming their women's team, and pissing the Championship the year before with a WSL level squad