England v Brazil

[Tangled up in Blue]

FWIW thought this was a pretty good match certainly much better than SUFC's ****show earlier.

 

[Cricko]

FWIW thought this was a pretty good match certainly much better than SUFC's ****show earlier.

Chilwell was brilliant.

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

Chilwell was brilliant.

Lol.

 

[Smiffy]

Same old story. Stick us up against a top 10 nation and we struggle. 24 matches v Top 10 opposition since 2016. 7 wins, 7 draws, 10 defeats.

Southgate deserves credit for turning us from a struggling to qualify/get out the group stages side, into a solid QF/SF team. But in my opinion, that’s all we will be with him in charge.

I’d like to see a change once the Euros are done. There is too much world class attacking talent that will be wasted, unless someone with more front foot ideas comes in. We need to win a trophy with this group.

 

[Kris]

In fairness Kane and Saka didn’t play so it was hardly our best team out there.

We are blessed with many options going forward, although worryingly we haven’t found an obvious alternative to Kane yet.

Defensively we are vulnerable, which is why GS often plays with a solid midfielder alongside Rice, who himself is playing further forward this season.

Like I’ve said on several occasions, if we had the defence SGE had at his disposal we’d be hot favourites for the Euros but we are where we are at the moment - a team capable of winning a major tournament but likely to fall just short.

Think this will be GS’s last tournament regardless of how we do but it might be a case of being careful what you wish for as Eddie Howe is the only credible English manager at the moment and there’s no guarantee he’ll be available.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Same old story. Stick us up against a top 10 nation and we struggle.

Southgate deserves credit for turning us from a struggling to qualify/get out the group stages side, into a solid QF/SF team. But in my opinion, that’s all we will be with him in charge.

I’d like to see a change once the Euros are done. There is too much world class attacking talent that will be wasted, unless someone with more front foot ideas comes in. We need to win a trophy with this group.

For all this talk of world class attacking talent we had the likes of Watkins, Gordon and Bowen getting minutes.

 

[Tribal Chief]

Southgate isn't my first choice for manager for sure. I wouldn't go for an English manager as the top contenders aren't good enough. I would choose Klopp, Tuchel or Pochettino in that order.

I think we are overreacting to a loss. With Kane up top, we win that game. With a referee willing to protect Bellingham, we also win. They caught us on the break (I'm still baffled that VAR didn't rule it out for offside), but we have essentially dominated possession against Brazil with a bunch of borderline squad players in the side. The Euros are still there to be won - France are the only team that measure up to England but Germany are likely to do well at home.

 

[Supa Shrimpa]

Southgate isn't my first choice for manager for sure. I wouldn't go for an English manager as the top contenders aren't good enough. I would choose Klopp, Tuchel or Pochettino in that order.

I think we are overreacting to a loss. With Kane up top, we win that game. With a referee willing to protect Bellingham, we also win. They caught us on the break (I'm still baffled that VAR didn't rule it out for offside), but we have essentially dominated possession against Brazil with a bunch of borderline squad players in the side. The Euros are still there to be won - France are the only team that measure up to England but Germany are likely to do well at home.

I'm still really against a foreign manager. What if we lose in a final against Germany with Klopp as our manager ? All the conspiracy theorists will be shouting fix etc. We should be proud of the coaches we have at our disposal and give them a chance.

I hear a lot of people saying we should be winning the euros with this squad of players, but I think we're really poor defensively. I think GS knows this and his preferred option is two holding midfielders, but he's also trying to squeeze in a host of good attacking players.

 

[WhiteNoise]

I thought we played pretty well with an understrength XI. We have a significant amount of injuries at the moment and fully expect us to be in a stronger and more competitive position in the summer.

I think it was also a good opportunity to rule out a few options. Chilwell is clearly third choice behind Shaw and Trippier (if Chilwell doesn't massively improve before the end of the season). Gallagher probably isn't England class, but I think Mainoo absolutely is (and gets a chance to show it tonight). And for as good as Watkins is for Villa, he isn't able to play that 9 role for England unless he gets better support in the box to create time for him. Brazil were happy to destroy us by repeatedly kicking Bellingham, which at least in a competitive match won't be so feasible if the yellow cards start to flow. We needed Saka or someone else to offer another midfield option to unlock a solid defense.

Trent will be back soon, and Reece James potentially back before the Euros. Saka and Kane are just precautionary absences really. My main concern is who plays CB if Maguire or Stones are out, as there is where we're very light and lacking experience. We're a victim of our own success, as irrespective of Maguire's United form and situation, they have been a very effective pairing in the last couple of international competitions. This means we've not been able to (or needed to) prepare some other CBs.

 

[Sandbach Shrimper]

The three big questions for me ahead of the Euro are:
- Who's the third midfielder alongside Rice and Bellingham? We could do with another defensive midfielder, particularly against stronger teams, to allow Bellingham (and Rice to a lesser extent) the licence to get forward. Mainoo is being overhyped in typical English fashion although admittedly I've not seen much of him.
- Who starts at centre-back alongside Stones? There's obviously a lot of talk about Maguire but he and Stones have been a good partnership for England and no-one has really stepped up to replace Maguire. Dunk and Guehi are solid Premier League centre-backs but untested against top opposition.
- Who starts at left-back? Think this all comes down to fitness, if Shaw is fully fit he starts.

Imagine our starting XI will be very similar to what it has been at the last two major tournaments.

 

[Cricko]

Boregate 4 wins in 26 against the top 10 teams.

 

[Rob Noxious]

The three big questions for me ahead of the Euro are:
- Who's the third midfielder alongside Rice and Bellingham? We could do with another defensive midfielder, particularly against stronger teams, to allow Bellingham (and Rice to a lesser extent) the licence to get forward. Mainoo is being overhyped in typical English fashion although admittedly I've not seen much of him.
- Who starts at centre-back alongside Stones? There's obviously a lot of talk about Maguire but he and Stones have been a good partnership for England and no-one has really stepped up to replace Maguire. Dunk and Guehi are solid Premier League centre-backs but untested against top opposition.
- Who starts at left-back? Think this all comes down to fitness, if Shaw is fully fit he starts.

Imagine our starting XI will be very similar to what it has been at the last two major tournaments.

It was the first time I'd seen Mainoo (last night v Belgium) and I was very impressed with his tackling, touch and ability to turn a defensive position into an attacking one. He has a good ability to thread a pass forwards (to the more attacking players) too. He is probably the most mature 18 y.o. midfielder I've seen since Glenn Pennyfather burst onto the scene all those years ago.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

It was the first time I'd seen Mainoo (last night v Belgium) and I was very impressed with his tackling, touch and ability to turn a defensive position into an attacking one. He has a good ability to thread a pass forwards (to the more attacking players) too. He is probably the most mature 18 y.o. midfielder I've seen since Glenn Pennyfather burst onto the scene all those years ago.

Ditto (except I’d suggest Yearwood and Kane Ferdinand instead).

What impressed me was how he was on the same wavelength as England’s best players and how they trusted him. That’s always a give away to me.

The likes of Gordon, Watkins, Chilwell etc weren’t able to link up in that manner.

 

[Supa Shrimpa]

It was the first time I'd seen Mainoo (last night v Belgium) and I was very impressed with his tackling, touch and ability to turn a defensive position into an attacking one. He has a good ability to thread a pass forwards (to the more attacking players) too. He is probably the most mature 18 y.o. midfielder I've seen since Glenn Pennyfather burst onto the scene all those years ago.

He reminds me a bit of Kante. Covers lots of ground, keeps it simple and looks to play forward. Seems an ideal partner with Rice in front of our suspect defence. Just a question of whether GS thinks he should squeeze him into the squad instead of Henderson, I suppose ?

 

[Rob Noxious]

He reminds me a bit of Kante. Covers lots of ground, keeps it simple and looks to play forward. Seems an ideal partner with Rice in front of our suspect defence. Just a question of whether GS thinks he should squeeze him into the squad instead of Henderson, I suppose ?

I certainly hope he does. I can see 'Hendo' being on the plane too though.

 

[Supa Shrimpa]

I certainly hope he does. I can see 'Hendo' being on the plane too though.

So can I. They reckon his leadership qualities behind the scenes are top drawer (although his must have lost face with the others with his recent transfer sagas)

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

FWIW would agrre with The Grauniad that Ingerland need Harry Kane back if they're to have any chance in the Euros.Incidentally see Spain drew 3-3 with Brazil the other night.Just saying.
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...kings-a-look-at-the-24-teams-going-to-germany