03 Jun 2024 22:16:52
Probably not the right place to post
Can someome explain to me why southgate is experimenting players 2 weeks b4 a major tournament
Other than pickford not 1 of these players will start for england even tho i think palmer should.
Every other team tends to stick to their best 11 always even other top countries
I don't get the point of this match at all.
03 Jun 2024 23:38:31
Gola, some of the likely starters aren’t fit and some haven’t joined the squad yet. However, it is clear that a lot of the team who played are not of international standard. Also, Southgate is clueless.
04 Jun 2024 08:16:42
I remember Southgate playing 3 at the back, with wing backs, and left chillwell and James on the bench. Who knows what the clown thinks.
04 Jun 2024 08:45:10
How else do you expect him to choose between the squad members who are on the fringes?
Also if you have an injury in the tournament, you need to have seen players play with one another in game.
04 Jun 2024 18:04:50
I really don't understand the abuse of Southgate, apart from the fact that he seemed to stand up and be counted on social issues like racism which rubbed a lot of people up the wrong way. If it's supposedly about the football I can only think that people have short memories – goldfish short. Yes, the current crop of players are undoubtedly excellent now, but that wasn't obviously the case when we went to the semis of the 2018 World Cup, nor the final of the Euros. Think about the years that preceded that – the Sven years, McClaren, the Capello years, Roy, (Big Sam), the wags, the egos, the whole depressing circus. England fans basically thought the team was useless, while the players themselves, generally excellent players in the PL, looked like they were playing with lead boots when they put on an England shirt. The team was often exceptionally boring to watch, unable to break down small sides. It was a chore. The whole outlook has changed under his management – ironically, fans have now have gone back to the entitlement of expecting – to the point of saying the manager is useless! But crucially, the England players also seem to expect now. That's his work. Yes, he's not tactically very astute, but pulling on an England shirt no longer looks like it robs the players of all their skill, vitality or will to live. That is some achievement.
04 Jun 2024 19:10:08
Edw, yes he’s not tactically astute nor has he sound judgement. His continued selection of Maguire is a prime example he will probably make the cut despite his lack of game time and fitness as will Shaw who hasn’t played since February: he has no idea of forward planning. His biggest failure was the 2021 Euros; getting to the final and not being able to see off one of the weakest Italian teams for years was a clear indication of his lack of ability as a coach. Also was peeved about his public criticism of Palmer after yesterday’s bore fest: true he didn’t have a great game but no need to single him out.
05 Jun 2024 12:07:34
You've conveniently swerved the body of what I said, which was about what the England team were like when he took over and what they're like now. What English players used to look like playing for England versus now. Would anyone have expected the England team he took over to reach a World Cup semi, then a Euro final? Not in a million years.
Talking about now, I agree that Maguire should have been phased out, but really, let's be honest, quality English CB options are pretty thin on the ground, as are LB options. So how do you forward plan for there being no standout players in such a crucial position? Every other big team has at least one absolute beast in there – France have Saliba. Germany have two CL finalists in Rudiger and Schlotterbeck. Netherlands have van Dijk, de Ligt, de Vrij – though arguably van de Ven is currently their best. Portugal have Ruben Dias.
Calling that Italy team weak is disrespectful – they had two of the greatest defenders of our generation (including the dark-arts master Chiellini, who might easily have been sent off two or three times in that game anyway), an ultra-experienced midfield that could have bossed ours for days (Veratti versus a 22-year-old Declan Rice – come on), and Chiesa, Immobile and Insigne in attack. Tournament games are often won on a tight defence, and England simply don't have, and haven't had, world-class players in the CB position since the Ferdinand/ Terry days (and Ferdinand always had a big lapse of concentration in him, so arguably back to Adams/ Sol Campbell for a proper pair of CBs) . Perhaps England managers will always be a lightning rod for the country's lack of self-esteem – big entitlement, but a secret fear that, actually, we're kind of rubbish. We have a capable team now, but do we have the players, say, France do? No. Look at their olympics squad. The depth is insane. Olise would be playing for England at the Euros. Yoro is being tracked by most of Europe's biggest clubs. Both of them are effectively in an U23s squad.
Southgate may well have come to the end of where he's capable of taking this team, but the fact that there's some serious weight to English expectations at this tournament, for once rather than it being fantasy and self-delusion, and that the team themselves seem to actually believe that too, shows what a job he's done.