Today’s Football 2021/22 Season

[Alan Whittle]

Greece were not expecting to win the Euros and were one of the favs on the first plane home.

England have an abundance of attacking talent all over with household names and Southgate sets them up with 7 defensive players playing the most dire boring one dimensional insomniac Football like they are some International minnow just hoping to God they can nick a result.

What Southgate really needs is for the players he picks in the squad to turn up, not feign injury and become miraculously fit to play again for thei club the following week. Happens time and again. Wouldn’t you agree?

 

[Martin Alvito]

Just thinking about how bad England's central midfield is.

If you think of the top nations, all the previous world cup winners along with Portugal and Netherlands, would any of those countries pick Rice and Phillips ahead of their own options? I don't think so personally.

England have a lot of good options in attack but IMO the midfield is average and the defence is also a mixed bag.

The lack of a truly first-rate 6 is a huge problem. Here is who nailed that down in the final for four of the last five teams to win a World Cup or the Euros: Busquets, Schweinsteiger, Kante, Jorginho. All world class players with a Champions League winner's medal - the sort of players you want destroying people while linking defense with attack. Having someone like that back there isn't quite a necessary condition for lifting a major international trophy, but it's close.

Behind them you have Stones and Maguire, who are the rich man's version of our Keane and Holgate pairing. There's always a horror show waiting to come out, like when they both totally switched off mentally and gifted Mandzukic the space that put Croatia through. They're better players than ours, to be sure, so it doesn't happen as often. When it does, as it did on Hungary's last goal, it isn't pretty.

One could argue that Southgate's timid setups in the big losses were simply an attempt to paper over those cracks. Of course, one could equally argue that the best defense in that situation was to put the opponents on the back foot, rather than try and fend off their attacks for ninety minutes (accounting for added time) after early goals.

I was saying this all through the Euros, yes we were getting through but having Rice behind Mount & Grealish (for example) with Sterling Foden Kane as a front 3 (for example) would have given the team a more dynamic and attacking look about it.

It's the $64,000 question, since he just won't try it. If the manager was Roberto Martinez, we would know. You might have gone out 5-3 in a knockout fixture before the semifinals, but we would know.

 

[PITA]

BFS would have gotten the same results.

Southgate got beat three times that World Cup and didn't play one established big name Football country and got knocked out by a country of 4 million in the semis setting up like he was San Marino against Spain.

And the Euros was his half of the draw where all the big guns drop like flies again to a easy route to a final after beating a awful stale past it German side and when he gets to the final scores after 3 minutes at home at Wembley and proceeded to park a bus instead of going for the jugular to win it.

He's gone after that blood stained Sportswash World Cup sham of a tournament, he'll scrap through the group and go out in the last 32.

Vamos Argentina!!!!

My God, you're 'kin dull.

 

[Yid4life]

It's okay, this is a safe place, you can say he went down like a fanny.

Or a Richy?

 

[Nymzee]

Or a Richy?

Yup he does at times. I'm not precious about my own players.

 

[Noble Savage]

Anyone following the Peterborough chairman on Twitter?
Full commentary on Posh's transfers and full transparency.

https://twitter.com/DMAC102?t=bDEulgqv6BHPX2OPdUdCyQ&s=09

 

[Billy Dean]

The lack of a truly first-rate 6 is a huge problem. Here is who nailed that down in the final for four of the last five teams to win a World Cup or the Euros: Busquets, Schweinsteiger, Kante, Jorginho. All world class players with a Champions League winner's medal - the sort of players you want destroying people while linking defense with attack. Having someone like that back there isn't quite a necessary condition for lifting a major international trophy, but it's close.

Behind them you have Stones and Maguire, who are the rich man's version of our Keane and Holgate pairing. There's always a horror show waiting to come out, like when they both totally switched off mentally and gifted Mandzukic the space that put Croatia through. They're better players than ours, to be sure, so it doesn't happen as often. When it does, as it did on Hungary's last goal, it isn't pretty.

One could argue that Southgate's timid setups in the big losses were simply an attempt to paper over those cracks. Of course, one could equally argue that the best defense in that situation was to put the opponents on the back foot, rather than try and fend off their attacks for ninety minutes (accounting for added time) after early goals.


It's the $64,000 question, since he just won't try it. If the manager was Roberto Martinez, we would know. You might have gone out 5-3 in a knockout fixture before the semifinals, but we would know.

I think the problem is the likes of Grealish, Foden and Mount don't play in midfield for their clubs, they play in the front 3. So it's hard to expect them to come to England and play that position when they don't have much time to train with the team. So all England's best players are essentially competing for 2 positions pretty much. Whereas further back the options are much thinner on the ground.

 

[duncs pigeon]

I think the problem is the likes of Grealish, Foden and Mount don't play in midfield for their clubs, they play in the front 3. So it's hard to expect them to come to England and play that position when they don't have much time to train with the team. So all England's best players are essentially competing for 2 positions pretty much. Whereas further back the options are much thinner on the ground.

We dont have any top quality central defenders, thats why he plays with two holding plays and this stiffles us going forward. Last night showed how bad we are. I dont mind Southgate, think he has done a very good job, esp after euro 2016, but Im afraid he doesnt have the nous to take us any further.

 

[Billy Dean]

We dont have any top quality central defenders, thats why he plays with two holding plays and this stiffles us going forward. Last night showed how bad we are. I dont mind Southgate, think he has done a very good job, esp after euro 2016, but Im afraid he doesnt have the nous to take us any further.

I definitely don't think he's got the nous to coach fluid attacking football. Like you say we always look worse when we try to be expansive. I think he should just stay true to himself and what he's good at. It might not be enough to win a tournament but it probably won't lead to disgrace either. As mentioned I'm not sure this group is good enough to win a tournament anyway.

 

[BlueStevie35]

BFS would have gotten the same results.

Southgate got beat three times that World Cup and didn't play one established big name Football country and got knocked out by a country of 4 million in the semis setting up like he was San Marino against Spain.

And the Euros was his half of the draw where all the big guns drop like flies again to a easy route to a final after beating a awful stale past it German side and when he gets to the final scores after 3 minutes at home at Wembley and proceeded to park a bus instead of going for the jugular to win it.

He's gone after that blood stained Sportswash World Cup sham of a tournament, he'll scrap through the group and go out in the last 32.

Vamos Argentina!!!!

That’s an hilarious joke

 

[Martin Alvito]

I think the problem is the likes of Grealish, Foden and Mount don't play in midfield for their clubs, they play in the front 3. So it's hard to expect them to come to England and play that position when they don't have much time to train with the team. So all England's best players are essentially competing for 2 positions pretty much. Whereas further back the options are much thinner on the ground.

I agree that the distribution of talent is a problem. You're starting Kane for sure, and you have subs for days up top with not much behind them.

France pushed Pogba further back with some success in 2018, but it's not like he was playing up on the wing or as a false 9 for United. We've seen Grealish deployed a bit further back for City, and the results have been at best a mixed bag. No telling what happens with Mount back there, and Foden would certainly have matchup problems as teams would attempt to bully him off the ball.

Personally, I would go for broke. A chance of lifting silverware, however slim, is better than none at all.

 

[Sinski]

I always thought it was a bit rum that Oceania was the only confederation that didn't get an automatic place to be honest

How can you expect those teams to get better if you exclude them?

Having the Oceanic winner going through the inter-confederation play offs was never right IMO

I wish they hadn't increased the World Cup to 48 teams for it to happen like, but this change is overdue

Oceania was meant to get a spot at the last increase of teams but money changing hands from other confederations stopped that and is why Australia eventually moved to the Asian confederation.

 

[Nymzee]

Why can’t these nobs get sanctioned yet?

 

[Billy Dean]

Gareth Southgate and the never-ending story of English football’s delusions | Barney Ronay

Supporters have turned on the manager after humiliation against Hungary – he is now a victim of his own success

www.theguardian.com

 

[Mikey_Fitzgerald]

Got to feel for that DC/Baltimore double bid

Football/Soccer mad part of the country and they've been denied because Boston has more commercial pull