England v Iceland - Fri 7th June, 19:45 | Friendly

I have followed international tournements since 1982 , the problem Southgate has is that , Brazil, Argentina, Netherland, France, Germany, Italy and Spain have been miles off there best but his England squat is even better then ever , so he has not the same competition the others had . Southgate has pissed away what should have been a great English team.
So just off the top of my head Keegan, Francis, Shilton, Robson, Sansom, Brooking (if they taught him how to run ! ) from the 1982 side would walk into this England team. Terry Butcher too if he was around then ?

Don’t believe all the media PL hype that this bunch are world beaters playing in by far the best league in the world, they aren’t.
 
So just off the top of my head Keegan, Francis, Shilton, Robson, Sansom, Brooking (if they taught him how to run ! ) from the 1982 side would walk into this England team. Terry Butcher too if he was around then ?

Don’t believe all the media PL hype that this bunch are world beaters playing in by far the best league in the world, they aren’t.
the 1982 England team was great but in 1982 Brazil , Germany, France and Italy where better team.

Francis (one of my favorites) would not have played if Keegan hadnt been injured.
Brooking was so slow he would not yave a change today . It is hard judging teams from a different time it was a different sport.
But what we can do is judging the competition now and there was alot harder winning 1982 WC against those team then it is today . My opinion
 
First time I've watched England for a bit, maybe we're spoiled with Pep but I was dumbfounded by the lack of a plan...any plan.

Play Rice and Mainoo in the centre, yet neither offered any defensive cover or for forward into the box to support the attack. What was the plan there?

Should have been a concerted effort to get Foden, Palmer on the ball yet time after time they were bypass, often by Harry 'the lone wanderer ' Kane who'd decided to play quarterback to set up the counter attack, so that Gordan could cross too the imaginary twelfth man.

You have to question that manager after that
What was the plan? What were the game changing options off the bench and what did he send them on to do? Hopefully a hiccup but, essentially, a pathetic performance. Please make him United manager.

He needs to grow some balls. Tell Kane to stick up the field. Tell the team to work the ball to our playmakers. Drop the two man midfield if you don't have an understanding between them. Or a plan.
Mainoo is non-existent defensively. I am not sure what his best position will eventually be but he has no awareness of danger and takes up the wrong positions on the pitch. United's midfield was terrible last season and he was a big part of that. Not saying he's a bad player but he does not have the discipline for a defensive midfield role. Teams wiill just run straight through England as they did to United all season.
 
So just off the top of my head Keegan, Francis, Shilton, Robson, Sansom, Brooking (if they taught him how to run ! ) from the 1982 side would walk into this England team. Terry Butcher too if he was around then ?

Don’t believe all the media PL hype that this bunch are world beaters playing in by far the best league in the world, they aren’t.
Spot-on. Virtually no world-class players in the England squad. As you say perhaps Kane, Foden, Bellingham but all of them have already played too many games for their clubs. Both Walker and Stones have not been at their best this season and the rest of the defence, including the keeper, is bang average. The media coverage is, as usual, absurd and the team is over-hyped. That said I am not a fan of Southgate. He's bang average as well.
 
Mainoo is non-existent defensively. I am not sure what his best position will eventually be but he has no awareness of danger and takes up the wrong positions on the pitch. United's midfield was terrible last season and he was a big part of that. Not saying he's a bad player but he does not have the discipline for a defensive midfield role. Teams wiill just run straight through England as they did to United all season.
I just read an article discussing Southgate's team selection. He said that that young Eventon centre-back was excluded because he is not ready yet. He played all season in the centre of their defence. On the other hand Mainoo was selected having only played since October. Gues his inclusion is because he plays for a team in red because to my mind the Everton lad has far more game experience.
 
I just read an article discussing Southgate's team selection. He said that that young Eventon centre-back was excluded because he is not ready yet. He played all season in the centre of their defence. On the other hand Mainoo was selected having only played since October. Gues his inclusion is because he plays for a team in red because to my mind the Everton lad has far more game experience.

Mainoo first capped at 18 years old and Phil was 20 years old, in no alternate universe was the rag a better prospect than Phil at any time IMHO.
 
I just read an article discussing Southgate's team selection. He said that that young Eventon centre-back was excluded because he is not ready yet. He played all season in the centre of their defence. On the other hand Mainoo was selected having only played since October. Gues his inclusion is because he plays for a team in red because to my mind the Everton lad has far more game experience.

Picked on form but Toney gets in. Wouldn't look too hard into what he said, full of contradictions.

I believe Grealish missed out purely because with Maguire injured Southgate took an extra defender because he isn't sure if Dunk or Guehi are the better option when Branthwaite was the answer.

Mainoo showed enough on Friday to convince anyone with half a brain he isn't good enough. We didn't need an extra "holding" midfielder in that game but when you play one what we can't do is give the ball away and be part of a shite defensive unit.
 
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Someone tell him
 

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I just read an article discussing Southgate's team selection. He said that that young Eventon centre-back was excluded because he is not ready yet. He played all season in the centre of their defence. On the other hand Mainoo was selected having only played since October. Gues his inclusion is because he plays for a team in red because to my mind the Everton lad has far more game experience.
Agreed.

Of course Branthwaite is young and probably nowhere near as good as he'll eventually be. But a good season in central defence in an Everton side that's had to defend a lot to stay in the league proves he's a decent player who can handle pressure. It's not like he's competing for a place with loads of experienced centre-backs - that position is pretty much Stones the veteran alongside a selection of players with a handful of caps. Makes more sense in that context to give talented 21-year-old Branthwaite the opportunity over solid but uninspiring 32-year-old Dunk.

For me, Mainoo has promise. He's tenacious and drives forward on the front foot, and those are good qualities. But he's also defensively naive, positionally poor and his league experience is a few months in a midfield that hasn't worked out how not to be overrun. I don't think he's good enough right now for the senior squad - should be learning his trade in the under 21s, I don't think he meets the threshold to be skipping that step.
 

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