England Squad - Euro 2024

[SebastianBlue]

Midfield looks light. Ok so they're counting the number 10 types as forwards.

But really only Rice with any proven international experience there.

Keeper/defence is ok. Pickford plus Stones and Maguire is an established core that does pretty well in international football.

And lots of attacking options.

Agree about the midfield looking light. I think it says a lot about Southgate’s mindset that he has selected twice as many defenders than midfielders for the provisional squad (I don’t count TAA as a midfielder).

Rico should be there over Mainoo to cover fullback and midfield. That’s not my City bias talking—Lewis is the better, more versatile player that England desperately need to integrate for the future. Unfortunately, his lack of minutes this season saw him miss out.

Not sure we could convince him to commit to England (though this recent France snub might make that a bit easier), but I would take Olise over Gallagher every day of the week, as well.

I would actually like to see Stones with Branthwaite, in a Younger John / Older John tandem; opposition would struggle to get the ball and they are both excellent defenders of the counter. But Southgate is a coward and will want to go with his known clogging approach.

Would have selected Mitchell over Gomez, as well.

My ideal starting 11 from that provisional squad would be:

Out of possession
——————————— Ramsdale ———————————
———— Walker ——— Stones —— Branthwaite ——
Trippier ———————— Rice ————————— Shaw
——————— Bellingham ——— Eze —————————
————————————— Foden ————————————
————————————— Kane —————————————

In possession
——————————— Ramsdale ———————————
—————Walker ———————— Branthwaite ———
————————— Stones —— Rice ——————————
Trippier —————— Bellingham ——————— Shaw
————————— Eze <————> Foden ————————
————————————— Kane —————————————

But I know Southgate would never select that group of players for a Euro match, much less play such an attacking setup.

 

[malg]

Contrary to the views on here i think its a mistake in not taking Rashford.

I'm Scottish and I agree.

 

[City Raider]

“With Phil [Foden] is where he ends up, not his starting position. He's been allowed to drift for Manchester City. It's where these players arrive and where they are allowed to drift to.
"We never pin these forwards to the touchline. There is this freedom. You want Phil in those central areas, as you want with two or three others."

That’s Phil on the wing then ffs

 

[Blue Smarties]

@Blue Smarties says he’s a right back so everyone else has to pretend he’s not played 20 caps for England at LB including most of the last tournament they got to the final in.

You think a 33 YO Trippier at left back is a good selection heading into a major tournament?

 

[supercity88]

Really? he basically said Bellingham will be the 10.

He justified Phil starting on the left saying he can drift inside, but we know he isn't as effective doing that.

It's simple, start him as a 10 if you want the best out of him. He's the most talented English player.

He said Phil has played off the right and left but it's about where he ends up not where he starts. He can drift. He mentioned about Bellingham playing as a 10 but defending the left side, which to me suggests he's open to Phil coming inside to operate and having Jude help mark that side of the pitch.

We're not going to play both as number 10s. Rice isn't Rodri. So we'll see Mainoo presumably alongside Rice and then Foden-Bellingham-Saka-Kane. But I think his words mean he's already looking at how he can give Phil the freedom he needs to play centrally. Southgate's naturally defensive, but his comments on Bellingham tell me he thinks Phil can play centrally from the left and Jude can help cover.

 

[TinFoilHat]

No shocks there.

Mainoo will be happy getting his Rashford type bonus for being there and not improving his game.

 

[Lauz9888]

Mainoo is part of the reason teams just stroll through the rag midfield. He has no sense or awareness of his positioning on the pitch.

I'd rather Gallagher out of the two. I don't rate him that highly but he's certainly got a better grasp on the basics and his positioning, plus he's been decent for Chelsea in their good form recently.

Mainoo would be a liability coming up against intelligent players.

Gallagher's a decent PL midfielder. Nothing much to write home about in the grand scheme of things but puts a shift in and possibly his experience of the captaincy at Chelsea might have made him a little less likely to go flying in than he was.

Not the most exciting prospect but probably the kind of player needed to knit together that midfield.

 

[madloaf]

“With Phil [Foden] is where he ends up, not his starting position. He's been allowed to drift for Manchester City. It's where these players arrive and where they are allowed to drift to.
"We never pin these forwards to the touchline. There is this freedom. You want Phil in those central areas, as you want with two or three others."

That’s Phil on the wing then ffs

And brought off after 65 mins for james maddison - who'll play the next 25 mins exactly where Phil should have been playing.

 

[TinFoilHat]

You think a 33 YO Trippier at left back is a good selection heading into a major tournament?

Piss funny if your Scottish
:)

 

[domalino]

You think a 33 YO Trippier at left back is a good selection heading into a major tournament?

Yeah I think he’s probably Englands best LB option. Hes better defensively than Chilwell, he’s got loads of experience, his set pieces have supplied loads of goals and he’s got a track record of playing well in that position for England at major tournaments.

I prefer Shaw to Gomez but Gomez has played 20 games at LB this season and has lost 1 match, he’s in form.