England Squad - Euro 2024

supercity88 said:
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.
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Do Bellingham and Foden have the maturity and understanding to balance that approach? They have very little experience playing together and if it goes wrong they're getting in each other's way in the middle and there's a gaping hole where the left wing should be.
 
Crooked_rain said:
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.
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Playing for the rags to be expected he’s no tactical awareness ……..
 
Lauz9888 said:
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.
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Crooked_rain said:
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.
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Rico would be a better selection than both, but his lack of minutes saw him miss out, unfortunately.
 
Lauz9888 said:
Do Bellingham and Foden have the maturity and understanding to balance that approach? They have very little experience playing together and if it goes wrong they're getting in each other's way in the middle and there's a gaping hole where the left wing should be.
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There are so many ways to cover it. It doesn't need Bellingham and Foden to resolve it specifically. Both work hard on and off the ball for starters. Secondly, you make sure your shape in possession covers for it. Rice/Mainoo drifts to the left if you lose possession. You drop to a back three with Walker covering right, Stones central and X covering the left side. Shaw pushes up to close the space. Or Stones steps up and enables Rice/Mainoo to close the space instead.

We've often had Gvardiol on his own wide left, with no options but to pass back inside because Phil and Kev were both in the number 10 space. And we stuck with that because it was creating overloads elsewhere.
 
youngbob said:
Has a similar G/A record to Rodri this season (7 goals, 10 assists to Rodri's 9 goals, 14 assists). Not as good as Rodri, which we know, but he's definitely still dangerous going forward and has turned up with some big goals for Arsenal this season in tight games (United at home, Luton away, Chelsea away) that kept City honest until the final day.

If you have someone like Jones, or Mainoo, or Alexander-Arnold, or Gallagher, or even Stones, sat in there basically doing the grunt work, it allows Foden, Bellingham, and Rice to shine where they do the most damage. It's exactly what Kovacic has brought to us this season, a deferential hard worker who stitches the entire operation together.

It's something a succession of England managers never understood throughout the 2000s despite all the talent they had on show. And Southgate playing a midfield three of Rice, Bellingham, and Foden will see us sent packing as soon as we come up against a decent side. The formation doesn't matter, someone just has to keep Rice company.

Although, another reason he needs someone sat alongside him for England is that he's not the best at playing the DM role on his own like Rodri, where he basically runs the game from behind the midfield. A lot of England's play was halted by his off-the-ball positioning at the World Cup, especially in that knockout game against France.

I still think England are a better team with Rice, Bellingham, and Foden in it but they can't all play together without a workhorse making sure they're allowed to shine. International football, significantly more than club football, is about making do with what you've got and someone is gonna have to make some sacrifices to make sure the team ticks.
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I think Bellingham is that player, his half season playing upfront for Real Madrid has people convinced he is a forward. I see no reason why he can't sit with Rice in a double pivot. In fact I think thats his best position.
 
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