England Thread - 2023/24

FantasyIreland said:
I think Harry speaks for most of us
Click to expand...


The one time he has spoken ( and I have actually listened) and he is absolutely right.

Paraphrased for him, due to being on tv - " Watching England is a fucking waste of time and patience ."

Southgate makes watching the England games a boring torture and total waste of talent that certain players possess.
 
johnny crossan said:
A simply staggering indictment - "Baghead has picked Sancho almost as many time as Foden. Let that sink in. Sancho has not had one stand out game in almost 3 years at the swamp."
Click to expand...
Pesky fact: Sancho won 22 of his 23 England caps when he was a Dortmund player. Since joining Manchester United he has played once for England. He hasn't been in the squad for 2 years - but why let facts get in the way of having a pop at Southgate?
 
I do usually watch England games. I'd been out so didn't see the lineup, stuck it on and watched to see if Gareth had played Foden, Bellingham and Rice in a young and talented midfield combination. Then I saw Henderson there instead. Left the TV on and went in the garden. Came in later and saw it was 1-1 and Phil there in the middle, making great runs to get the ball and watching as it went backwards/sideways instead. There might be two defenders around him, just give him the ball anyway guys he'll turn them and create something! Mental. Then Gallagher came on and Phil got pushed back out wide.

Waistcoat really needs to stop hyping other teams up. Yes we need to qualify for the tournament, but don't make North Macedonia and Ukraine a bigger challenge than they are. You can respect them, but you need to pick a side you think can win you the Euro's next summer and that side shouldn't have Maguire and Henderson in it because one doesn't play and the other is shite and now plays in Saudi.
 
Stopfordia said:
Pesky fact: Sancho won 22 of his 23 England caps when he was a Dortmund player. Since joining Manchester United he has played once for England. He hasn't been in the squad for 2 years - but why let facts get in the way of having a pop at Southgate?
Click to expand...
Welcome context from the source of the Mersey & home of Phil, thank you. My outrage at finding that stat has been diminished but I remain ever vigilant for all empirical evidence highlighting the unsuitability of the current England manager (not in short supply btw as witness Saturday's appalling selection and tactics.) The truth is that he has consistently shown himself incapable of intelligently using or in some cases even recognising the talented players at his disposal.
 
Still think we are overhyping this 'group of players'. I hear all the time Southgate 'should be winning with this group of players'. Why should he? How many English players get in the French team? How many English players would crack the Spain 2010 team, Brazil in 2002 or Germany in 2014? 2012 Spain had a midfield of Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta. 2002 Brazil had a front three of Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Cafu and Roberto Carlos as wingbacks. Germany in 2014 were the epitome of German efficiency and power. The current England team and England of the past 4 years isn't anywhere near the caliber of teams to previously win the World Cup.

Two World Cup semifinals, and one European championship final in which we lost on penalties. Its a decent record. Reality is Southgate could get the bin, and his replacement would struggle to match his achievements, no matter who replaces him.
 
HumbledGooner said:
Still think we are overhyping this 'group of players'. I hear all the time Southgate 'should be winning with this group of players'. Why should he? How many English players get in the French team? How many English players would crack the Spain 2010 team, Brazil in 2002 or Germany in 2014? 2012 Spain had a midfield of Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta. 2002 Brazil had a front three of Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Cafu and Roberto Carlos as wingbacks. Germany in 2014 were the epitome of German efficiency and power. The current England team and England of the past 4 years isn't anywhere near the caliber of teams to previously win the World Cup.

Two World Cup semifinals, and one European championship final in which we lost on penalties. Its a decent record. Reality is Southgate could get the bin, and his replacement would struggle to match his achievements, no matter who replaces him.
Click to expand...

This group of players is certainly overhyped. England "fans" will always be the same until we win something. The players are always better than the manager, even when they're not. Southgate has done well, but I believe he's stayed too long now. Tactically he's not good enough and I don't see him developing the squad enough. He's fallen into the trap of all his predecessors in picking names not form. He started off in a refreshing way, picking players who were in form and ignoring their club allegiance. That's not the case now.

I'd say Stones, Walker and Kane are the only world class players in the squad though. Foden, Saka and Bellingham potentially could be in the future. He should be looking to build a midfield partnership of Foden, Bellingham and Rice in my opinion and Saturday's game was the perfect opportunity to do so against an opposition who is never going to challenge for major honours but offers a test nonetheless.

Instead you get Henderson and Rice partnered which is so frustrating and surprise surprise we concede and fail to create chances. We've got a goalkeeper who can stop some shots but can't do any of the build up we need. We've got a striker who can't press. We've got a CB who doesn't play for his club team. We've got an immense talent in Foden who has switched to the central area and been a standout player in the league this season, yet plays there for about minutes before he's pushed out wide to accommodate Gallagher.

Yes we have to qualify, but that looks almost certain anyway. And it would be good to start building the side that will play in the Euro's, getting experience in squad players and thinking ahead by testing alternative options. Instead it's the same old with Southgate. We could rely on Maguire 5 years ago, we simply can't now and he shouldn't be in a squad when he doesn't play for his club. That's a joke.
 
Colin Bells Boots said:
The one time he has spoken ( and I have actually listened) and he is absolutely right.

Paraphrased for him, due to being on tv - " Watching England is a fucking waste of time and patience ."

Southgate makes watching the England games a boring torture and total waste of talent that certain players possess.
Click to expand...

Bravo Harry for saying what 99% of us think! What is the fucking point?? They might as well just dispense with the qualifiers, because unless you have a nightmare like Italy did and Germany appear to be doing, the big teams are certain to qualify anyway. They should just get a bye. Nobody wants to watch Morocco v Iran at a world cup finals except people from those countries. They are there as cannon fodder although the odd shock does happen. The world cup is the big teams competing.

As for England the absolute minimum we should expect is the quarter finals and we usually achieve that. This is because the groups are geared that way. We are the national equivalent of inferior teams we play in the premier league. Boring and dull, defend in depth and hope for a set piece or one moment of luck or magic to win. We are fucking shit and that stems from the incompetent shitehouse in charge.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Unread Posts

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top
✖
  AdBlock Detected
Bluemoon relies on advertising to pay our hosting fees. Please support the site by disabling your ad blocking software to help keep the forum sustainable. Thanks.