England v Brazil | Friendly | Match Thread

[Crooked_rain]

Agree with this. He is a very good young player but woukd be nowhere near the England squad if he played for West Ham or Villa. Never mind the likes of Forest and Brentford. He looked so out his depth at the Etihad a few weeks ago.

Setting the young lad up for a fall if you ask me.

The media will push for him to start, they're already pushing the narrative he should play as a "6" as he's apparently better at taking the ball in that position than rice (which could be true for many players, rice doesn't excel in that).

Imagine that happens, he's our deepest midfielder coming up against someone like Griezmann who basically conducts everything for France all over the final third. Mainoo will get the run around and taken to school. Then all the talk will be he wasn't good enough or nowhere near experienced enough.

How can you be equipped to come up against players like that when you have played half a season for a very mediocre Rag team that get outplayed nearly every week? Teams like Fulham just waltz through their midfield. Now people are saying he did great against the dippers, so he can do it at international level. Did he do great really? Firstly that's only one game, and secondly if a team puts 3 past you even if you've won, your defence and midfield have still been fairly poor in my opinion. The fact you won is masking that it's poor to concede 3 goals.

 

[Crooked_rain]

That's the point I'm making though. There's a black and white assessment of England and it's usually "the squad is the best ever" and "Southgate is shite". But in truth, the squad is very good in certain areas but weak in others and Southgate can't really do much about the players he has available, his job is to get the team performing to the best of its ability and in his opinion a more defensive setup in midfield is necessary in order to do so and he can point to the fine margins against Croatia, Italy and France as evidence to justify that.

But we can't remain the nearly men. He's a failure if he doesn't win the Euro's, but he joins a long list of England managers with that accolade.

And there's merit in what you say regarding the attacking approach. But it's not proven to be the way to win international tournaments, aside from France's win in 2018 perhaps.

I might see it differently to others, but there's one player England have that others don't - and he's the key to our success. Sir John Stones. The fact he can play as a hybrid CB/DM and has Walker covering is an asset that no other national team can utilise. Forget Henderson/Mainoo/Gallagher. Stones slots in there from defence. Then you can play Rice, Bellingham, Foden behind a front three. Flood the attacking third, if you lose it then press them and win it back or foul them. It also enables us to pass it out from the back more comfortably, because Stones is far better at doing it than Rice. For clarity, Maguire wouldn't be in this side!

That's like the equivalent of semi depraved sex for Southgate who has only had missionary sex since he first had sex until now .

Sadly there's no chance any of that happens. He's a meat and two veg manager. Flat back 4, then two rigid banks of 3 ahead of that with no finesse in the tactics.

 

[supercity88]

That's like the equivalent of semi depraved sex for Southgate who has only had missionary sex since he first had sex until now .

Sadly there's no chance any of that happens. He's a meat and two veg manager. Flat back 4, then two rigid banks of 3 ahead of that with no finesse in the tactics.

Sadly you are probably right...but I did notice Johnny carrying the ball into midfield areas against Brazil so maybe, just maybe, he's watched City and noticed something!

Probably not though!

 

[SebastianBlue]

I see the Waistcoat is quoted as saying the game was a useful experiment. What was being tested? The ability to win with no attacking strategy? Jeez.

That is the most frustrating element of the game. A friendly is the perfect time to experiment. Have Rashford on the right, Gordon on the left, and Foden behind Watkins in the middle for the entire match, leaving Gallagher on the bench (who should be nowhere near the starting eleven), and Rice as the DM with Stones stepping in beside when we have the ball.

But, instead, he played the same bad setup and tactics with players shoehorned in and lost 1-nil at home to one of the worst Brazilian sides in recent memory. And actually got booed by a few in the stands for the shite football on show.

As I said just after the final whistle, the more I watch England under Southgate the more I am convinced that he persists with this ineffectual system primarily so he can’t be accused of copying Pep.

He wants to be seen as his own man at the expense of England’s chances of actually winning anything.

 

[supercity88]

I'm trying to think of a current PL manager that wouldn't do a better job than Southgate with that squad.
Update - I've exhausted the PL and am now halfway down the Championship.

Not as simple as that sadly. We've had plenty of very good managers over the years and they've done far worse, with very good players too. The team spirit and harmony is dismissed but it's a huge part of success at international level and he's done that well. If he could find someone more progressive than Steve Holland to assist with tactics he'd do far better. Lee Carsley might help!

 

[SebastianBlue]

Sadly you are probably right...but I did notice Johnny carrying the ball into midfield areas against Brazil so maybe, just maybe, he's watched City and noticed something!

Probably not though!

I think Waistcoat got all manner of angry on the touchline when Stones was doing that.

 

[super_city_si]

Sadly you are probably right...but I did notice Johnny carrying the ball into midfield areas against Brazil so maybe, just maybe, he's watched City and noticed something!

Probably not though!

I dont think Stones was under instruction to do that, he just got fed up watching Gallagher kick it out every time he got it

 

[SebastianBlue]

Not as simple as that sadly. We've had plenty of very good managers over the years and they've done far worse, with very good players too. The team spirit and harmony is dismissed but it's a huge part of success at international level and he's done that well. If he could find someone more progressive than Steve Holland to assist with tactics he'd do far better. Lee Carsley might help!

Then Southgate should be appointed Chief of Team Cohesion Sciences and an actual football manager should be appointed to handle selection and tactics.

 

[KS55]

That is the most frustrating element of the game. A friendly is the perfect time to experiment. Have Rashford on the right, Gordon on the left, and Foden behind Watkins in the middle for the entire match, leaving Gallagher on the bench (who should be nowhere near the starting eleven), and Rice as the DM with Stones stepping in beside when we have the ball.

But, instead, he played the same bad setup and tactics with players shoehorned in and lost 1-nil at home to one of the worst Brazilian sides in recent memory. And actually got booed by a few in the stands for the shite football on show.

As I said just after the final whistle, the more I watch England under Southgate the more I am convinced that he persists with this ineffectual system primarily so he can’t be accused of copying Pep.

He wants to be seen as his own man at the expense of England’s chances of actually winning anything.

I think he persists with a failed system because he doesn't know any better. Otherwise, I agree with your sentiment.

 

[christened at st marks]

Totally given up on this clown, he simply has no understanding of modern football.