Declan rice is such an odd player. He has everything to be an elite footballer. When you see him striding forward with the ball or putting on a really high final third press to win the ball back, he looks aggressive and athletic. Then you see him in his own third trying to deal with an opposition break and he looks weak and slower than a turtle heading Rodri on crutches. Never puts in a tackle where it matters and players just glide by him. Not to mention his inexcusably bad positional sense. For a holding midfielder that transitioned there from a central defender it's odd that his defending is by far and away the worst part of his game. Lad needs to move away from west ham under Moyes and get some proper coaching if he's ever going to be that top quality player.
More from England boss Gareth Southgate on BBC Radio 5 Live: "Phil Foden is fine. We've got some very good forwards that we can bring into the game. In the wide areas we decided on Jack [Grealish] and Marcus [Rashford] instead of Phil because we thought their different attributes were what would help us get over the line. They weren't able to find that missing spark but we know Phil is a super player and whichever one I didn't put on, if we didn't score, we were going to get asked about which one we didn't put on."
He's a thick fucker. Foden should have been on instead of Henderson.
Yeah, he had a very good game.Hopefully people will now start to recognise that we actually replaced Kalvin Phillips really well by signing Tyler Adams.
Foden plays too fast to be in the middle when sometimes he needs to dictate the game a bit. But either way, Foden should have come on to inject some directness and speed.I actually think Henderson was an improvement to Bellingham. It reminded me of when we needed Gaz Baz to get control but I’m mystified his fear of playing Foden in the centre.
This is it. Nailed on.The issue with Southgate is that the English national team has progressed beyond him. On the surface, the results (2018 WC - Semi Final, 2020 Euros - Runners up) are great. But in context, it's a bit disappointing.
As a neutral - throughout my life (I am 33 for reference), England has always been talented, but bit overhyped. Some wonderfully skilled individual players, but flawed teams that never really gelled or were a step below the top European and South American teams of the era.
That all changed around the 2018 World Cup. The current English team/generation of players is legitimately one of, if the most, talented and technically skilled sides in the world. We're just so used to England underperforming that the runs you've had in the past two tournaments have disguised that's what this side should be achieving with the players available.
Look how Luis Henrique had Spain humming the other day. England, on paper, is more talented than Spain. But under Southgate - they will never, ever play like that. Southgate has them playing uninspired and boring, and quite frankly, they're winning in spite of him.
Agree with all that. Only once Henderson came on did the midfield have a bit of control.
No idea what Mounts role is. Kane was deeper trying to link the midfield so was Mount playing 9, false 9, I just don’t get it.
The distance between midfield was ridiculous.
I actually think Henderson was an improvement to Bellingham. It reminded me of when we needed Gaz Baz to get control but I’m mystified his fear of playing Foden in the centre.