England wasting one of the most talented squads ever assembled on Southgate

jaiguruKun said:
The thing with Maguire really pisses me off. He is the weak link in that team yet was lavished with praise at the World Cup because he didn't perform quite as badly as some expected. There are at least 4 English central defenders who are better than him even before you take into account he no longer plays at club level. It's scandalous that he's still in the squad never mind the team.
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when he plays for England he plays well. Southgate sees no reason to change that.
 
Wasn’t excited when Southgate got the job but came around a little when he eventually started to drop some of the old guard and incorporate some of the young ones. However, what would not change, even when I heard that Pep had given him pointers, was my thinking that he would never have the tactical naus and would not carry through a game plan like Pep would, instead choosing to sit when we’d have most of the game.

We like to celebrate our achievements, I certainly do, but I do have regret that we should have gone on to win the important games that we ended up losing.

7 out of 10 for me. Done very well but could have done more with the players that have been at his disposal.
 
Crouchinho said:
Is it our most talented squad?
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Not for me. I’d say we have a few top class players (Kane, Stones, Walker) and outstanding talents (Foden, Bellingham, Saka). But beyond that the squad is nothing special. Some obvious weaknesses (keeper, centre half), lack of depth elsewhere (striker).
I reckon the squads from around 2002-2006 had more talent and depth.
Not particularly a defence of Southgate, just my two penn’orth.
 
Let's face it, any centre back wanting an international career, needs to be looking for alternatives to england, as even if slabhead does not play a single minute for the rags all season, waistcoat is still going to have him first on the teamsheet in next years euros.
These friendlies are the opportunity waistcoat should be using to integrate players into the squad, not play the same old again.
The excuse will be seasoned players guiding the youngsters. Erm - ok waistcoat, Iceland?
 
sh249 said:
Not for me. I’d say we have a few top class players (Kane, Stones, Walker) and outstanding talents (Foden, Bellingham, Saka). But beyond that the squad is nothing special. Some obvious weaknesses (keeper, centre half), lack of depth elsewhere (striker).
I reckon the squads from around 2002-2006 had more talent and depth.
Not particularly a defence of Southgate, just my two penn’orth.
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I think you made a good point regarding a lack of depth in the striking department.

The likes of Germany,Italy Spain and even France are/were weaker than they were previously even the South American sides are in transition.

Hence a lot of the frustration.

We've had the opportunity to kick on,and failed so far, negative team selection and tactics have more than played a part in this imo.
A high proportion of the blame lies with the person in charge.
 
BlueHammer85 said:
when he plays for England he plays well. Southgate sees no reason to change that.
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No he doesn't! He just doesn't play as badly as he does at club level. Was at fault for Giroud's winner at the WC, let him get in front of him. England will not win anything with him at the back.
 
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All this criticism and yet he is easily, by far, the most successful England manager of my lifetime.

Every generation gets hammed up as "one of the most talented squads ever assembled".

Careful what you wish for.
 
Dobsy said:
All this criticism and yet he is easily, by far, the most successful England manager of my lifetime.

Every generation gets hammed up as "one of the most talented squads ever assembled".

Careful what you wish for.
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We wouldve won the euros if he didnt absolutely shit his nick-nocks when we went 1-0 up early doors.
He didnt know what to do for the rest of the game and the team resorted to hoofing it up and constantly losing possession and allowing a decidedly average italy back in the game.
Yeah pens are a lottery but any half decent coach wouldve pushed on when 1-0 up, not defended and panicked for the rest of the game
 
Bluesince1979 said:
We wouldve won the euros if he didnt absolutely shit his nick-nocks when we went 1-0 up early doors.
He didnt know what to do for the rest of the game and the team resorted to hoofing it up and constantly losing possession and allowing a decidedly average italy back in the game.
Yeah pens are a lottery but any half decent coach wouldve pushed on when 1-0 up, not defended and panicked for the rest of the game
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Sure, but would all of those "half decent" managers have been in the final in the first place?

Every England tournament prior to Southgate I can remember garbage performances, riddled with internal politics, centred on massive egos.

Everybody writes off his success in creating a good atmosphere that the players want to be in, instead of the usual horrible meat grinder where they're all stressed that they're gonna be the next national whipping boy. And yet, again, it's produced better results than Capello, Eriksson, Mclaren, who were all "half decent managers".
 
The rubbish I’ve watched with England and the safety first, picking the same old press-driven choices from certain favourite clubs has driven any enthusiasm from me for international football. Tend to just watch the odd tournament match these days as qualifiers are so one sided and predictable. Waistcoat has done nothing to revive it.
 
Crouchinho said:
Is it our most talented squad? We are better with the ball but less adventurous than we should be.

When we had Rio, Terry, Cole, Lampard, Scholes, Gerard, Rooney, Owen I think that was a lot more talented and a wasted opportunity personally
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That was a better starting XI, and there have been other better starting XIs than now. But after the first 14 or so players in teams past, the consistency of quality fell off a cliff.

There also aren’t the quality of other squads around now as there were during that England team’s time. They played against fantastic Brazil, Argentina, Portugal, France, Germany and Spain teams back then.

Even with that starting XI from the 00s, England were only really the 6th (at best) best team around… the squad we have now is only bettered by France and Argentina.
 
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Dobsy said:
All this criticism and yet he is easily, by far, the most successful England manager of my lifetime.

Every generation gets hammed up as "one of the most talented squads ever assembled".

Careful what you wish for.
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He hasn’t been successful at all. England have only ever had one successful coach.

England don’t always get hammed up as ‘one of the most talented squads ever assembled’; the squad Hodgson had was the worst England squad ever.

There was talk at one time of England’s midfield being Lee Cattermole and Jack Rodwell.
 
sh249 said:
Not for me. I’d say we have a few top class players (Kane, Stones, Walker) and outstanding talents (Foden, Bellingham, Saka). But beyond that the squad is nothing special. Some obvious weaknesses (keeper, centre half), lack of depth elsewhere (striker).
I reckon the squads from around 2002-2006 had more talent and depth.
Not particularly a defence of Southgate, just my two penn’orth.
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Rice? Reece James?
 
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