Depends on the definition of 'World Class'. If we are talking about getting in as a starter in a World XI then Bellingham has a chance (despite the dirge he dished out at the Euros). If World Class means being in the top 5 players globally in your position then to Bellingham we could add Kane, Saka, Foden, Stones, Rice for starters (based on best form, not 'Southgate'd' form). I'd probably also add Grealish to that list although he wasn't picked by Southgate due to the massive abundance of left sided talent we have, demonstrated by how many goals we scored from left-sided play.....
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Spain v England - Sun 14th July, 20:00 | Euro 2024 Final
- Thread starter MCFC1993
- Start date
Just like England trembled in fear when we saw Chelsea reserve Cucurella at left back, or Alvaro 'the Spanish Haaland' Morata at Centre Forward. We just screwed up tactically against a side that has some excellent players but also some players that aren't anywhere near being good enough for a Top 4 PL team.I'm sure Spain wet themselves when they saw Mainoo and Rice were playing
Luddite_Blue
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That team isn’t particularly different from what we’ve seen in this tournament
It's not, though how come City and Arsenal, who it's based upon, are able to keep a high percentage of the ball in the highest profile league in the world yet these same players aren't able to do so for England?
I think a lot of it rests on Southgate and he's not sure whether he wants to play possession based football or play on the counter.
I think if England had a manager who believed in possession based football it would be relatively easy to implement as they'd just be asking the players to produce a simpler form of what they already do for their clubs.
Teams possession ranking for the Premier League 2023/2024
Teams possession ranking during the Premier League 2023/2024 season on AS.com
en.as.com
That Chelsea reserve made their winnerJust like England trembled in fear when we saw Chelsea reserve Cucurella at left back, or Alvaro 'the Spanish Haaland' Morata at Centre Forward. We just screwed up tactically against a side that has some excellent players but also some players that aren't anywhere near being good enough for a Top 4 PL team.
Crooked_rain
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I'm not 100% convinced in Mainoo yet. He's played in part because he's at united and also in part because our other options aren't very inspiring. He's not at the level he needs to be at for me - yet. He may get there, but he might not.
I'm not being too biased here. The kid has a chance. But ideally he's a sub learning the role and playing a part here and there, not somebody we need to rely on at his age.
With mainoo, i think he's fine on the ball, can't really fault him that much.... but playing in midfield against top level sides consists of a lot more than just being quite good on the ball
Not to state the obvious but playing in midfield against Slovakia is basically a different sport to playing against world class midfield. It's a very unforgiven position on the pitch and you will be found out against good sides.
That's not knocking him because he may very well turn out to be a good player and he has potential but he's nowhere near ready to be playing against the kind of midfielders he was up against yesterday
Churchlawtonblue
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Did you see Mbappe turn up, or is he shit aswell in your eyes.It’s not bitterness. It’s the truth. You were dross from first to last. I’m sorry if you missed that. It’s not my fault. Or, I would argue Southgate’s totally. Your world class superstars aren’t world class. World class players usually turn up.
The issue you miss is that the majority of fans on this forum has seen how good Foden has been this season. We know how good Walker is, we know given decent tactics how this team could have played better. Arsenal Fans know rice can play better than he did. We know that hoofing the ball upfield to a player that is unfit and with no support will result in just giving the opposition the ball back. We have watched our players play better. You clearly haven't! If you think Foden is no better than McTominey in the PL then that is your perogative but i doubt you will get many in world football agreeing with you.
You follow Celtic, they are rubbish in rubbish league, they only qualify as your country gets a place in the CL qualifiers and every year you get knocked out before the competion really starts. That is the level of your expection, nothing wrong with that by the way. The England team might not be world beaters but they can and do play better. But they need a decent coach. I haven't hyped them up one bit, my expectations have been low this tournament as previous ones. My hopes were a little higher as I know we have some really good players, who o know as a group are significantly better than yours as is proved by what they have achieved at club level in the best club league in the world.
I will just add, just in case you haven't worked it out yet? The difference between England's players playing bang average and their performances at club level is down to one person. The manager. Sure with Pep at City we are utterly spoilt, he is arguably the best manager in the world and has a squad of great players, with I might add more English men in the squad than any other nation. But there are plenty of other very good managers in the PL and other leagues that get the maximum out of their players. Sadly Southgate is and never has been one of those managers. That's the difference.
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Eccles Blue
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I would take up my 10% or more of Irish heritage and support Ireland after 80 yrs of supporting England!Klopp is available still as far as know.
How would you feel about that.
At least I can say I saw England win the World Cup
Colin Bells Boots
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I'm not 100% convinced in Mainoo yet. He's played in part because he's at united and also in part because our other options aren't very inspiring. He's not at the level he needs to be at for me - yet. He may get there, but he might not.
I'm not being too biased here. The kid has a chance. But ideally he's a sub learning the role and playing a part here and there, not somebody we need to rely on at his age.
Added to the fact that he still has the same people at the rags responsible for his development .
Eccles Blue
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Even my friend’s husband who has rarely been known to speak a good word about any City player has admitted to me that John Stones was the England Player of the tournament!
And no I did not prompt him at all. :-)
And no I did not prompt him at all. :-)
supercity88
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Got to have Mainoo in the team. He and Rice will be our CM partnership for the next 8 years unless a new talent breaks through.
Foden and Bellingham are the issue - I'm not sure we can play both. What we lack is a Tony Kroos type midfielder who can spray passes around. Rice can't do it - at Arsenal he has Jorginho to do that or is told 'don't piss about, just get the fucking ball to Odegaard'. Rodri CAN spray it around for Spain though (that's actually the main difference between him and Rice (taking City/Arsenal glasses off). Rice and Rodri are similar in being able to run all day, support the defence and then join up with the attack however Rodri is a much better passer of the ball than Rice.
I thick Carrick is probably the last English midfielder who could control the middle but also spray killer passes through. So in the absence of that Kroos type player if we are to retain both Foden AND Bellingham in the same team there needs to be instructions that Rice/Mainoo get it to Foden, Bellingham has a freer role and can drive forward on the ball. And hopefully we have a striker who is (crazy concept I know) prepared to make runs in the box/behind the defence and let Foden play through. Would make Saka more effective as well to have someone actually in the box to receive a cross when he beats his man, instead of getting past someone, seeing there's nobody in the middle and having to pass it back to Walker.
You could play both, but it would need width both sides and one of them to be more box to box (Bellingham). The issue is a lack of 6. Rice isn't a 6. So you find one and you either push Rice into a box to box role where he's much better or he's on the bench. You can't have Rice in the 6 role because he doesn't play the pass forward quick enough. His touch is okay, but he's not as comfortable picking it up with his back to goal, turning and quickly laying it off then being there to receive it again. It's therefore Rice or Bellingham in my opinion, not both. Bellingham is a 10 behind Vinicius and Rodrygo but we don't have those players. Foden is a better 10 than Bellingham. He sees the bigger picture, his touch is better and his passing is better too. And it's also important to give mitigation to all of the midfielders when you're only attacking via one side of the pitch and playing with Kane, but either Bellingham drops to a double pivot with Rice or we drop one and try and accelerate Wharton somehow because he looks the best bet out of the players we have.
Mainoo is raw still. He's a very good player, but he isn't international level yet.