UEFA Nations League & Euro 2020 Qualification

[jd1981]

Lots of territory for England 2nd half but reality is we never looked like scoring in the 2nd half. That system requires more pace for it to become effective.
Gut instinct tells me Southgate mind is a bit scrambled by what system and who to put in it.
Worth pointing out England have scored 1 goal from open in the 5 nation league games the other 2 being penalties.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Thing is if Rashford and Sterling aren't available then it kind of takes the pace out of your team by default. Sancho hasn't done much in an England shirt yet.

 

[jd1981]

But it would be worth trying Sancho in a game like tonight, personally I’d like to see England revert back to the 4-3-3 I think we’re far effective going forward with that system

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

I thought Saka and Grealish were positives, Kane played well and Mount did ok too.

Mings is bloody awful and Dier isn't good enough to play at centre half at the top level, not sure why he's been repurposed there, Poch had the right idea putting him in midfield (and he was genuinely decent there for a while before dropping off with form/injury/illness).

 

[Johnny75]

I thought we were awful. Belgium and Martinez did to England what Nuno has been doing with Wolves for the last 3 years.

Let the opposition have the ball, create nothing and hit them on the break.

Grealish didn't create a thing but if you like players with cute flicks and tricks but create nothing of note then he's your man. Rice, Henderson, Dier and Winks nowehere near good enough to make 3-4-3 work.

 

[Templeton Peck]

352 shores up the middle but then we're only picking 2 from our dazzling array of attacking talent. For all the hype (again) we haven't got one decent CB or CM. Not a lot to work with.

 

[Deleted Cyber]

no luck for Matt D

Republic of Ireland duo Matt Doherty and James McClean have tested positive for Covid-19.

 

[Deleted Cyber]

Southgate ticks a lot of boxes for the FA except for the one which says "good manager".

His perseverance with Pickford is Boggling as is picking Dier as the middle centre half when he is a quarter as good as Coady there. Kane wanders around everywhere as does Grealish. Declan Rice has two speeds and one of them is stop. Winks is an international footballer? For someone like Malta maybe. I thought England were powderpuff. Lots of huff and puff but very little damage.

there is no disgrace in losing to Belgium but the balance in the team looks wrong and has done for a while for me.

Pope, Coady should be starters but wont be under Southgate.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

You say that but he can't pick Coady if he's not available - he has picked him when he can, by and large, once he got in the squad - and Pope (like the rest of the Burnley team) isn't playing well at all. He's just an average (at absolute best) keeper elevated because there aren't a huge amount of alternatives, ordinarily he wouldn't be anywhere near an international squad.

 

[Deleted Cyber]

You say that but he can't pick Coady if he's not available - he has picked him when he can, by and large, once he got in the squad - and Pope (like the rest of the Burnley team) isn't playing well at all. He's just an average (at absolute best) keeper elevated because there aren't a huge amount of alternatives, ordinarily he wouldn't be anywhere near an international squad.

Pope v Pickford is like Murray V Oakes. Pickford inspires zero confidence

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

More like Oakes vs Paul Jones in 2004. One is just average, won't do anything special, probably won't let you down very often but won't win you any games on his own, one will cost you games (although he hasn't for England on the whole, that's been Everton's problem rather than ours).

Nick Pope is borderline bottom six Premier League level, he's no silver bullet here.

 

[Tony Towner]

Full games for Rui, Moutinho and Semedo. Neves, Neto and Traore didn't get off the bench

 

[YoungWolf]

Blimey only just seen Spain-Germany score!

 

[Jolemai]

Traore didn't get off the bench

Must be because he's not signed a new contract and the manager is keeping him out of the team.

 

[Kenny]

Raul scored after 63 mins v Japan and then got subbed.

 

[The Bear]

BBC reports it was a poor Semedo clearance that gave Croatia possession for their first goal.

 

[Tony Towner]

BBC reports it was a poor Semedo clearance that gave Croatia possession for their first goal.

The other Semedo I think

 

[darlowolf64]

The other Semedo I think

Yep, Ruben Semedo

 

[Sniffer]

Happy to see Mount in the middle tonight. Let’s hope he can play well and force Southgate to get away from having 2 plodders in centre midfield.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Watching the Wales game as it isn’t a dead rubber. Finland down to ten men.