2022 World Cup.

I can’t really argue with the outcome. Two poor goals to concede defensively and we missed a penalty. It was a tight, competitive game with the current world champions. We had chances and perhaps didn’t get the rub of the green. The ref was poor, but only a small part of the reason we didn’t win.

What Southgate provides is a galvanised team. England have always had quality players but he’s found a way to translate that to the team. For that reason and the fact there’s no stand out successor, I think Southgate should stay. With the results going the way they did, this was a brilliant opportunity to win the entire thing. And I think that is what is hardest to swallow. We just might not be as good as the media perceive our ‘world class’ players to be.

That said, Southgate should have been more proactive in the last half hour. The French defending was cynical and rash. Saka should have been left on and they should have brought Grealish on much earlier to draw fouls and run at their dodgy defenders.

well done. Some perspective.

I feel Saka was taken off because he picked up a knock or was shattered. He was outstanding.
 
GS has a liking for Sterling.
He’s a good player on his day but Saka is so much better.
Why put him on when he had just flown home and back worrying about his family.
It’s not like we didn’t have any good players on the bench.
This proves imo GS isn’t good enough to turn a chance into winning the tournament.

Absoutely...Sterling over Maddison, the most inform attacking midfielder in the Premier, who never got a kick in Qatar. i'd have had Grealish over sterling any day too.
 
England's Golden Generation even with golden balls himself only got as far as the quarter finals.
Feel a bit sorry for you guys who never witnessed England winning in 1966. I did.
You will never have that experience.
My advice is don't get carried away by all the hype surrounding the team.
They are a bunch of egotistical losers.

This current England team is so much better than the “golden generation.”

They are technically better, much more comfortable on the ball, tactically superior because they play for each other and not themselves.

Gary Neville was honest enough to admit this last night.
 
So, who should replace Southgate?
Howe or Potter are the two standouts for me but I can't see why either would leave their current jobs to be England manager. It is just bad timing right now.

If Southgate stays to do the Euro's, only 18 months away, perhaps Potter will have got the boot by then, it's Chelsea after all, and he will be available.
 
Howe or Potter are the two standouts for me but I can't see why either would leave their current jobs to be England manager. It is just bad timing right now.

If Southgate stays to do the Euro's, only 18 months away, perhaps Potter will have got the boot by then, it's Chelsea after all, and he will be available.

Do you mean Harry Potter? Cos we need a magician
 
Do you mean Harry Potter? Cos we need a magician
I don't think that gag quite works now, although I applaud the play on words ?. This tournament has shown that there isn't currently an outstanding team in world football and we are up there with the best. We are consistent in tournaments now, the team is largely young and full of quality. We are very close to winning one, only a player or two short.

There are lot of big name teams, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Spain for example who would love both our recent record and squad. (Yes, I know Italy won the euros but they didn't even qualify for this tournament)
 
I think England and France were the best two teams in the tournament. Shame they had to meet in the QF.

France are so strong. All their players are at top clubs like Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. They are world champions, their coach knows what is needed to win the World Cup, both as a player and manager.

England stood toe to toe with France and did enough to win. France dominated the first half, England dominated the second half. If France looked ordinary, that was because England were so good.

These games are often decided on the finest margins. This was so different from other England World Cup exits in the last 20 years, this is a squad that can can challenge anyone.
 
I think England and France were the best two teams in the tournament. Shame they had to meet in the QF.
True to form, we always lose to the best team who go on to win the tournament, implying England are the second best team.
France are so strong. All their players are at top clubs like Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.
While some of ours are at Man U.
England stood toe to toe with France and did enough to win. France dominated the first half, England dominated the second half. If France looked ordinary, that was because England were so good.
Same old excuse, we did enough to win.
These games are often decided on the finest margins. This was so different from other England World Cup exits in the last 20 years, this is a squad that can can challenge anyone.
Didn't Kane just say that?
Let's hope we don't get to play Hungary any time soon.
6 months ago it was England 0 Hungary 4.
 
I’m loving your posts, the complete lack of understanding of football is comedy gold. ?

When the level of insight consists of “kick it in the box” I’m not sure how you top that.

Yes, well we can have different views of the game. But it’s a fair bet that I have watched football for longer than you have. It’s also a fair bet that you watch more nowadays football than I do.
You seem to equate not agreeing with the way the modern game is played as being the same as not understanding football. Slightly arrogant view, I think.
Yes, I despair of the modern coaching, ( just seen it in two “second division” ? games being played) . Same fashion of kicking it back more than forward. Frightened of making a mistake, so kick it the way you are facing with your one kicking foot and give someone else the responsibility.
Keep doing it even though the guy you are passing to is under pressure , and unable to do anything positive with it: keep doing it even though so many times such tactics have broken down in mistakes which have cost: keep doing it because I’ve been told possession is all.
The irony is that most times this ends in one of them booting the ball upfield when under pressure, whereas doing it as a planned tactic gives someone on your side a good chance of getting possession in an attacking part of the field.
But, hey ho.!

Just because I don’t agree with modern tactics , and say so, doesn’t mean I don’t understand football.
I understood it when I watched the Greaves, Charltons,Moores, Tommy Smiths,
Lorimers, Bremners, et al.

And even though we may never agree, what I am sure of is that what I watched and admired had more honour than what I watch (sometimes) today, and more excitement and enjoyment.?

What I will give you……the pitches are brilliant today, absolutely first class.
 
At the end of the day England beat- Iran , Wales and Senegal - 3 teams they should be beating comfortably, compare that to Morocco as an example- Belguim , Spain and Portugal , the team England have are very talented, there are only a few that most people wouldn’t put in the squad.

Southgate came in during a bit of a turbulent time and steady the ship, but he is a manager who was found out as a Prem manager. If England had a top manager in charge then it’s fair to say they would be Euro champs and potentially world champs. Someone said he is the countries most successful manager since Ramsey - what success is that ? He hasn’t won anything just like all those managers since Ramsey and in that period he also hasn’t managed to beat a top team when it matters and imo he isn’t a patch on Bobby Robson

If Southgate did leave - would any top club team pick him up ? Nope

England really do need to make the best of prob their best young bunch of players they have had for a number of years

Just look at the team they could have in 2/4 years

Ramsdale

TAA
Tomori
Guehi
Chillwell

Rice
Bellingham
Elliott

Foden
Rashford
Saka

Then others like

James
Gallagher
Smith Rowe
Morton
Mount
Ramsey

it’s a bright future and it needs a quality manager to get the best out of them
 
I felt England were the better team. We just didn't create enough good chances. French defenders couldn't handle Saka at all, they just fouled him at every opportunity - sadly the ref only gave the fouls about 20% of the time. I felt the trip on Kane first half was a penalty, the contact looked like it was on the line of the box, but VAR must have decided it was outside, and because of their stupid self-imposed rules they won't give a free kick even though they've already spent the time reviewing it. The ref was a joke anyway the amount he missed. Why did he even need VAR to give that or the eventual second penalty as fouls?? The feller absolutely bulldozed Mount and he wasn't going to give that?

Kane's second penalty, woeful, but many top players have missed crucial penalties over the years. He'll just have to suck it up and move on unfortunately. It's not a time for calling out individual players, I honestly felt all of our players played well. All that talk of Mbappe and he hardly featured - I agreed with Neville that Walker is the one man you'd want to stop him and so it proved. Shame the media never mentioned Giroud, Griezmann, Dembele etc. Not exactly a one man team are they?

Can't believe people in here are slating Rice. How can you not see how important he is? He has bags of class but he actually plays within himself because he has discipline and understands his job. Him and Bellingham should be staples of this side for years to come. (Hoping Bellingham doesn't go the way of Dele Alli of course..)
 
I felt England were the better team. We just didn't create enough good chances. French defenders couldn't handle Saka at all, they just fouled him at every opportunity - sadly the ref only gave the fouls about 20% of the time. I felt the trip on Kane first half was a penalty, the contact looked like it was on the line of the box, but VAR must have decided it was outside, and because of their stupid self-imposed rules they won't give a free kick even though they've already spent the time reviewing it. The ref was a joke anyway the amount he missed. Why did he even need VAR to give that or the eventual second penalty as fouls?? The feller absolutely bulldozed Mount and he wasn't going to give that?

Kane's second penalty, woeful, but many top players have missed crucial penalties over the years. He'll just have to suck it up and move on unfortunately. It's not a time for calling out individual players, I honestly felt all of our players played well. All that talk of Mbappe and he hardly featured - I agreed with Neville that Walker is the one man you'd want to stop him and so it proved. Shame the media never mentioned Giroud, Griezmann, Dembele etc. Not exactly a one man team are they?

Can't believe people in here are slating Rice. How can you not see how important he is? He has bags of class but he actually plays within himself because he has discipline and understands his job. Him and Bellingham should be staples of this side for years to come. (Hoping Bellingham doesn't go the way of Dele Alli of course..)

I wonder had the ref given the pen would var had deemed it a "clear and obvious" error
 
At the end of the day England beat- Iran , Wales and Senegal - 3 teams they should be beating comfortably, compare that to Morocco as an example- Belguim , Spain and Portugal , the team England have are very talented, there are only a few that most people wouldn’t put in the squad.

Southgate came in during a bit of a turbulent time and steady the ship, but he is a manager who was found out as a Prem manager. If England had a top manager in charge then it’s fair to say they would be Euro champs and potentially world champs. Someone said he is the countries most successful manager since Ramsey - what success is that ? He hasn’t won anything just like all those managers since Ramsey and in that period he also hasn’t managed to beat a top team when it matters and imo he isn’t a patch on Bobby Robson

If Southgate did leave - would any top club team pick him up ? Nope

England really do need to make the best of prob their best young bunch of players they have had for a number of years

Just look at the team they could have in 2/4 years

Ramsdale

TAA
Tomori
Guehi
Chillwell

Rice
Bellingham
Elliott

Foden
Rashford
Saka

Then others like

James
Gallagher
Smith Rowe
Morton
Mount
Ramsey

it’s a bright future and it needs a quality manager to get the best out of them

Not a single 20-25 goal a season striker in amongst that list. That's where our problems will lie when the next World Cup comes around. As a national side we are about to suffer a period in time where we do not have a World Class striker at the top of his game and there is no one coming up on the rails to replace Kane.
 
Not a single 20-25 goal a season striker in amongst that list. That's where our problems will lie when the next World Cup comes around. As a national side we are about to suffer a period in time where we do not have a World Class striker at the top of his game and there is no one coming up on the rails to replace Kane.

England have had those level of strikers over the years and it hasn’t helped - France haven’t really had , Germany - both winning the World Cup over the years. The team needs to get goals from all over the pitch - Rashford , Saka and Foden plus Bellingham etc will give you goals
 
Not a single 20-25 goal a season striker in amongst that list. That's where our problems will lie when the next World Cup comes around. As a national side we are about to suffer a period in time where we do not have a World Class striker at the top of his game and there is no one coming up on the rails to replace Kane.
Kane will still be around at the next world cup, he'll only be 33. Younger than Benzema, Lewandowski & Messi are now.
 
Kane will still be around at the next world cup, he'll only be 33. Younger than Benzema, Lewandowski & Messi are now.
Will he even cross the halfway line in 4 years time? ?

Seriously though, if he continues to move deeper, perhaps understandable as he gets older and his legs go, do we want him as our number 9? He seems to want to play a different role to that of the striker and that will only become more exaggerated by the time of the next world cup. I have a feeling that the Euro's will be his last crack at it.
 
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