The Footie Thread

[Orikoru]

Without sounding like I’m sticking up for Southgate

That’s not been the reality, who knew Philips would have a shocking season and Henderson would fade away?

Errr.. everybody! He was still picking them when Phillips couldn't buy a minute on the pitch at City and Henderson was on holiday in Saudi Arabia! That would have been the prime time to audition replacements then...

 

[Pin-seeker]

Errr.. everybody! He was still picking them when Phillips couldn't buy a minute on the pitch at City and Henderson was on holiday in Saudi Arabia! That would have been the prime time to audition replacements then...

Agreed.
Henderson was really poor in his last season at Liverpool & as only got worse since.

 

[PaulMdj]

Errr.. everybody! He was still picking them when Phillips couldn't buy a minute on the pitch at City and Henderson was on holiday in Saudi Arabia! That would have been the prime time to audition replacements then...

Everybody but him, he’s been in post 8 years and has always stuck by some players, like you I’d of dropped them, but we’re talking about Southgate.

 

[PaulMdj]

Our last qualifier was Nov last year, Grealish started Philips & Henderson on the bench. Previous 2 qualifiers either Philips or Henderson started.

4 Friendlies since then with varying midfields, some changes through injury/unavailable.

He’s played 4-2-3-1 in all 4 friendlies,

Different midfield in all 4, all options currently on the bench were giving a run out.

He’s known his team all along and last night proved it when he made the ridiculous Philips comment, he’s only been looking for 1 player to play alongside Rice.

 

[Billysboots]

Just seen this description of England.

Michelin star ingredients, Happy eater chef

Sums it up absolutely perfectly.

 

[Orikoru]

Our last qualifier was Nov last year, Grealish started Philips & Henderson on the bench. Previous 2 qualifiers either Philips or Henderson started.

4 Friendlies since then with varying midfields, some changes through injury/unavailable.

He’s played 4-2-3-1 in all 4 friendlies,

Different midfield in all 4, all options currently on the bench were giving a run out.

He’s known his team all along and last night proved it when he made the ridiculous Philips comment, he’s only been looking for 1 player to play alongside Rice.

Weirdly though, I'm looking through our matches in the last year, and the one thing he doesn't seem to have tried is Bellingham next to Rice. Like he's not even considered it. When he has played Bellingham it's always further forward.

Ok, I've found it - the last time he tried Bellingham next to Rice was in the World Cup in 2022. We battered Iran 6-2, but then struggled to a 0-0 draw with USA so he brought Henderson in for the next game against Wales. Since then he has never returned Bellingham to that role. (Unless he did it half way through a game, I'm only looking at starting line-ups.)

 

[PaulMdj]

Weirdly though, I'm looking through our matches in the last year, and the one thing he doesn't seem to have tried is Bellingham next to Rice. Like he's not even considered it. When he has played Bellingham it's always further forward.

Ok, I've found it - the last time he tried Bellingham next to Rice was in the World Cup in 2022. We battered Iran 6-2, but then struggled to a 0-0 draw with USA so he brought Henderson in for the next game against Wales. Since then he has never returned Bellingham to that role. (Unless he did it half way through a game, I'm only looking at starting line-ups.)

Yep, looking for Philips replacement

 

[Orikoru]

Yep, looking for Philips replacement

Not to mention, only Southgate would think bringing in Henderson was the answer to a nil nil draw.

 

[venger]

Wales have sacked Rob Page

 

[venger]

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Think the Page sacking was inevitable.

 

[Orikoru]

Wales have sacked Rob Page

I don't envy their next manager. This is probably the first time in my lifetime they don't have a world class player or two to build around. At least they used to have Giggs, then Bale & Ramsey - and even before my time the likes of Ian Rush - but who's next? Best I can see is Brennan Johnson, who looks a good player for Spurs but I don't see him becoming world class. Tough times ahead.

 

[Swango1980]

Saw a post where England fans are coming up with cautious things that Gareth Southgate does in real life. Such as:

He wears shin pads playing FIFA

Puts his phone on low power mode at 99% battery

Wears a life jacket in the bath

Started contributing to his pension on his 1st birthday

His car has 5 gears, 1 for forward and 4 for reverse

 

[Rlburnside]

My nan scores 20 in the Bundesliga.... also I could inflate Ollies scoring to be closer to Kanes by including his cup games (27) too but I'm not trying to get into a silly argument.

All jokes aside, he doesn't look fit or capable to lead the press, which we've all heard time and time again comes from the front.

Id rather a 100% backup than an 80% Kane myself -

I don’t get why some are saying for Kane to be dropped , at this moment he’s still one of the best strikers at the Euros, the main reason he and most of the team are playing poor is the system we’re playing.

I’ve seen Kane first hand at the new stadium when he was at Spurs and the thing that stood out was his lack of pace and he had very few sprints,
this is nothing new and it’s the way he’s always played

Get the system and tactics right and he will get goals.

Don’t make him a scapegoat for Southgates tactics

 

[BubbaP]

"Paddy Power Like Clockwork"

Torn between funny and accurate

 

[Voyager EMH]

These group stage games are really not worth analysing too much.
England were the better team yesterday, but were outplayed in the second half.
Despite being outplayed for 45 minutes, England did not let a goal in. This bodes well for when England face a better team than Denmark.

What I noticed was how much more effort was put in by the Danish players in terms of gamesmanship. Putting their legs or bodies into the England players and throwing themselves onto the ground to claim a foul. Luckily, the ref saw through this several times. Another ref might react differently.
England have always been very poor at gamesmanship and mild cheating. Done effectively it can work wonders. But a degree of subtlety is required.
England seemed to lack any ideas at all in the second half.

Anyway, just one more practice game to endure before the competition begins.
Looking forward to it greatly.

 

[Bdill93]

Where has this rhetoric come from? At Spurs it was one of his strongest attributes. Has he forgotten how to press in one year? Why are you saying he's at 80%??

Like it or not, Kane is a far better player than Watkins, and he's also the captain, so Watkins won't be starting unless it's on the left wing. Kane is one of the best strikers in the world and one of the best English strikers of all time. Once again, I'm consistently baffled at the criticism he gets when he scores a goal in 2 out of 3 games for England.

From watching him attempt to run around the pitch with my own eyes mate... He literally doesn't press.

Im saying hes at 80% because he was injured pre-tournament and not played for 5 weeks prior to the start, he looks off the pace.

I know hes better at passing and shooting, but the best teams do not always start all of the best players. You need to find something that works, Kanes looked abysmal for 2 games.

Same point goes for Foden, be as good as you like for your club, for England so far hes looked poor.

Im not saying anything that doesnt make complete sense either, Gerrard, Lampard Scholes didn't work, neither does Foden, Bellingham, Kane, they all want the same area of the pitch.

 

[Rlburnside]

These group stage games are really not worth analysing too much.
England were the better team yesterday, but were outplayed in the second half.
Despite being outplayed for 45 minutes, England did not let a goal in. This bodes well for when England face a better team than Denmark.

What I noticed was how much more effort was put in by the Danish players in terms of gamesmanship. Putting their legs or bodies into the England players and throwing themselves onto the ground to claim a foul. Luckily, the ref saw through this several times. Another ref might react differently.
England have always been very poor at gamesmanship and mild cheating. Done effectively it can work wonders. But a degree of subtlety is required.
England seemed to lack any ideas at all in the second half.

Anyway, just one more practice game to endure before the competition begins.
Looking forward to it greatly.

I like your optimism your one of the few

 

[Bdill93]

I rate Watkins, he’s hopefully our future CF for England, he’s just not Harry Kane though. For me he’s either alongside Kane or warming the bench.

Bundesliga teams did alright in Europe last season, is your Nan out of contract?

She's just coming off a new hip but will be good to go any day now. Agents fielded a few calls.

 

[Orikoru]

From watching him attempt to run around the pitch with my own eyes mate... He literally doesn't press.

Im saying hes at 80% because he was injured pre-tournament and not played for 5 weeks prior to the start, he looks off the pace.

I know hes better at passing and shooting, but the best teams do not always start all of the best players. You need to find something that works, Kanes looked abysmal for 2 games.

Same point goes for Foden, be as good as you like for your club, for England so far hes looked poor.

Im not saying anything that doesnt make complete sense either, Gerrard, Lampard Scholes didn't work, neither does Foden, Bellingham, Kane, they all want the same area of the pitch.

Kane hasn't looked any worse than 7 or 8 other players. He's scored 50% of our goals. He was only denied another by an excellent save in the first game. Southgate might not have told him to press for all we know.

Eze, Watkins, Bowen all got on in the last game and did things improve at all? No they didn't.

As mentioned, we need to try Jude deeper and allow Foden to play number 10. That might just work, but Southgate is allergic to it for some reason.