The Footie Thread

[Tashyboy]

However you dress it up you need keepers to keep, defenders to defend. To start without a 1st choice striker seemed odd.
If there was a positive, Greece showed England what an organised team should look like.
The centre of midfield looks as disorganised as when Gerrard and Lampard were in the team together. All wingers tonight looked very very poor.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

Well that’s not good for Carsley - tried something got it all wrong

Needs to a big revisit for Sunday

 

[nickjdavis]

Well done Greece.

They had a plan and a structure. They played with energy, pressed well, were technically excellent, well organised and passed crisply directly to feet, were strong and committed and thoroughly deserved the win.

England's defensive performance was shambolic but unfortunately the structure adopted further up the field left the defense exposed to the Greeks swift direct counter attacking football. The ball going in the England net 5 times says it all.

 

[Norrin Radd]

To be brutally honest I can't see that we have anything but bang average players , nobody showed any leadership on or off the field.
We didn't get stuck into them and show who's boss and let the Greeks play right through the middle of our defence far too many times.

 

[srixon 1]

So where are these world class English footballers hiding that the pundits keep banging on about? I didn’t see any of them on display this evening.

 

[Morfeen75]

Carsley was incredibly disrespectful towards Greece this evening to pick the team he did.

 

[PaulMdj]

Impressed with Carsley’s post match interview, very honest about the Greeks being the better team and how disappointing we were and we made mistakes, no talking sbout positives or glimpses or any other glossing over.

 

[Beezerk]

That was the most naive England display I've ever seen, absolutely shocking.

 

[Red devil]

That was the most naive England display I've ever seen, absolutely shocking.

And that's being generous

 

[Swango1980]

Well, that was a bit of a dent to Carsley's trial run.

Outplayed and beaten by Greece at home. He has even made Palmer look worse than Antony.

Maybe Harry Kane wasn't the problem? Maybe it's the fact the FA have a knack of employing some bang average managers who can't unlock the attacking talents of their players?

In fairness to Carsley, it is early days. So perhaps yesterday was just one of those rare horrific days for a great manager. But my hunch is, he could be Southgate the Sequel

 

[NearHull]

It looks like we're going to dodge a massive bullet.
I'm actually feeling for the Greeks!

Dare I say it, but England are missing Maguire to calm things down.

Nooooooooooo

 

[HomerJSimpson]

It was always a brave selection with so many attacking options and had we rolled them over easily he'd have been hailed as a forward thinking manager. The fact it didn't work and a lot of players were poor, Pickford I thought looked very weak, made him look bad. I love the fact he is being honest in his media https://www.skysports.com/football/...le-himself-out-as-gareth-southgates-successor

 

[Swango1980]

It was always a brave selection with so many attacking options and had we rolled them over easily he'd have been hailed as a forward thinking manager. The fact it didn't work and a lot of players were poor, Pickford I thought looked very weak, made him look bad. I love the fact he is being honest in his media https://www.skysports.com/football/...le-himself-out-as-gareth-southgates-successor

You are right. Had England won 4 or 5 nil, playing lovely football, he'd have received huge credit. But, on flip side, if they are outplayed at home by an inferior side, on paper, then he will face the criticism.

Yes, Pickford had a spell of dodginess. But, that wasn't England's problem. And, I'm not sure any other English keepers are clearly better than Pickford? Pope looks horrific on the ball as well, possibly one of the worst I've seen playing for a top end club. I think Pickford is a pretty decent keeper who doesn't get overcome with nerves after a tough moment, which I think is a big asset. And he isn't keeping a Peter Schmeichel or Buffon out of the side

 

[HomerJSimpson]

You are right. Had England won 4 or 5 nil, playing lovely football, he'd have received huge credit. But, on flip side, if they are outplayed at home by an inferior side, on paper, then he will face the criticism.

Yes, Pickford had a spell of dodginess. But, that wasn't England's problem. And, I'm not sure any other English keepers are clearly better than Pickford? Pope looks horrific on the ball as well, possibly one of the worst I've seen playing for a top end club. I think Pickford is a pretty decent keeper who doesn't get overcome with nerves after a tough moment, which I think is a big asset. And he isn't keeping a Peter Schmeichel or Buffon out of the side

I agree. Where we were once awash with top keepers the barrel is pretty empty and Pope is scraping the bottom of it

 

[Bunkermagnet]

Only listened to some of this on the radio.
2 things stuck out....Pickford can be a big liability.
Playing Foden and Bellingham doesn't work

 

[Neilds]

Why do England managers always try and fit the 'best' players into a formation instead of putting the correct players n the correct position? You don't put a goalkeeper at left back so why do we put attacking midfielders as wingbacks, etc? Pick the best team, not the best players

 

[PaulMdj]

Had a nights sleep, few things from the game last night:
The anti-England brigade will of loved it.
The Pickford is a liability moan is back.

Anyway, we were horrific from 1-11.

Pickford had the 2 daft moments in 2 minutes, all summer was criticised for hoofing the ball clear, last night he had that chance and instead tried to play football, he should stick to hoofing it upfield, you can’t have it both ways.

The defence looked like they didn’t have a clue or had even met each other, Stones and Colwill didn’t work, TAA and Lewis are not a strong presence at the back.

With someone like Kyle Walker you can always have the feeling he’ll cover the centre half’s or be strong in a tackle, none of those 4 were.

The forward 6 experiment giving them freedom didn’t work, again we’ve had people moan about Kane always playing, well he didn’t last night and it showed.

Haven’t read 1 moan about Palmer missing a sitter in the 1st half or Gordon having a head like a 50p., both chances should of been buried.

Palmer, Foden, Gordon, Lewis, Saka, are all too small, technically very good, but so easily leant on or muscled off the ball.

Bellingham, Rice, no presence, probably worst game for both.

Positives:
Kane fit for sunday
Can’t get any worse
Credit to Carsley for actually trying something different, again something we constantly moaned at Southgate about.

Big up the Greeks, great performance.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Had a nights sleep, few things from the game last night:
The anti-England brigade will of loved it.
The Pickford is a liability moan is back.

Anyway, we were horrific from 1-11.

Pickford had the 2 daft moments in 2 minutes, all summer was criticised for hoofing the ball clear, last night he had that chance and instead tried to play football, he should stick to hoofing it upfield, you can’t have it both ways.

The defence looked like they didn’t have a clue or had even met each other, Stones and Colwill didn’t work, TAA and Lewis are not a strong presence at the back.

With someone like Kyle Walker you can always have the feeling he’ll cover the centre half’s or be strong in a tackle, none of those 4 were.

The forward 6 experiment giving them freedom didn’t work, again we’ve had people moan about Kane always playing, well he didn’t last night and it showed.

Haven’t read 1 moan about Palmer missing a sitter in the 1st half or Gordon having a head like a 50p., both chances should of been buried.

Palmer, Foden, Gordon, Lewis, Saka, are all too small, technically very good, but so easily leant on or muscled off the ball.

Bellingham, Rice, no presence, probably worst game for both.

Positives:
Kane fit for sunday
Can’t get any worse
Credit to Carsley for actually trying something different, again something we constantly moaned at Southgate about.

Big up the Greeks, great performance.

I agree wholeheartedly about Walker and his presence is like having an extra half man with the shifts he puts in covering. Great that we tried something but it can safely be filed in the "didn't work" folder. I think there is enough talent available but pick a side and play them IN POSITION and ideally keep a settled side so they can understand how everybody plays and learn a style. You could see how organised the Greeks were and they had a plan and stuck to it

 

[Beezerk]

Why is the positional sense of England players so poor? Is it arrogance or are they just not as good as the media make them out? Time after time, and I’m not just referring to last night, we get made to look really poor by lower ranked teams as they’re able to break us down with ease. It’s been a problem since I can remember watching us play. That isn’t a formation problem it’s on a personal level with the players, great when the play is in front of them but clueless when they have to think spacially.
Rant over

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Why is the positional sense of England players so poor? Is it arrogance or are they just not as good as the media make them out? Time after time, and I’m not just referring to last night, we get made to look really poor by lower ranked teams as they’re able to break us down with ease. It’s been a problem since I can remember watching us play. That isn’t a formation problem it’s on a personal level with the players, great when the play is in front of them but clueless when they have to think spacially.
Rant over

Is it they simply aren't drilled well enough in England shirts. They all have their jobs to do at club level but seem to have different instructions for England and don't seem capable of following these through. Lower ranked sides are always looking to get a scalp and we seem to be making it easier and easier.