Adem Poric 14,644 Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 We actually played ok in the second half when he changed formation. We have so many players who are comfortable on the ball now that persisting with Rice makes Southgate look stupid. Decide who is your best holding midfielder and pick one. Picking two is nonsense. Rice hasn't shown anything in the last year to say he is the best option there. If it's not Henderson just let Winks sit in and be a fulcrum, at least he plays with his head up. Personally i dont mind the three at the back but the one in the middle has to be able to step into midfield, start attacks and organise the players around him. Eric Dier is not able to do any of that, he's gone consistently backwards in the last four years. Coady was unable to play in this game but he has to be first choice in this formation going forward. Mason Mount is a strange one in that he isn't as good at carrying the ball or taking on players as Grealish, isn't a ball winner, doesn't seem great at spraying passes around, doesn't make late runs into the box enough but can do a little bit of everything. He's perfect for squad depth but we have better players in all the roles in this formation. He certainly should be playing in a front three. Ultimately Southgate has to get out of the negative mindset when playing the better teams. We have pacey, technically gifted forward players and we need to take the attack to teams no matter who they are. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Bouncing Owl 4,791 Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 13 minutes ago, Adem Poric said: We actually played ok in the second half when he changed formation. We have so many players who are comfortable on the ball now that persisting with Rice makes Southgate look stupid. Decide who is your best holding midfielder and pick one. Picking two is nonsense. Rice hasn't shown anything in the last year to say he is the best option there. If it's not Henderson just let Winks sit in and be a fulcrum, at least he plays with his head up. Personally i dont mind the three at the back but the one in the middle has to be able to step into midfield, start attacks and organise the players around him. Eric Dier is not able to do any of that, he's gone consistently backwards in the last four years. Coady was unable to play in this game but he has to be first choice in this formation going forward. Mason Mount is a strange one in that he isn't as good at carrying the ball or taking on players as Grealish, isn't a ball winner, doesn't seem great at spraying passes around, doesn't make late runs into the box enough but can do a little bit of everything. He's perfect for squad depth but we have better players in all the roles in this formation. He certainly should be playing in a front three. Ultimately Southgate has to get out of the negative mindset when playing the better teams. We have pacey, technically gifted forward players and we need to take the attack to teams no matter who they are. There is a lot that I agree with there but still unsure on 3 centre halves. I don’t think we have enough ball playing centre halves to make it work. Stones has too many mistakes in him and whilst Coady has done ok, I think we need to be utilising more of our attacking players. One thing for sure, we need to be utilising our attacking players more. We have a raft of good quality options. Grealish looked great last night. Southgate’s conundrum will be where to play him once Sterling comes back into the side as a left attacker. We need pace in that front 3 for sure. But we can’t leave Grealish out now, he’s a player that is so comfortable on the ball, he draws fouls and he creates chances. He really looks the part on the international scene. Link to post Share on other sites
FreshOwl 9,552 Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 Stop playing 5 at the back It should be banned across football 1 Link to post Share on other sites
markg 2,559 Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 Rice is too slow at moving the ball for this level. He delayed and then played an awful pass to Grealish which he had to retrieve, it slowed down a potentially good move Link to post Share on other sites
fudge27 2,063 Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 If persisting with this dog poo formation, I'd have the following XI and the XI below as direct replacements pretty much Pope Walker Coady Mings TAA Henderson Foden Chilwell Rashford Kane Sterling 2nd XI Pickford Rice Maguire Gomes Trippier Winks Mount Saka Sancho Clavert - Lewin Grealish Obviously some variation due to form and injuries but that's the bulk of it. I'd go 4-2-3-1 though and get Kane, Grealish, Sterling and Rashford into the team with 2 holders behind, and Sancho and Calvert Lewin in support Link to post Share on other sites
ShaunO1 140 Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 A Ngolo Kante would solve all our problems. Don't think Rice is the answer. Maybe he will be after the world cup but not ready yet. Link to post Share on other sites
markg 2,559 Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 13 minutes ago, ShaunO1 said: A Ngolo Kante would solve all our problems. Don't think Rice is the answer. Maybe he will be after the world cup but not ready yet. For me, if we are talking about playing someone as purely a defensive midfielder, I would give Isaac Hayden at Newcastle a go in one of the friendlies. Link to post Share on other sites
thesouthowl 221 Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 20 hours ago, EighteenSixty7 said: What does Rice even do? Goes well with Curry! Link to post Share on other sites
ShaunO1 140 Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 1 hour ago, markg said: For me, if we are talking about playing someone as purely a defensive midfielder, I would give Isaac Hayden at Newcastle a go in one of the friendlies. It would be good to have a specialist in that position to protect the defence Link to post Share on other sites
oldishowl 5,191 Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 We just didn’t get enough players into the box last night. It didn’t help that Kane kept dropping deeper and deeper. He does with Spurs now but has the pace of Son, Moura and now Bale running ahead of him. We didn’t have any of that . Presumably our front 3 would be Sterling Kane Rashford when available which has got goals and pace in it. Link to post Share on other sites
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