England men's fixtures omdt.

[Guest]

13 hours ago, Bannofan said:

 

I agree, the confidence his presence would give that team, let alone his individual ability, would make it a totally different game.

 

Main problem again for me is the overplaying and poor decision making when we get near the opposites goal. Sterling the main culprit, but he wasn't the only one.

 

As for Rice and Phillips,  they will have tougher games to prove their worth. With the three we have played, they just seem a bit unnecessary.  I have a blind spot with Rice, I just don't notice him on the pitch at all. 

 

I have not been a bog fan of Rice but thought he was excellent in the first half yesterday, broke up their rare attacks effectively and carried the ball forward well at times, far more mobile than he has been previously. 

[SiJ]

I quite like Rice as a player. 

 

Had a great season for West Ham. 

 

Truth be told, I think he's got a lot more to his game than just sitting and passing it sideways. 

[CalmJimmers]

4 minutes ago, hirstyboywonder said:

 

Indeed. 

Some of the analytical criticism is fair enough. I think he should have subbed Phillips off for a more attacking player as soon as we conceded (or even not started with 2 holding midfielders against Poland at home).

But to go from that to saying things like he should be sacked now as some have done is a bit of a jump! 

 

 

At the end of the day as you say we have won 3 out of 3, many of the top nations have dropped points they weren't expected to already. 

 

 

Yeah as you say, many other top teams have dropped points. 

 

Look at Germany, Italy, Belgium, France, Spain. All not on maximum points. 

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Ellis Rimmer said:

Yeh it tells you that the argument “we’ve won all our games so far” is irrelevant as qualifying success doesn’t translate to trophies because we are playing teams we are much better than, so it’s not just about winning it’s about how you win

 

Tell that to Germany, France, Spain and Portugal who are all better than us but have all dropped points in this qualifying campaign already. 

[SiJ]

3 minutes ago, CalmJimmers said:

 

Yeah as you say, many other top teams have dropped points. 

 

Look at Germany, Italy, Belgium, France, Spain. All not on maximum points. 

 

1 minute ago, hirstyboywonder said:

 

Tell that to Germany, France, Spain and Portugal who are all better than us but have all dropped points in this qualifying campaign already. 

Fair, but then would you back most of these teams to do better than us at a major tournament most of the time? 

 

I certainly would. 

[markg]

13 minutes ago, SiJ said:

Personally, I'd take out Philips or Henderson and bring Grealish in. 

 

Have Rice holding, with Mount offering support as and when needed (has a good work rate), with Grealish offering the real creative spark. 

 

Heck, if you have Foden playing too, you can have the two of them pretty much interchange between the front three and the middle three. 

Totally agree. I'd love to see us try this

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Dronfield Blue said:

 

Dodgy keeper.

 

Can't kick a ball.

 

Can't play out from the back.

 

Makes our defenders anxious leading to mistakes.

 

Out ASAP for me.

 

For who though?

 

Pope is the best keeper for catching crosses, stopping shots, commanding his area that we have but his lack of ability with ball at feet has been highlighted in this round of internationals and in the modern game it is a significant issue.

 

Pickford has excellent distribution but is prone to errors and is not as good as Pope at other aspects.

 

Henderson is developing into a decent all rounder but lacks experience at the top level.

 

Fact is we don't have that many to choose from and none are world class. 

[CalmJimmers]

Just now, SiJ said:

 

Fair, but then would you back most of these teams to do better than us at a major tournament most of the time? 

 

I certainly would. 

 

Yeah true. Guess it's like you and others have said, qualifying is no real indicator of tournament success (unless you don't qualify lol). 

 

Don't think we are doing too bad, and think we are probably playing to par. Would expect us last 8 of the Euros, then hopefully can push on and win 3 games. 

 

Problem is I've probably been saying that since I've started watching England. 

[Guest Mcguigan]

3 minutes ago, hirstyboywonder said:

 

Indeed. 

Some of the analytical criticism is fair enough. I think he should have subbed Phillips off for a more attacking player as soon as we conceded (or even not started with 2 holding midfielders against Poland at home).

But to go from that to saying things like he should be sacked now as some have done is a bit of a jump! 

 

 

At the end of the day as you say we have won 3 out of 3, many of the top nations have dropped points they weren't expected to already. 

 

Problem for me being, if you take Phillips off for a more attacking player, then Poland then just walk through our midfield .As the stats showed when Phillips went off against Albania and was replaced by JWP, Albania suddenly turned into Brazil, started bossing the midfield and enjoying their most successful part of the match.

 

Personally, the two work for me with Rice slightly more deeper than Phillips but with Phillips in the engine room, middle of pitch area. He must be a real pain to play against, if not for just for his running and closing down but little toe end tackles that break up play so effectively.

 

He may be Leeds but I think he's effective in Southgate's preferred set up.

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, SiJ said:

 

Fair, but then would you back most of these teams to do better than us at a major tournament most of the time? 

 

I certainly would. 

 

Yes, but not necessarily because they have a better manager but because they have better balance in their squads. Our goalkeepers and centre-backs will be our downfall in the current era. 

Southgate deserves critical analysis for some of his decisions but at the end of the day his current record in qualifying and in tournaments is good, regardless of the opposition we have faced. England have had many more experienced and renowned managers in the recent past yet we have failed to beat teams we would be expected to in tournament football, never mind the teams we wouldn't expect to beat.

 

We were good in the first half yesterday but certainly got a little lucky in the end having not reacted with substitutions and relied on a set-piece but I'd take that over dropping home points to the likes of North Macedonia and Ukraine. 

[Dronfield Blue]

1 minute ago, hirstyboywonder said:

 

For who though?

 

Pope is the best keeper for catching crosses, stopping shots, commanding his area that we have but his lack of ability with ball at feet has been highlighted in this round of internationals and in the modern game it is a significant issue.

 

Pickford has excellent distribution but is prone to errors and is not as good as Pope at other aspects.

 

Henderson is developing into a decent all rounder but lacks experience at the top level.

 

Fact is we don't have that many to choose from and none are world class. 

 

Pickford is number 1 in my opinion at the moment.

 

I have nothing against Pope apart from what I have stated. Dyche has apparently said the coaches are working with Pope on his kicking and playing the ball out. If he gets that right, fine, he would be a good all round keeper.

 

It's not the time for Pope yet until he has improved a few aspects of his game. As a shot stopper, he is very good.

 

Now is not the time to have the back 4 wondering what is he going to do next.

[Ellis Rimmer]

13 minutes ago, hirstyboywonder said:

 

Tell that to Germany, France, Spain and Portugal who are all better than us but have all dropped points in this qualifying campaign already. 

I don’t see the relevance of how other nations are doing. We are trying to gauge what our future looks like based on our performances. 

1 minute ago, Mcguigan said:

Problem for me being, if you take Phillips off for a more attacking player, then Poland then just walk through our midfield .As the stats showed when Phillips went off against Albania and was replaced by JWP, Albania suddenly turned into Brazil, started bossing the midfield and enjoying their most successful part of the match.

 

Personally, the two work for me with Rice slightly more deeper than Phillips but with Phillips in the engine room, middle of pitch area. He must be a real pain to play against, if not for just for his running and closing down but little toe end tackles that break up play so effectively.

 

He may be Leeds but I think he's effective in Southgate's preferred set up.

Ahh come on Poland do not walk through our midfield is we only have one defensive midfielder. The other midfielders can still defend

[Guest Mcguigan]

Just now, Ellis Rimmer said:

I don’t see the relevance of how other nations are doing. We are trying to gauge what our future looks like based on our performances. 

Ahh come on Poland do not walk through our midfield is we only have one defensive midfielder. The other midfielders can still defend

Like who?

[Ellis Rimmer]

Just now, Dronfield Blue said:

 

Pickford is number 1 in my opinion at the moment.

 

I have nothing against Pope apart from what I have stated. Dyche has apparently said the coaches are working with Pope on his kicking and playing the ball out. If he gets that right, fine, he would be a good all round keeper.

 

It's not the time for Pope yet until he has improved a few aspects of his game. As a shot stopper, he is very good.

 

Now is not the time to have the back 4 wondering what is he going to do next.

Pope can’t improve that aspect of his game as Burnley don’t play that way. Are we really going to pick Pickford because he can pass it to stones or maguire better than Pope can? 

[SiJ]

I'm not a huge fan of Southgate, but then I'm not sure who you get in who would do a better job tbh. 

 

It's a tough gig is the England job and many half decent managers/coaches have fallen flat on their face when taking it. 

 

Think we are also somewhat pass the point where taking the England job is the be all and end all that it used to be. At one point we would attract these big names like Sven and Capello. Not so sure that would be the case these days. 

 

International football so often feels a very second rate product compared to the domestic game. 

[Ellis Rimmer]

Just now, Mcguigan said:

Like who?

I mean they all defend when we aren’t in possession you don’t need two specialists defenders for us to defend poland

[SiJ]

1 minute ago, Mcguigan said:

Like who?

Mount is played in part because of his work rate and the fact he can get around the pitch. 

 

Yeah, he's not a defensive midfielder, but that doesn't mean he can't defend. 

 

Rice and Philips holding seems overly negative for me, especially against a side like Poland. 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Mcguigan said:

Problem for me being, if you take Phillips off for a more attacking player, then Poland then just walk through our midfield .As the stats showed when Phillips went off against Albania and was replaced by JWP, Albania suddenly turned into Brazil, started bossing the midfield and enjoying their most successful part of the match.

 

Personally, the two work for me with Rice slightly more deeper than Phillips but with Phillips in the engine room, middle of pitch area. He must be a real pain to play against, if not for just for his running and closing down but little toe end tackles that break up play so effectively.

 

He may be Leeds but I think he's effective in Southgate's preferred set up.

 

I disagree on last night. In terms of the Albania game I don't think Ward-Prowse was the right substitution. He's tidy on the ball but not someone who will get at a defence or play effectively as a holder in midfield which is partly why we had less of the ball in the last 15 minutes of that game.

 

Last night we needed a sub who would positively impact the pattern of play, get on the ball and run at defenders or an extra attacker to get in behind or a presence in the box - Kane needed to be instructed to stay central up top - his dropping deep and floating around didn't help yesterday. 

Phillips looked to be tiring and needed replacing for me, he is a good player but not what we needed in that last 20 minutes. 

[Ellis Rimmer]

Just now, SiJ said:

I'm not a huge fan of Southgate, but then I'm not sure who you get in who would do a better job tbh. 

 

It's a tough gig is the England job and many half decent managers/coaches have fallen flat on their face when taking it. 

 

Think we are also somewhat pass the point where taking the England job is the be all and end all that it used to be. At one point we would attract these big names like Sven and Capello. Not so sure that would be the case these days. 

 

International football so often feels a very second rate product compared to the domestic game. 

I don’t rate Howe particularly but he would be a massive improvement on Southgate. Someone where he is on merit not because the old boys at the FA like him

[Guest Mcguigan]

1 minute ago, Ellis Rimmer said:

I mean they all defend when we aren’t in possession you don’t need two specialists defenders for us to defend poland

Watch the Albania game from 70 mins when Ward Prowse came on for Phillips, the dynamic of the game changed completely. Rice was isolated a number of times.