BIG D Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 Great options in midfield and up front but not good enough defensively to win owt. Hope I’m wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreshOwl Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 21 minutes ago, Bannofan said: We have some decent players, but we haven't got a good team. Dodgy keeper. Pickford has so many errors in him , but we haven't really got many better options. Poor first choice centre halves - Stones has improved with Pep's coaching and having Dias next to him, but we know he's likely to make a a match changing mistake for England. Maguire just isn't that good. Emperors new clothes with him. We have better options than them, but Southgate has made it clear that those two are his preferred pairing. Kalvin Phillips, Declan Rice, Jordan Henderson - simply not good enough in the position they play to influence games at the business end of tournaments. We have good full backs and excellent attacking options . If Premier League Harry Kane turns up and not knackered tournament Harry Kane, he can win matches on his own. Foden, Grealish, Rashford, Mount etc all have the ability and confidence to match the very best in the world. Keeper I worry about. I think that’s harsh on Maguire, he’s improved his game tenfold and is underrated in my book. Look at united’s defence since he’s been out injured. He’s worked on his footwork and we don’t really have anyone else who can carry the ball out of defence like him CM I completely agree. Poor options with them 3. I’d be tempted to drop Mount back there as we have enough ammunition in the forward positions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bannofan Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 25 minutes ago, FreshOwl said: Keeper I worry about. I think that’s harsh on Maguire, he’s improved his game tenfold and is underrated in my book. Look at united’s defence since he’s been out injured. He’s worked on his footwork and we don’t really have anyone else who can carry the ball out of defence like him 25 minutes ago, FreshOwl said: CM I completely agree. Poor options with them 3. I’d be tempted to drop Mount back there as we have enough ammunition in the forward positions Apparently Tomori has been excellent since moving to AC Milan, so he could be an option in Central Defence . I would actually play Jude Bellingham as the shield/ defensive midfielder . I know how young he is, but whenever I've seen him he has been better than Rice/Henderson/Phillips. My starting line up for the first game is this, from the BBC squad predictor : 4-1-2-3 GK : Henderson RB : Walker CB: Mings CB: Tomori LB: Chilwell DM : Bellingham AM: Mount AM: Grealish RW: Foden CF: Kane LM: Rashford It's going to be Stones and Maguire at Centre Back, I know. I'm quite liking the rest of that line up though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockieOwl Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 On paper I think we have a squad as good as any. We have great options up front with Mount, Grealish, Foden, Rashford, Sancho, Kane. Defence and keeper isn't the best and I've never been keen on Rice, but there are weaknesses in other teams. Favourites are Belgium and France but France still have Kurt Zouma and Sissouko and although I've been a massive fan of Lloris I think he's on the decline and their backups I don't know much about. Belgiums defence is worst than ours and still have Vermaelen. Had to Google it and is the same one who was at Arsenal/Barca and now playing in Japan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellis Rimmer Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 Ben Godfrey is going to be in this provisional squad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whatevertrevor Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 17 minutes ago, Ellis Rimmer said: Ben Godfrey is going to be in this provisional squad From The Athletic? I love The Athletic. It is proper sports journalism for Football, Boxing and Rugby. I'm sure it covers other sports really well too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 1 hour ago, RockieOwl said: On paper I think we have a squad as good as any. We have great options up front with Mount, Grealish, Foden, Rashford, Sancho, Kane. Defence and keeper isn't the best and I've never been keen on Rice, but there are weaknesses in other teams. Favourites are Belgium and France but France still have Kurt Zouma and Sissouko and although I've been a massive fan of Lloris I think he's on the decline and their backups I don't know much about. Belgiums defence is worst than ours and still have Vermaelen. Had to Google it and is the same one who was at Arsenal/Barca and now playing in Japan. Good points. Our defence and keeper are not world class but as you say, a fair few of the top nations have similar issues in that respect. Who have been the best central defenders in European football in recent years? Van Dijk, Dias, De Ligt, Ramos? Two of those are injured. The best keepers - Oblak, Ederson, not involved in this tournament. Neuer is class but Germany aren't as strong as they sued to be defensively. The Spain squad reminds me of ones back before the days of Xavi and Iniesta, some good technical players but not especially strong in any area. Portugal could be a decent bet again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockieOwl Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 1 minute ago, hirstyboywonder said: Good points. Our defence and keeper are not world class but as you say, a fair few of the top nations have similar issues in that respect. Who have been the best central defenders in European football in recent years? Van Dijk, Dias, De Ligt, Ramos? Two of those are injured. The best keepers - Oblak, Ederson, not involved in this tournament. Neuer is class but Germany aren't as strong as they sued to be defensively. The Spain squad reminds me of ones back before the days of Xavi and Iniesta, some good technical players but not especially strong in any area. Portugal could be a decent bet again. Had to Google again for Dias. Never knew he was Portuguese. They have a history of poor defenders too and won the last tournament. Can't believe that was 5 years ago! Ramos not going to Euros but Laporte now representing Spain although that's probably because he was being overlooked by France and is no longer a first choice for Man City. In fact I can't think of many really good defenders. Maybe just going through a phase of clubs wanting ball playing defenders and so we don't end up with many defenders who are world class at defending Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bannofan Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 Provisional Squad : https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/57239842 Aaron Ramsdale, seriously? on the basis of what? No Tomori , as had been expected, but Ben Godfrey a great inclusion, forgot about him. He goes straight into my starting 11! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vulva Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 Centre half’s aren’t good enough in my opinion. Solid at Premier League level, but will get found out at the top level. Put a Van Dyk, Dias etc in that side and we’ve got half a chance. Foden, Mount and Bellingham will be some midfield at the next World Cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night King Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 33 men is a huge provisional squad. Needs to drop 7. I’m guessing he’ll drop Ramsdale, Godfrey, James, White, Lingard, Watkins, Saka depending on if Maguire & Henderson are fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night King Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 By the way let’s get a Euro 21 thread started. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bannofan Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 1 minute ago, RockieOwl said: Had to Google again for Dias. Never knew he was Portuguese. They have a history of poor defenders too and won the last tournament. Can't believe that was 5 years ago! Ramos not going to Euros but Laporte now representing Spain although that's probably because he was being overlooked by France and is no longer a first choice for Man City. In fact I can't think of many really good defenders. Maybe just going through a phase of clubs wanting ball playing defenders and so we don't end up with many defenders who are world class at defending Portugal and France definitely favourites. Belgium, probably not as strong as the World Cup with Hazard having a bad season, but any team with De Bruyne and Lukaku in it will be dangerous. I have a cheeky bet on Turkey to get to the final , they have some players bang on form and have a real ' team' vibe going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night King Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 My starting 11 if everyone fit against Croatia Pickford Walker Stones Maguire Shaw Henderson Rice Sterling Mount Foden Kane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 1 minute ago, Night King said: 33 men is a huge provisional squad. Needs to drop 7. I’m guessing he’ll drop Ramsdale, Godfrey, James, White, Lingard, Watkins, Saka depending on if Maguire & Henderson are fit. Only 6 days until he has to chop it down to 26 too. Not sure what the point of selected 7 extra players for a few days is. Ramsdale or Johnstone will get the chop from the keepers. Neither would get a look in if Pope was fit. Shows the lack of depth to choose from in that respect, 2 of the 4 keepers called up have been involved in relegations this season, the better teams look abroad for keepers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vulva Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 Don’t trust Pickford. Best keeper I’ve seen this season is Sam Johnstone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edmontonowl Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 4 minutes ago, vulva said: Don’t trust Pickford. Best keeper I’ve seen this season is Sam Johnstone. He looks OK. But he's had plenty of work to do at struggling WBA, like Pickford who looked decent in a Sunderland side getting relegated. Goalkeeper has become a nightmare for England right now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellis Rimmer Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 52 minutes ago, whatevertrevor said: From The Athletic? I love The Athletic. It is proper sports journalism for Football, Boxing and Rugby. I'm sure it covers other sports really well too. Yes, hmm I don’t rate it personally, doesn’t cover rugby either Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fudge27 Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 14 minutes ago, Night King said: My starting 11 if everyone fit against Croatia Pickford Walker Stones Maguire Shaw Henderson Rice Sterling Mount Foden Kane Not far off for me. I'd go Pope over Pickford. Maybe James over Walker and Bellingham over Henderson too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bannofan Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 13 minutes ago, Night King said: My starting 11 if everyone fit against Croatia Pickford Walker Stones Maguire Shaw Henderson Rice Sterling Mount Foden Kane I'm pretty sure that is what Southgate will go with. Tried and trusted, except for Foden and Mount. If that's our best 11, then Kane needs to be bang on it and not playing like he's got a fridge on his back like in his last two tournaments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now