The College Dropout

I would say 6 - deepest CM. Keeps his position more. 8 - box to box CM. More licence to get forward and break lines. Against Serbia - Rice kept his position more in front of the defence and TAA was getting forward when he could. I don't think that works well. TAA isn't a CM and needs to have a simple game plan if he's to succeed at CM IMO. Sit in front of the defence and pass it forward. Off the ball stay behind the ball and try to win it aggressively at turnovers or foul the opp. I don't think he can do the off-the-ball stuff well which is maybe why he was told to get forward. NUFC don't play with a natural 6. All CMs often get forward (I guess they are meant to rotate). That leaves us susceptible to turnovers in midfield if the rotation is off - which we try to mitigate with athleticism in midfield to run back into position. Both Rice and Bellingham can do that tbf.

Traditional CMs. One sits more, one gets forward more.... 6 & 8. Rice is better when he has licence to get around the pitch and into attacking areas. His best form for Arsenal came when he had Jorginho or Partey playing a bit deeper next to him who are more passers and a bit more progressive with it. Bellingham's in Ballon D'Or discussion for not playing a more advanced role. I think they would make a good partnership but it's a partnership that doesn't get the best out of any of them. They would both rather more proactive roles. I haven't seen enough of Jude in CM to be sure - but I think that duo might lack a passer. I agree that's a good option, but it doesn't maximise 2 of our best players. I think potentially Wharton coming in provides better balance and put 2 of our best players in their best positions but would mean dropping a big name. Kane's natural game (not necessarily his best) is better suited to having Bellingham behind him than Foden. And Foden's never done it for England. Bellingham Rice Foden Kane That suits Foden most but doesn't get the best out of the other 2 in midfield or Kane. Wharton Rice Bellingham Kane I think this has 3 of our best players, in their most natural positions. But leaves out the best player in the EPL Phil Foden.

We are working on backfilling the older players. Burn is replaced at LB and CB with younger players already. Trippier's replacement is there. We are looking for Pope, Almiron & Schar replacements as a priority. I'd be happy to extend 2 of them. The rest are back-up players. I agree that if we were going to breach PSR we would've sold some players. We won't take the points hit. Us/Villa were only a couple points ahead of 5th - we can't afford to lose a couple points because we didn't want to sell Miguel Almiron quickly.

I thought Portugal were a dynamic forward away from being an exciting team. The setup is attacking and a bit bonkers. Fire and ice with Bruno F and Bernardo. Vitinha as the most defensive midfielder is wild but I thought he had a good game.

Don’t think he’s world class but Bruno F is a quality player. Bobby Martinez is a way more entertaining manager than Southgate.

Was good across both legs. He was outstanding when they won the Euros in 2016 and he was an older player then too. Vitinha looked good for PSG when I saw him. But on paper a Vitinha-BrunoF double pivot with CR39 up top is insane. In 3 with Bernardo makes more sense but still a bit hokey. Bobby Martinez did well in WC2018 - he doesn’t get enough credit for that. Beat England twice, Brazil and gave France their toughest test.

Guler was injured for the majority of the season and was on the bench when he wasn’t. Only towards the end did he stay fit and start getting more minutes as Real prioritised the CL. Scored 5 in 5 when he got a string of starts in the league including some real bangers. He’s going to be brilliant. Depending on what Real do he might need a loan this season. I personally prefer the balance of the attack when Brahim or Guler starts at RW over Rodrygo. But Guler will start the season as 3rd choice RW. Get him in on loan.

Rice: Best as an 8. V. good at 6. Bellingham: Best as a 10. Club & NT managers don't currently see him as an 8. Good at 8 though. Gallagher: Not very good. Trent: A RB. Not very good at CM. Mainoo & Wharton: Heavily inexperienced in pro football, let alone the elite level. That's not an elite group. You either play your best 2 players in roles that aren't their best. Or you play someone who is not proven quality at this level. 1 natural left-back who hasn't played a league game since February. The other options are not quality at this level at best and a joke at worst. There's not a single department of the pitch we have strength and balance throughout except the right-hand side. Front 3 is disjointed because of Foden. Midfield disjointed. Left side is disjointed. Defence is disjointed. Central defence - lacks aggression imo.

Have I mentioned here that I was noticeably faster than Victor Moses? Acc. & Pace on FM would've surely been around the 17/18 mark

Where’s the midfield depth? As in.. central midfield. Where’s the defensive depth. There’s 1 LB injured and 1 genuine left winger.

They have more quality in depth like I said. France have both.

Dont watch enough to say world class but quality players or at least massive hype: Rafa Leao Cristiano Joao Felix Bruno Fernandes Joao Neves Ruben Dias Bernardo Silva Palhinha G. Ramos Nunes from City Cancelo Pedro Neto Diogo Jota Pepe has been a world class player and was excellent the last time I saw him in the CL. The Ruben Neves would likely get a start for England. It’s a talented squad. A lot of attacking options. You can pick a much better balanced front 6 than England imo. Palhinha J. Neves / R. Neves Bernardo Fernandes Leao Jota/Ramos Nice blend of passers. Runners. Ball retainers. Creatives. Just a shame they’ll start the old man.

We don’t have more world class players or quality in depth than France or Portugal.

If we needed money to be compliant we would've fire-saled Bruno or a combination of Miggy+Trippier+Wilson Still time I guess.

Eddie pre-plans his subs. That includes pre-plans for chasing a game and holding on a to lead. He likes to wait an hour before any subs too. Most managers are like this tbh.

We don't seem desperate to sell for this financial period though.

Unless a goal is conceded Eddie is doing what Eddie planned from the start. Evidence: the numerous times Burn had been getting burned for 60+ minutes in a game. He's only getting subbed if we concede and need to chase. Good, bad, indifferent - Longstaff ain't getting subbed unless we are 3+ up. Pre-planning the Saka sub made sense, including the time. You can't take him off after that first-half. If Eddie planned on Foden playing 90 minutes, Foden would play 90 minutes.

You don't think Eddie pre-plans most of his subs?

Agreed. It was a good sub. I would've preferred Palmer to help control the game/ball more. Southgate does that thing Eddie does which frustrates me. 95% of his subs are pre-planned, including the minute of the introduction. No matter what's happening on the pitch.

Saka was great first-half mind. Lad always turns up. Unlike TAA & Foden, he's earned his England start through his performances for England. Gallagher - Rice is a bad midfield combo. Neither can get the ball in attacking positions well.

Agreed. We don’t produce Bruno’s and Paqueta’s. THATS why TAA is in the team I think to be that midfield distributor. But I keep screaming it, he’s not a CM because he’s not good enough a footballer. TAA can hit every pass Toni Kroos can. But Toni Kroos can control a football under pressure, Toni Kroos can play with his back to goal. TAA can’t. It will be so interesting to see him play under a different club manager. I think Slot likes 5 at the back which will work great for TAA. He’s a liability at RB and not good enough yet as a player to play CM.

The balance is out of whack. I like Guehi. He’s starting for England, he wouldn’t make the French squad. We have no fit left back (sounds crazy but Hall should’ve went). We have 1 central midfielder who regularly plays there at the highest level. We have 1 natural LW and he has 3 caps and didn’t come off the bench. We have what feels like 7-8 players with barely any caps and about 1 years experience at the highest level. We have about 3 brilliant 10s though. And 4 great RW options. Harry Kane. Declan Rice. From the little I’ve seen Wharton is the best partner for Rice. Positionally conservative, combative enough and a 1-2 touch passer to better players. He probably won’t get a minute. Better yet if both Rice and Bellingham are happy to play conservatively have them as a solid athletic double pivot. My only issue with them both is they both progress the ball through carrying. I’ve not seen Jude control a game through passing. At international level Pogba was able to be positinally disciplined and progress his team with passing. I don’t know if Jude can do that. If Kane wants to come deep, drop Foden - Bellingham and Gordon are better in behind.

This isn’t a squad for of world class players. There’s multiple positions of weakness.

What’s all in?

When Pepe came back they had the best defence in the tournament which ultimately won it for them.