WilliamPS

Now they have binned off Ronaldo, Portugal are undervalued. No way they’d be an easy semi for France or England. If England and France have an absolute battle, say 120 mins + pens, and Portugal have an easier time against Morocco, Portugal will fancy it. Good midfielders, good goalie and now appear to be getting goals.

Spending a month in a training camp in Qatar when you’ve no hope of playing probably isn’t for everyone - doubt there’s much more to it than that Brazil and France have done well to get everyone some pitch time

Why is it sad? I don’t think ordinary Brazilians are duty bound to give a retired footballer some sort of special status. if you saw England record goal scorer Wayne Rooney on the street would you give him any special treatment?

Netherlands Argentina looks quite evenly matched, looking forward to it, but don’t think either looks like being the overall winner. Two sides with a few v good players but they’re both uneven

Unless there are personality issues I wouldn’t listen to any offers in January - the squad just isn’t deep enough.

Tbh if you dig out the threads from the Sweden games, Croatia and Italy you’d see the same issues - England have relied on set pieces or one off moves down the flanks for goals. The midfield has always been poor, although what’s worse this time is he has options (unlike in 2018) With Southgate I think the most they can be hoped for are minor player changes - likely Sterling out for Grealish or Foden. I would like to see a move from the 4231 to 433 to get the midfield functioning and get players closer to Rice but this is probably too big an ask (comically small change as it is!)

Southgate has such form in refusing to change things when a game isn’t going well it just sets people off - England lost the euros final partly as he refused to adapt so not really surprising Sending Henderson on to save the day is pure WUM

Cos the World Cup is mid season and there was only one week between the leagues pausing and kick off a lot of the squads /starting 11 were probably nailed down 3 months ago. No matter what the form is like a lot of managers probably don’t want to fiddle with defensive partnerships, especially at CB and between CBs and GKs. had it been in summer with a training camp and friendlies am sure things would be different.

it is time

?FIFA are just the worst, see a campaign on a specific issue so attempt to drown it with meaningless platitudes #beactive How did a sports governing body get so fucked up

I hadn’t realised what a curse being the short sponsor is; Newcastle Breweries - gone Ntl - gone Northern Rock - gone Wonga - gone Dont tell Saudi airlines….

I’m sure the FIFA execs had all these issues on their minds as they trousered the Qatari cash i bet they can’t believe they got away with it

I’ve sympathy for (and share) the view that the club and PIF are separate and people can hold that distinction so support one and not the other. Zero sympathy with the nonsense that because “it’s Saudi culture” the Saudis can’t be criticised for their abysmal human rights approach. Not sure the people being bombed / executed see it as their culture. The regime oppresses the citizens to stay in power - that’s how dictatorships work.

Behave

The players had lost the euros at Wembley in a penalty shootout in the final - mentally brutal for them - I’m not surprised they couldn’t get up for the Nations League. World Cup should be different

Think there’s very little case for Sancho to go, apart from his reputation from two years ago The two or three who start behind Kane will be from Sterling Saka Foden and Mount anyway

Yeah, Wilson really has a big opportunity as behind Kane he’s the only true striker. I think it’s a big risk by Southgate not taking Abraham. Maybe he thinks Rashford is good enough as another central striker option but have my doubts about that

Can’t bear Chappers, have to switch the radio off when he’s presenting, he’s desperate to become some sort of celebrity character presenter and has utterly shit ‘banter’

Bit annoying so many games are 10am/1pm/3pm on a weekday. advantage of European/Americas/African tournaments is all the games are late afternoon or evenings. Workplaces tend to be flexible for England games, but a bit harder to explain why you’ve done no work for 2 hours whilst Croatia vs Morocco is on.

Still at a tournament with a match day squad every 4 days vs. on holidays

A lot of the squad are about to get a month long break, so any rotation needs to consider that. No reason to rest Almiron or Willock for example as they’re quite capable of playing 2 games a week as a one off and will be on the beach this time next week. Joelinton has just had a week off. Trippier, Wilson and Bruno are the only players I’d consider resting as they are going to have hard schedules from now until May.

On England; Rashford will go as Abraham and Wilson haven’t much England experience and he gives an extra option out wide. Understand views on Coady and Henderson (I’d add ward prowse) but realistically what are the options? CB is a big weakness and there just aren’t many alternatives and you need cover for Bellingham and Rice both off the bench and if one gets injured or suspended. Things haven’t exactly fallen into place for England, with James, Chilwell and Philips all looking like players who’d be crucial to the squad unavailable. That said, in 2018 everyone thought It would be a disaster and look what happened. If the stalwarts do well (Kane, Sterling, Trippier, Rice) and Saka and Bellingham have the tournament of their lives maybe just maybe…

Need an extra GK who can serve as an adequate backup to Pope. Letting Dubs go was a big risk and it still needs resolving. If on course for Europe can maybe get someone in with the promise of cup and some European games, which might raise the bar on what is possible. Not sure I’d wait until summer on this one.

It has taken other teams years to get the consistency needed to finish top six. The squad is not deep so if there’s a loss of form for some players or they just need a rest there’s not much behind. Under Robson in the CL challenger years there was a tale off in March or so as the squad didn’t have the depth and some players were simply knackered. Enjoy the wins and hope they keep coming

It’s been made clear the January transfers were about staying up and acting quickly, it wasn’t about long term planning. Pope came in over the summer but as a GK it’s a bit different. I’d expect new signings to be more like Botman and Isak in age profile - and you see that in the bids over the summer, Maddison (25), Joao Pedro (21), Diaby (23), Ekitike (20). Doubt the plan is to buy players who are at their peak now, instead it’ll be to bring in younger players who can have long careers at the club