England

[Tooj]

Romagnoli is going to boss it soon as well.

[Guest palnese]

Belgium

[Hanshithispantz]

I'd say France are a bit better than decent, their squad is vastly superior to ours in loads of positions.

 

Despite their underachievements to date Belgium also have a better squad than us too.

Aye but they're some way behind Germany and Spain still. Would put Belgium somewhere alongside France, aye. All 4 of those sides are far stronger than us. Argentina too and probably Brazil by default.

 

Our squad is good and unlike most nations we're not massively short in any 1 area we've got good depth too, comparatively.

[Figures 1-0 Football]

I'd say France are a bit better than decent, their squad is vastly superior to ours in loads of positions.

 

Despite their underachievements to date Belgium also have a better squad than us too.

Aye but they're some way behind Germany and Spain still. Would put Belgium somewhere alongside France, aye. All 4 of those sides are far stronger than us. Argentina too and probably Brazil by default.

 

Our squad is good and unlike most nations we're not massively short in any 1 area we've got good depth too, comparatively.

 

We have a really strong group of players and pay more than anyone else. You can count on 1 hand the number nations with a better selection of players to choose from than us (granted they are far stronger). It's 100% awful management from top to bottom.

 

Do you have 6 fingers Hans?

[Hanshithispantz]

Can say the same for many other nations, Holland and Italy are massively short nowadays. In Europe France are decent and Germany and Spain are miles ahead of the rest, not much else otherwise.

Italy have three of the best defenders around, the best keeper of the last twenty years, Verratti, Marchisio. England don't have anywhere near that quality

Buffon is 38 man, no chance he's sticking around for another tournament. The were starting Eder, Pelle and Giaccherini at the Euros. I've liked Candreva whenever I've seen him but he's hardly star quality either.

 

 

[Hanshithispantz]

I'd say France are a bit better than decent, their squad is vastly superior to ours in loads of positions.

 

Despite their underachievements to date Belgium also have a better squad than us too.

Aye but they're some way behind Germany and Spain still. Would put Belgium somewhere alongside France, aye. All 4 of those sides are far stronger than us. Argentina too and probably Brazil by default.

 

Our squad is good and unlike most nations we're not massively short in any 1 area we've got good depth too, comparatively.

 

We have a really strong group of players and pay more than anyone else. You can count on 1 hand the number nations with a better selection of players to choose from than us (granted they are far stronger). It's 100% awful management from top to bottom.

 

Do you have 6 fingers Hans?

[Hanshithispantz]

In any case I don't even think we're that great, I just don't think the competition is all that great either. And I certainly don't agree that we have a poor or limited squad.

[Guest Howaythetoon]

The biggest problem is the England squad is nowhere near as good as the media/pundits/majority of England think.

 

A vast majority of the England squad would struggle to get a game in the top teams around Europe.

 

No matter who takes over will ultimately fail as expectation far outweighs reality.

 

No foreign manager with any sort of ambition will take it because they know how limited the squad is, that leaves the same cycle of s*** and boring English managers or washed up foreign managers looking for a nice payday that get touted nearly every time the post is vacant.

 

 

I don't think anyone, well the majority anyway, consider England to be other than absolute average on the world stage of football these days, even the media.

[Guest Howaythetoon]

I think that this is the weakest squad we've had for years.

Can say the same for many other nations, Holland and Italy are massively short nowadays. In Europe France are decent and Germany and Spain are miles ahead of the rest, not much else otherwise.

 

Club football is superior to international football. Even the top international sides are not that great compared to club sides. England don't have any world-class players these days, but they do have some good and exciting players and with the right coaching and philosophy could do well at international football. FFS Portugal are European Champions and they are average.

 

The problem with the FA is they keep appointing the wrong man. England need a charismatic leader of men not necessarily a good coach. Someone who can instill a sense of purpose and believe into our better younger and exciting players. Play free, without fear.

 

 

[Figures 1-0 Football]

The biggest problem is the England squad is nowhere near as good as the media/pundits/majority of England think.

 

A vast majority of the England squad would struggle to get a game in the top teams around Europe.

 

No matter who takes over will ultimately fail as expectation far outweighs reality.

 

No foreign manager with any sort of ambition will take it because they know how limited the squad is, that leaves the same cycle of s*** and boring English managers or washed up foreign managers looking for a nice payday that get touted nearly every time the post is vacant.

 

 

I don't think anyone, well the majority anyway, consider England to be other than absolute average on the world stage of football these days, even the media.

 

[Segun Oluwaniyi]

The current England side is very talented, imo. Probably a top ten side in the world. The obvious weaknesses are the centre of defense and the Rooney quandary (eliminate him). Otherwise, these are quality, youthful players that perform consistently and admirably for their club sides. The inability to compete with the very best sides is as much a mentality issue as anything, imo.

[Dave]

There's more than enough talent. We're a shit team, and generally speaking have been for the last 20 years.

[Yorkie]

There's more than enough talent. We're a shit team, and generally speaking have been for the last 20 years.

 

We don't have the squad-to-end-all-squads that Sven had, but the scale of underachievement is comparable - probably worse.

 

To have fallen at the WC group stage, and against Iceland this year, is a massive indictment on the state of England in a wider context, rather than the specific players. The loss to Iceland was obviously one of the most ignaminous defeats in England's history, but the World Cup failure was also pretty shocking given that half the team was comprised of Liverpool players that'd nearly won the title.

 

Just shocking underacheivement. Inherently flawed, rather than the individual parts not being up to scratch.

[Yorkie]

That being said, I actually think it was quite simple why we didn't progress further or play well at any point in France. The squad selection.

 

Andros Townsend, or even one of the less gifted wingers like Redmond or Zaha, could've gone down as an unlikely hero this summer.

 

Hodgson set up us pragatically; a narrow front six which squeezed the opposition and helped us retain possession in the opposition's half. I thought it was a decent starting-point with England. The only width, though, was provided by the full-backs. All of those full-backs played well in the tournament imo, particularly Walker, but every single game was absolutely begging for the introduction of a natural winger to stretch the game late on.

 

The variety was there to be chosen from, but for some unfathomable reason, he didn't do that. And as soon as Plan A failed (plus shite performances from the likes of Kane and Sterling) saw to it that we ran out of ideas as a team very quickly.

[Tiresias]

The reason we don't do well in tournaments

 

the players aren't good enough

 

the players aren't developed in such a way as they are used to playing in a system that the national team uses

 

the players aren't smart enough to adapt to a new system when switching from club to country

 

the players either don't care enough or are too nervous of being blamed for failure to put in a good performance

 

there is no proper leadership on the pitch, or anyone experienced at the highest level of international football

 

the team is never consistent because there are not enough players good enough to be automatic picks and too many players who drift in and out of form

 

the manager is conservative or naive tactically

 

the manager is leaned on to play certain players on reputation rather than form

 

All of the above are accurate assessments of why we fail, pick or choose, albeit it is basically all of them. The fix would take long term changes from the FA down to the youth system throughout the league and no-one has the will or the real interest in achieving that.

[Tooj]

Still think the Premier League having so much power in isolation of the FA is something that needs to change if we are to be a force in the future.

[Nobody]

Still think the Premier League having so much power in isolation of the FA is something that needs to change if we are to be a force in the future.

Said it before, but I really think England suffers massively from all players playing in the Premier League, would be much better to get experience from other countries.

[newsted]

The current England side is very talented, imo. Probably a top ten side in the world. The obvious weaknesses are the centre of defense and the Rooney quandary (eliminate him). Otherwise, these are quality, youthful players that perform consistently and admirably for their club sides. The inability to compete with the very best sides is as much a mentality issue as anything, imo.

 

I know some people

[joeyt]

Still think the Premier League having so much power in isolation of the FA is something that needs to change if we are to be a force in the future.

Said it before, but I really think England suffers massively from all players playing in the Premier League, would be much better to get experience from other countries.

You're probably right but they don't have any motivation to go abroad when all the money is here and none of our players would get into Real Madrid or Barcelona. Teams like Stoke and West Ham can pay much more in wages than loads of traditionally bigger foreign teams

 

[Marmoset]

There's more than enough talent. We're a s*** team, and generally speaking have been for the last 20 years.

 

We don't have the squad-to-end-all-squads that Sven had, but the scale of underachievement is comparable - probably worse.

 

Pet hate of mine actually is people saying 'the so-called golden generation' all sarcastically about Sven's time thinking they're being dead clever.

 

 

That team from 2002-2006, in terms of individual players in an England squad, was absolutely golden. Them not winning anything doesn't change that.

[Incognito]

I think this is the worst England squad in my lifetime. Even in Taylor's time we had the likes of Gazza and clear good futures for the likes of Shearer, Ince etc. Now we have no real International  quality  anywhere on the pitch. Severely lacking at centre half, adequate at full back and no creativity in the middle of the park. Not good.

[Yorkie]

There's more than enough talent. We're a s*** team, and generally speaking have been for the last 20 years.

 

We don't have the squad-to-end-all-squads that Sven had, but the scale of underachievement is comparable - probably worse.

 

Pet hate of mine actually is people saying 'the so-called golden generation' all sarcastically about Sven's time thinking they're being dead clever.

 

 

That team from 2002-2006, in terms of individual players in an England squad, was absolutely golden. Them not winning anything doesn't change that.

 

I wasn't being sarcastic. The starting line-up and depth that we had, almost in every position, was exceptional.

[hakka]

There's more than enough talent. We're a shit team, and generally speaking have been for the last 20 years.

 

We have declined over those 20 years though. From unlucky with penalty shoot outs and red cards to actually churning out totally shit performances. 96-06 was a very good time for England, a bit more composure in 96, 98, 04 and 06 we could have gone to a final or two. After 06 we've plummeted to terrible depths. Failure of 08, dog shit 10, 12, 14 and now 16.

[triggs]

I think this is the worst England squad in my lifetime. Even in Taylor's time we had the likes of Gazza and clear good futures for the likes of Shearer, Ince etc. Now we have no real International  quality  anywhere on the pitch. Severely lacking at centre half, adequate at full back and no creativity in the middle of the park. Not good.

Agree fully although my lifetime is less than yours. Just don't see on what basis most of the players are rated. For example a lot of the Spurs players look good in the PL but go to the Champions League and they're getting beat by very average teams like Monaco and Leverkusen. Compared to most of the 00's, when you had a good few world class players proven at the latter stages of the Champions League your squad is really poor now

[Ikon]

Thinking about the Champions League, do you even have a single player performing really well on a consistent basis at that level today? Not sure if there's "more than enough talent" like some of you think. You should probably do a bit better than you are but the players are simply not that good.

 

Like Triggs said..