England

[TheBrownBottle]

3 hours ago, Choppy Chop Chop said:

My attitude to England has deteriorated as I've gotten older, I don't even know who we are playing this international break. Come the day I will probably watch though  hoping Callum Eddie Graham Wilson gets a run out 

 

 

 

I had to look it up after reading this  I didn’t have a clue who we were playing either.  I hate the international breaks - especially this one, always just as the season gets going. 

[andycap]

3 hours ago, Ste said:

I was wondering where he would pop up next after leaving Lille. 

Must have had a shave and used his geordie accent to get in. 

[Paullow]

I used to quite like the international breaks during the Ashley era, and especially when Sky had all the other games. 

 

Shite how they are all on Viaplay now and usually have the least anticipated match on their free channel Xtra. I did sign up for ut around the Nations League time, bit it was so hard to cancel so won't be signing up to it again.

[andycap]

Are the games not on channel 4, now? 

[Ste]

25 minutes ago, andycap said:

Are the games not on channel 4, now? 

 

Still on 4 in the UK. 

[Abacus]

Looking forward to Southgate leaving now in spite of how far he's got us in various tournaments - it might be different if you felt he was learning and developing, but I don't see it.

 

In terms of who'd take over, the betting odds seem to have Potter as favourite, followed by Howe. And some nonsense about Pep as an option.

 

I can't see Howe doing it, nor Pep. You'd think Potter would actually be a decent choice, despite his time at Chelsea. Not really sure who could have made sense of that club, so it's no stick to beat him with and he's probably worth a go.

 

Have to say though, I've rarely been less interested in international football.

 

It looks as if a few players may think the same way, choosing to sit on big contracts and not play regularly elsewhere - like Phillips or Maguire, which only makes it doubly perplexing that Southgate continues to pick them. You can kind of see Maguire (the old never lets England down etc), but really it sends a bad message imo.

[The College Dropout]

There’s so much football and football content (I also play FPL) that I take international football as a bit of a football break outside of major tournaments. 
 

Like I might watch a qualifier if it’s on. But I’d rather let my wife watch whatever because I know I’ll want to watch 2-4 league games the next weekend. I don’t have the energy for it. 

[gbandit]

It’s absolute throwaway TV, international friendly football or even qualifiers really. I’ll watch it if there’s nothing else on or if one of our players is going to be on the pitch. Otherwise, couldnt care less outside of tournament football really 

[Abacus]

Yeah, as Paullow said, when we were at our worst and it was plain miserable watching us, outside of the main tournaments International football was a bit of a diversion at least, even a friendly or a fairly pointless qualifier.

 

Now I just see it as a bit of a nuisance and can't wait for the 'proper' football to be back. 

[The College Dropout]

59 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

There’s so much football and football content (I also play FPL) that I take international football as a bit of a football break outside of major tournaments. 
 

Like I might watch a qualifier if it’s on. But I’d rather let my wife watch whatever because I know I’ll want to watch 2-4 league games the next weekend. I don’t have the energy for it. 

And also. Qualifying has become easy. What tournament did England fail to qualify for? Euro 2008? That Croatia game was a moment. As was the beckham equaliser. Or the 5–1 in Germany. 
 

But these days the jeopardy is gone. 

[triggs]

People from bigger countries just don't like qualifiers because they always win. They're really big games in the majority of countries

[leffe186]

On 01/09/2023 at 18:36, relámpago blanco said:

Why in the hell is Nick Pope not in the squad.

 

On 01/09/2023 at 18:46, gbandit said:

Genuinely absurd decision to not pick him 

Don’t make me go back into the last match thread for quotes too

 

On the one hand, this is how Southgate rolls. On the other hand, we all overrate our own players when looking at England. Maguire and Henderson are less justifiable inclusions but he clearly sees them as leaders in the squad and I suspect is probably looking to keep a largely settled squad through this whole competition, as is his usual wont. He’ll tweak round the edges, but we’ve seen this movie before, time and again. 
 

We’ll cruise through the qualifiers, slog our way to the knockout stages then lose to a good team. With essentially the same players. The really interesting stuff is what happens when he buggers off.

[leffe186]

FWIW I love international football. I love the whole country coming together. I love players playing for their country rather than who pays them the most. I love different countries’ characteristics - both fans and players.

I support England because I’m English. It just wouldn’t occur to me not to. I do sometimes feel a bit simple saying that.

[relámpago blanco]

23 minutes ago, leffe186 said:

 

Don’t make me go back into the last match thread for quotes too

 

On the one hand, this is how Southgate rolls. On the other hand, we all overrate our own players when looking at England. Maguire and Henderson are less justifiable inclusions but he clearly sees them as leaders in the squad and I suspect is probably looking to keep a largely settled squad through this whole competition, as is his usual wont. He’ll tweak round the edges, but we’ve seen this movie before, time and again. 
 

We’ll cruise through the qualifiers, slog our way to the knockout stages then lose to a good team. With essentially the same players. The really interesting stuff is what happens when he buggers off.

He was 2nd choice after Pickford last year.  I get Ramsdale being ahead of him.  I still think Pickford should not be number 1, should be Ramsdale or Pope.  Irrespective of anything he is too short for an international keeper at tournaments.  Penalties are key and being taller just increases the odds of saving them.

[Rod]

11 hours ago, Abacus said:

Looking forward to Southgate leaving now in spite of how far he's got us in various tournaments - it might be different if you felt he was learning and developing, but I don't see it.

 

In terms of who'd take over, the betting odds seem to have Potter as favourite, followed by Howe. And some nonsense about Pep as an option.

 

I can't see Howe doing it, nor Pep. You'd think Potter would actually be a decent choice, despite his time at Chelsea. Not really sure who could have made sense of that club, so it's no stick to beat him with and he's probably worth a go.

 

Have to say though, I've rarely been less interested in international football.

 

It looks as if a few players may think the same way, choosing to sit on big contracts and not play regularly elsewhere - like Phillips or Maguire, which only makes it doubly perplexing that Southgate continues to pick them. You can kind of see Maguire (the old never lets England down etc), but really it sends a bad message imo.

Great Post.  Put better than I ever could.

[Rod]

4 hours ago, leffe186 said:

FWIW I love international football. I love the whole country coming together. I love players playing for their country rather than who pays them the most. I love different countries’ characteristics - both fans and players.

I support England because I’m English. It just wouldn’t occur to me not to. I do sometimes feel a bit simple saying that.

I'm the complete opposite of this.

[El Prontonise]

4 hours ago, leffe186 said:

FWIW I love international football. I love the whole country coming together. I love players playing for their country rather than who pays them the most. I love different countries’ characteristics - both fans and players.

I support England because I’m English. It just wouldn’t occur to me not to. I do sometimes feel a bit simple saying that.

Southerner.

[Mike]

On 04/09/2023 at 17:40, Cheshire Mag said:

Southgate to leave after the euros according to The Mail

 

No!

[OptimusSlime]

I’ve never been arsed about England since Shearer retired from international football.  Killed it for me.  
 

Almost felt a resurgence when Carroll made his England debut before we sold him/he became a crock.  Have a feeling if we had an England regular as a star of the team I may suddenly have significant interest.
 

Still love the World Cup and to a lesser extent the Euros.  

 

 

Edited September 6, 2023 by OptimusSlime

[leffe186]

11 hours ago, El Prontonise said:

Southerner.

Wasn’t even born in England

[leffe186]

16 hours ago, relámpago blanco said:

He was 2nd choice after Pickford last year.  I get Ramsdale being ahead of him.  I still think Pickford should not be number 1, should be Ramsdale or Pope.  Irrespective of anything he is too short for an international keeper at tournaments.  Penalties are key and being taller just increases the odds of saving them.

I had forgotten Pope’s age too. He’s 31, while Pickford is 29, Ramsdale 23 and Johnstone 20. You can see Southgate’s thinking there too - if he thinks of Pickford as the #1 (which obviously he does) and if there’s not that much to choose between the others (which seems fair enough) then of course you take the younger back-ups with a view to the Euros and the future.

 

Again, that calls into question his choice of Maguire and Henderson. But to call the exclusion of Pope “genuinely absurd”’ and wonder “why the hell he isn’t in the squad” seems…a bit reactionary.

 

Edit: My bad! Don’t know why I thought Johnstone was 30 not 20 - just don’t pay enough attention . Guess it’s a straight choice for Southgate between Johnstone and Pope for the third keeper? Have no idea how good Johnstone has been this year.

 

 

Edited September 7, 2023 by leffe186

[Paullow]

9 minutes ago, leffe186 said:

I had forgotten Pope’s age too. He’s 31, while Pickford is 29, Ramsdale 23 and Johnstone 20. You can see Southgate’s thinking there too - if he thinks of Pickford as the #1 (which obviously he does) and if there’s not that much to choose between the others (which seems fair enough) then of course you take the younger back-ups with a view to the Euros and the future.

 

Again, that calls into question his choice of Maguire and Henderson. But to call the exclusion of Pope “genuinely absurd”’ and wonder “why the hell he isn’t in the squad” seems…a bit reactionary.

Sam Johnstone is actually 30 and less than a year younger than Pope.

[leffe186]

24 minutes ago, Paullow said:

Sam Johnstone is actually 30 and less than a year younger than Pope.

Oh yeah, totally my bad. Guess it’s a straight choice between Pope and Johnstone then.

[RobsonsWonderland]

5 minutes ago, leffe186 said:

Oh yeah, totally my bad. Guess it’s a straight choice between Pope and Johnstone then.

Which team does Johnstone play for...

 

Oh its Crystal Palace.

 

I mentioned it before but he does like to pick from his old team.

[Kimbo]

I wouldn’t worry about who Southgate picks or doesn’t pick at this point, surely we’re all just waiting for him to leave, whether that’s in 1 year or 3 years. We all know he’s not going to win anything. It just feels like England are treading water and the FA are happy to be scandal free.