England

[leffe186]

 Watching that replay of the penalty and Pavlovic was just pushing Bowen into the area to try to get it retaken. He was made to look a tit all night, no wonder he got lairy at the end.

[leffe186]

That's the other thing Tuchel's done, he's not thought "I've got to find a way to get all the best players on the pitch", he's made a plan and picked a team for it. Didn't work against Andorra, worked like a dream against Serbia.

[maybe_next_year]

Haven't seen Serbia humbled by England like that since we stuck James Blunt in a tank and shipped him off to Pristina. 

[relámpago blanco]

1 minute ago, leffe186 said:

That's the other thing Tuchel's done, he's not thought "I've got to find a way to get all the best players on the pitch", he's made a plan and picked a team for it. Didn't work against Andorra, worked like a dream against Serbia.

3 of the best aren't available tbf though in Saka, Palmer and Foden.  That'll be a headache for him when those three are fit.  

[leffe186]

6 minutes ago, relámpago blanco said:

3 of the best aren't available tbf though in Saka, Palmer and Foden.  That'll be a headache for him when those three are fit.  

 

Only if he lets the press bullshit get to him. He doesn't strike me like that sort of manager, and he's finally got a game that he can point to and say "told you so" to his players.

 

It shouldn't be a headache, it should be an advantage. You'd expect to see Saka instead of Madueke, but the others? Brilliant options to bring on as subs I think. It's hard to make an argument against the rest of that front 6 today, Bellingham or no Bellingham.

[Disco]

Can’t see Tommy Toucher being particularly arsed about picking ‘the best players’. 
 

 

 

[The College Dropout]

Chance Foden might not even go to the WC. Hasn’t deserved it based on performance. 

[Nobody]

25 minutes ago, relámpago blanco said:

3 of the best aren't available tbf though in Saka, Palmer and Foden.  That'll be a headache for him when those three are fit.  

Foden should be miles away from an England starting spot like, he's not been good enough for almost 18 months now.

Saka and Palmer fair enough, but I do think Palmer is vastly overrated. 

[relámpago blanco]

1 minute ago, The College Dropout said:

Chance Foden might not even go to the WC. Hasn’t deserved it based on performance. 

Yeah, that's probably fair.  I don't think he's as great as he's made out even when he was at the top of his game.  A very difficult player to integrate into a functional team.

[The College Dropout]

Palmer and Saka are both best off the right imo. But very different styles.  Probably start Saka and have Palmer off the bench. Rogers and Jude at AM battling it out. Foden sat at home. 

[gbandit]

Fuck Jude off please

[On the Grid]

Watching the re-run... Gordon was class, space and press awareness. Anderson in that position is flawless. Kane is next level. 

 

They are playing like an Eddie Howe team...433 with a high press and trust in each other. 

[Lush Vlad]

8 hours ago, leffe186 said:

 

Only if he lets the press bullshit get to him. He doesn't strike me like that sort of manager, and he's finally got a game that he can point to and say "told you so" to his players.

 

It shouldn't be a headache, it should be an advantage. You'd expect to see Saka instead of Madueke, but the others? Brilliant options to bring on as subs I think. It's hard to make an argument against the rest of that front 6 today, Bellingham or no Bellingham.

It’s the press bullshit I worry about. Any negative result or below par performance and the knives will be out because we’re not playing the likes of Palmer and Bellingham. 
 

I’ve always disliked Bellingham as the more advanced midfielder for England. Feels like he gets in the way, wants too many touches and has main character syndrome.
 

As good as Palmer is. If that setup last night is how Tuchel wants to play a lot of the time. I don’t see where he fits in? 
 

To get the best out of Kane. He needs those willing runners in behind and plenty of pace from wide and runners to get beyond him and/or support him from deep. I don’t think that’s a fairly new thought, either. People were saying it back when the likes of Sterling and Rashford were England regulars. 

[La Parka]

Btw harry kane - what a fucking player. 

 

His ability to drop and pick a pass on top of being an assassin is incredible. He pinged some absolute wonder balls. 

 

Hoping we utilise Woltemade similarly - surround him with Gordon, Elanga and Ramsay and use him as the pivot. Not like Germany where he's isolated and feeding off long balls. 

 

 

Edited September 10, 2025 by La Parka

[The Prophet]

Interesting that England played so well without Jude Nolan 👀

[The College Dropout]

6 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

Interesting that England played so well without Jude Nolan 👀

Jude Nolan is funny.

[leffe186]

54 minutes ago, La Parka said:

Btw harry kane - what a fucking player. 

 

His ability to drop and pick a pass on top of being an assassin is incredible. He pinged some absolute wonder balls. 

 

Hoping we utilise Woltemade similarly - surround him with Gordon, Elanga and Ramsay and use him as the pivot. Not like Germany where he's isolated and feeding off long balls. 

 

 

 

There was a German guy on some Spurs podcast recently - might have been Honigstein actually - who was asked what the BM fans thought about Kane. He said they were in awe because of all the stuff they hadn’t realized - the range of passing, the willingness to defend, the incredible finishing etc. but particularly the passing. All the Spurs guys were like “we tried to tell everyone”

[leffe186]

3 hours ago, Lush Vlad said:

It’s the press bullshit I worry about. Any negative result or below par performance and the knives will be out because we’re not playing the likes of Palmer and Bellingham. 
 

I’ve always disliked Bellingham as the more advanced midfielder for England. Feels like he gets in the way, wants too many touches and has main character syndrome.
 

As good as Palmer is. If that setup last night is how Tuchel wants to play a lot of the time. I don’t see where he fits in? 
 

To get the best out of Kane. He needs those willing runners in behind and plenty of pace from wide and runners to get beyond him and/or support him from deep. I don’t think that’s a fairly new thought, either. People were saying it back when the likes of Sterling and Rashford were England regulars. 

Yeah we’ve all been saying it about Kane for years tbf.

 

To the first point, it might just be that Tuchel is the best possible manager for the job for that reason. He almost seems designed to ignore/override the press. As long as his stuff works anyway. We all know the knives are constantly out whatever happens.

[Kimbo]

1 hour ago, La Parka said:

Btw harry kane - what a fucking player. 

 

His ability to drop and pick a pass on top of being an assassin is incredible. He pinged some absolute wonder balls. 

 

Hoping we utilise Woltemade similarly - surround him with Gordon, Elanga and Ramsay and use him as the pivot. Not like Germany where he's isolated and feeding off long balls. 

 

 

 

Someone like Frattesi would make a lot of sense if we play Woltemade like that.

[leffe186]

On 10/09/2025 at 07:01, Lush Vlad said:

It’s the press bullshit I worry about. Any negative result or below par performance and the knives will be out because we’re not playing the likes of Palmer and Bellingham. 
 

I’ve always disliked Bellingham as the more advanced midfielder for England. Feels like he gets in the way, wants too many touches and has main character syndrome.
 

As good as Palmer is. If that setup last night is how Tuchel wants to play a lot of the time. I don’t see where he fits in? 
 

To get the best out of Kane. He needs those willing runners in behind and plenty of pace from wide and runners to get beyond him and/or support him from deep. I don’t think that’s a fairly new thought, either. People were saying it back when the likes of Sterling and Rashford were England regulars. 

Further to this on press bullshit, I saw something on Reddit that I felt I had to respond to on there, and here’s the original tweet:

 

The gist of what I said is that it’s absolutely asinine that Henry Winter can watch that game against Serbia and think “well there’s no way Gordon and Rogers are even the #2 choices at their positions”. How can you say that with a straight face?

 

If you look at the tweet, he’s put Gordon and Rogers (and Dan Burn and Djed Spence etc) in the group of also-rans. He’s then said that Tuchel has to take Rogers, and he likes Burn and Henderson, so presumably Gordon misses out.

 

Fucking hell. 
 

We should be glad that we have so many options I guess. Wish we had more options for the England press corps.

 

 

Edited September 12, 2025 by leffe186

[La Parka]

11 minutes ago, leffe186 said:

Further to this on press bullshit, I saw something on Reddit that I felt I had to respond to on there, and here’s the original tweet:

 

The gist of what I said is that it’s absolutely asinine that Henry Winter can watch that game against Serbia and think “well there’s no way Gordon and Rogers are even the #2 choices at their positions”. How can you say that with a straight face?

 

If you look at the tweet, he’s put Gordon and Rogers (and Dan Burn and Djed Spence etc) in the group of also-rans. He’s then said that Tuchel has to take Rogers, and he likes Burn and Henderson, so presumably Gordon misses out.

 

Fucking hell. 
 

We should be glad that we have so many options I guess. Wish we had more options for the England press corps.

 

 

 

 

I just hope Tommy doesn't listen. We just played the best game of football with these so called also rans. 

 

Honestly hate that a players club can influence their reputation so much despite performance on the pitch. 

 

Rodgers linked play amazingly well, I don't see Jude Nolan being that selfless. Gordon ran himself into the ground something foden/mount just can't do. 

 

The back two look very impressive (Konsa Guehi) and they gave good balance together. Some games will call for bdb, as his height and physicality matches better against certain strikers. 

 

[Lush Vlad]

I’m not sure how you can watch Bellingham for England in that advanced role and say he should be a nailed on starter. 
 

Since the last tournament. He has reminded me of everything wrong with England back in the sort of noughties era. 

 

 

Edited September 12, 2025 by Lush Vlad

[Dr.Spaceman]

Bellingham is difficult to ignore but he should not be made into some sort of talismanic focal point in an England shirt. He's just another squad player for us.

[Yorkie]

Kinda wish there just wasn't a Bellingham tbh. Seems like a total arsehole and despite delivering some big moments I can't remember him ever standing out for England performance-wise. Basically Rooney but with added crotch-grabbing. 

[gbandit]

3 minutes ago, Yorkie said:

Kinda wish there just wasn't a Bellingham tbh. Seems like a total arsehole and despite delivering some big moments I can't remember him ever standing out for England performance-wise. Basically Rooney but with added crotch-grabbing. 

Don’t think he’s anywhere near as good as Rooney was for England. Bellingham never controls a game, he’s often a passenger for England. His only real quality he’s brought is making late runs into the box and a few clinical moments like you say. Otherwise, he’s not a good dribbler, he’s not got exceptional vision and he’s boring as fuck in a team that needs to unlock defences