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Guest Howaythetoon

Guest Howaythetoon

Posted
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England lack creativity in the centre of midfield and lack a natural central defender who can actually defend.

 

As average as a footballer he is, Lascelles is a very good straight up at defending centre back who is also more of a leader. If only he was decent with the ball at his feet.

 

That said, England have the makings of a very good team, but lack the right balance and certain key attributes needed in vital areas as touched on above. Get that right and they can become a top top team.

 

Of all the English centre-backs, the best equipped to defend in a no frills defend first way would be someone like Lascelles. England don’t need two ball playing centre-backs more than they need a proper defender who as long as there is a ball playing centre back in there, should be more than a decent enough combination together.

 

I’d personally be happy to give him a try and see if he can make the step up. It’s not as if we are awash with top players back there and although the likes of Maguire are better, they are not a million miles better, far from it.

 

That or change the formation and system at the back. At least in midfield we have players who can be a fix to a problem.

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Cronky

Cronky

Posted
Posted

England lack creativity in the centre of midfield and lack a natural central defender who can actually defend.

 

As average as a footballer he is, Lascelles is a very good straight up at defending centre back who is also more of a leader. If only he was decent with the ball at his feet.

 

That said, England have the makings of a very good team, but lack the right balance and certain key attributes needed in vital areas as touched on above. Get that right and they can become a top top team.

 

Of all the English centre-backs, the best equipped to defend in a no frills defend first way would be someone like Lascelles. England don’t need two ball playing centre-backs more than they need a proper defender who as long as there is a ball playing centre back in there, should be more than a decent enough combination together.

 

I’d personally be happy to give him a try and see if he can make the step up. It’s not as if we are awash with top players back there and although the likes of Maguire are better, they are not a million miles better, far from it.

 

That or change the formation and system at the back. At least in midfield we have players who can be a fix to a problem.

 

Lascelles is still too prone to mistakes, and I think there are better alternatives.

 

I'm not sure about his current form or fitness, but Joe Gomez is tailor made for international football.

 

In midfield, the combination of Mount, Henderson and Rice didn't work at all. I'd include Barkley and I don't think we need both Henderson and Rice.

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Sho Time

Sho Time

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Tbh this is all a bit Roy Hodgson and those before him.

 

There's a lot of 'talented' players in England and some may be slightly in-form which means they are due a call-up but does that mean they should be starting or making it off the bench unless there is a case of injuries or real fatigue? This is a European qualifier, not a friendly.

 

See Keane and Mings - how many clean sheets have Everton or Villa kept this season? They've hardly been rock solid and in terms of goals conceded they're about neck-and-neck too.

 

People went on for ages about following the Germany model and we've tried to copy it by getting rid/phasing out the old guard and giving chances to exciting young players, but there's just no consistency there. Select who you want your XI to be, or your core players and fucking play them every chance you get. Only make slight alterations where you need to.

 

Oh and just fuck Declan Rice out of the equation altogether. He's about Colback standards.

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Conjo

Conjo

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How do you choose between Keane, Gomez, Mings, Tarkowski, Lascelles, Maguire, Stones, Dunk, Coady and the likes if not based on form? They are all solid without being spectacular, and it's a bit silly to persist with one over the other if the one left out is performing better than the one that is in. Until one pair within the pool of center backs makes a step up, or form a particularly good partnership it's difficult to argue that some should be left out. It was easier before when it was pretty clear that the best center back pair was Campbell - Ferdinand and later Terry - Ferdinand.

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HawK

HawK

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Personally from your example I think it's clear it should be Maguire and Stones if both are fit and available.

 

To expand on my original point, Mason Mount for example has only played a couple of months in the Premier League. I think that historically as a nation we've knee-jerked a lot to purple patches, and Southgate seems even more keen to do so.

 

I'm not saying we should return to a Capello-esque era of teamsheets you could name 6 months in advance, but I think one of the reasons some of the smaller nations perform better than the sum of their parts is a familiarity with each other's play, enforced largely due to a lack of alternatives.

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Sho Time

Sho Time

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So at the WC I recall us playing a 3-5-2 with Walker, Maguire and Stones the 3 CB's. Although Stones level has dropped he still plays with Walker at City so there's an understanding and as ball playing defenders go, he's the best available to us.

 

TAA and Chilwell I think are the present and future as far as wing-backs are concerned. Rose and Trippier back-up.

 

Midfield and attack I'm less arsed about, but constantly playing Henderson and especially Rice is just hampering us. We're fucking toothless as a central midfield and try-hard only. I don't really object to Mount playing in the CM position or even Alli. Either way we just need to figure out the main spine and stick with it as much as we can. If certain players really are performing shit and someone is making a case for just not being able to be ignored, then aye phase them in. But just constantly pulling players out your arse and chopping and changing the line-up is just going to keep us going the way Hodgson had us. The most recent example of Mings and Keane getting in is just a bit daft.

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tgarve

tgarve

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Should go 5 at the back, it then means Chilwell and Taa are in the best place to make use of their attributes

 

Maguire , stones + 1 other ( maybe walker ) at cb

 

Then 2 in cm anchored by Henderson ( with Alli maybe ) might be a good idea giving grealish a chance

 

3 up top - Kane Sterling + 1 other

 

Could maybe drop that 1 other for a third in midfield against a very strong side

 

 

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