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Group B: England, Iran, United States, Wales (England and USA qualify)


Big River

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we really need to change our mindset.

france spain germany etc etc would be pissed off at getting knocked out at the QF stage.

yet we celebrate it like a glorious failure and laud the manager. thats 3 tournaments in a row where we could have done better.

 

unfortunately no decent candidates as an alternatives to Southgate out there, unless we go foreign.

i'd even take brendon rodgers.

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The progression from the last 3 tournaments is clear to see, we were very good this WC and very unluckily lost to the Champions and we had a very good chance of winning. Our national set up still has an awful lot of catching up to do. France nurture talent from youth through to the national team, their national set up is excellent, ours has suffered from fragmentation and all too frequent changes. We need the long term vision for the national team theyve been following more recently, not just pick whoever might be hot right now, but build a consistent, repeatable framework with excellence from the top down. 

 

Southgate isnt ideal, there's things he does I dont agree with, but it's not really about him, more so the organisation, structure and vision. And currently that I cant argue with. 

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I don't think there's any plan from the the FA in, say, the same way Germany seemed to have a coordinated strategy from c.2009/10. I'd be very surprised if those feckless morons at the FA had anything similar.

 

Regardless of that, the fact they gave that bootlicker another contract before the WC for at least another 2 years will mean that England won't produce results where it matters.

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I dont understand the anger towards him personally. Its not like we went out against France not attacking them. He even changed system mid WC, he gets credit for that from me, many a manager wouldn't. He's made our most threatening midfielder a focal point, he's given the 2 wide forward positions to 3/4 of our most talented forwards. He struggles with depth in central defence and GK but that's not his fault. It's hard to argue against his selection this WC or indeed his tactics since going 433. By the end he pretty much played what I'd think is our best 11 and attacked with it. Yeah Henderson but who would replace him, ballsy to put him back in imo, and it worked. Yet more credit to Southgate.

 

If we had another really dynamic CM and 2 shit hot CBs we'd be one of the favourites every time, with Southgate as manager. You cant blame him for our lack of ability in certain positions. Saying that Tomori should have been selected. Maddison wasnt fit for the most part, so he gets a pass on not playing him. But I would expect him to be playing more from now on when fit.

 

 

Edited by Super Duper Branko Strupar

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12 hours ago, Super Duper Branko Strupar said:

I dont understand the anger towards him personally. Its not like we went out against France not attacking them. He even changed system mid WC, he gets credit for that from me, many a manager wouldn't. He's made our most threatening midfielder a focal point, he's given the 2 wide forward positions to 3/4 of our most talented forwards. He struggles with depth in central defence and GK but that's not his fault. It's hard to argue against his selection this WC or indeed his tactics since going 433. By the end he pretty much played what I'd think is our best 11 and attacked with it. Yeah Henderson but who would replace him, ballsy to put him back in imo, and it worked. Yet more credit to Southgate.

 

If we had another really dynamic CM and 2 shit hot CBs we'd be one of the favourites every time, with Southgate as manager. You cant blame him for our lack of ability in certain positions. Saying that Tomori should have been selected. Maddison wasnt fit for the most part, so he gets a pass on not playing him. But I would expect him to be playing more from now on when fit.

 

 

 

Yep, the idea that he's not learning and evolving with this team just doesn't ring true to me. The way he set up against France was completely different to 4 years before against Croatia, and even against Italy last year. We were a missed penalty away from taking arguably the best team in the world to extra time. He's not perfect but he's the best man for the job and deserves huge credit for the results he's achieved. Remains to be seen if he can push this team that extra inch, but he's earned the chance to try and besides I can't think of anyone else who would take the job and be an immediate upgrade. Ripping it all up and starting again when the team has come so close would be madness without the guarantee of a genuinely top-tier replacement.

 

 

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Were we really close this time though? I was happy enough after the France game, but then Morocco looked even better than us against them. Ultimately it’s another case of us beating a few teams that we should always beat. It feels a bit like we’re settling for someone that won’t win a tournament because he guarantees we won’t suffer a disaster like Iceland or not qualifying.

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