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


Big River

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3 hours ago, Wullie said:

With England, there's always some weird clamour for one particular player. Was Grealish last time, now Foden. I think Foden's a phenomenal player but there's a sense he's very wedded, understandably, to the Man City system. He has never done it for England and it's understandable Southgate went first to players who have.

 

Would have been Maddison folk were moaning about last night if he'd been fit btw.

I don't like it when players become 'better' the more time they spend on the bench, but Foden is a word class player that most managers would build a team around. At first we started shoehorning him into the team and getting little out of him, now we've just given up completely it would seem.

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11 hours ago, joeyt said:

 

Second most goals ever in the Prem, incredible statement. Do you really think Southgate should have started Wilson over him?


Wilson pulls the whole team forward and brings the wingers/outside forwards into play, Kane drops back to DM and compresses the whole formation. You would’ve won yesterday with Wilson up front running at Ream and Zimmerman. 

 

 

Edited by cubaricho

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10 hours ago, ponsaelius said:

 

Having watched AFC and CONCACAF in the past footballing culture of Middle East teams and Central America is honestly surprisingly similar. There really is a lot of gamesmanship and pushing the boundaries to win. I think if he had caveated it with 'footballing culture' it would be fine. 

I think I speak on behalf of the majority of AFC countries when I say that a lot of the West Asian teams are full of cheating shits.

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11 hours ago, Yorkie said:

Rubbish game and a poor performance but so was Scotland in the Euros. Ultimately it's a useful point because all that matters is getting through the group stage; Portugal won the Euros without winning a single match in the group stages. 

 

People (not pointing to anyone here) criticise results at international tournaments as if they're comparable to 38-match league campaigns, when the competitions couldn't be more different. It's a short and condensed schedule where progress is about fine margins. 

 

Obviously we'll have to improve but I just find the "Gotcha!"s re Southgate so tedious whenever we have a poor game. The only result that matters in this setting is the last one. 

we;ve had several poor games since the euros. this isnt really a blip. 

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19 minutes ago, GeordieDazzler said:

We burnt the fucking White House to the ground but that doesn’t get a mention in the anthem :lol:

talking about the anthem.

isnt it time we moved on from GST KING/QUEEN?

i mean something to do with our actual country would be better then letting the world know how great our sovereign is.

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I've often felt that a residing weakness of the British approach to the game is that we rely too much on individuals creating something, rather than something happening from good combination play. That was the striking difference between the two teams on Friday. We seemed to be waiting for someone to produce a spark, which didn't happen. Sterling seems to be there for those hopeful moments when he uses his change of pace and direction to get past his marker. The Americans stopped him from getting the opportunity.

 

It was interesting to hear Southgate talk about the reasoning behind his substitutions. Grealish was on because he could hang on to the ball, perhaps draw fouls, and get us up the pitch where we could get some useful set pieces. Rashford was on for his pace. Foden's great strength is his ability to combine well with his team mates, with speed and accuracy, and despite being under pressure. That wasn't what Southgate seemed to value at that moment, and yet I did feel that he was missing the big picture. 

 

I guess if you play Foden, you really need players around him that can play in a similar way, which is the case at Man City. And I think that means a no to Sterling.

 

 

Edited by Cronky

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53 minutes ago, gbandit said:

Don’t think there’s any chance of Southgate dropping Sterling unless it’s to give him a rest. He’ll be first choice all tournament 


Which if y’all want to keep playing the “he’s out of form but, well, he plays well for England” card like y’all are doing for Pickford and Maguire and the like, then Sterling absolutely gets a start every time. He single-handidly kept y’all in the Euros. And yet y’all just shit on him constantly. 

 

 

Edited by cubaricho

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1 hour ago, Cronky said:

I've often felt that a residing weakness of the British approach to the game is that we rely too much on individuals creating something, rather than something happening from good combination play. That was the striking difference between the two teams on Friday. We seemed to be waiting for someone to produce a spark, which didn't happen. Sterling seems to be there for those hopeful moments when he uses his change of pace and direction to get past his marker. The Americans stopped him from getting the opportunity.

 

It was interesting to hear Southgate talk about the reasoning behind his substitutions. Grealish was on because he could hang on to the ball, perhaps draw fouls, and get us up the pitch where we could get some useful set pieces. Rashford was on for his pace. Foden's great strength is his ability to combine well with his team mates, with speed and accuracy, and despite being under pressure. That wasn't what Southgate seemed to value at that moment, and yet I did feel that he was missing the big picture. 

 

I guess if you play Foden, you really need players around him that can play in a similar way, which is the case at Man City. And I think that means a no to Sterling.

 

 

 

There’s also Mount, who has persistently offered very little for England in the Euros and WC so far. I like him - great player for Chelsea and clearly a good pro, but Southgate’s insistence on not even subbing him is weird. Even if you don’t want to start Foden as a CAM, he should be prepared to come on there. I can understand starting Sterling and Saka the other day after the Iran match. With all those poorly performing players though, it’s a shame Foden couldn’t be trusted to add something different. It’s clearly a sigh of Southgate’s weaknesses - don’t know how to manage one of your most talented players, so leave him out completely and stick with players he can ‘trust’ (ie often reliable but not normally effective). 

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17 minutes ago, cubaricho said:


Which if y’all want to keep playing the “he’s out of form but, well, he plays well for England” card like y’all are doing for Pickford and Maguire and the like, then Sterling absolutely gets a start every time. He single-handidly kept y’all in the Euros. And yet y’all just shit on him constantly. 

 

 

 

Pickford and Maguire are still playing well for England though

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1 hour ago, cubaricho said:


Which if y’all want to keep playing the “he’s out of form but, well, he plays well for England” card like y’all are doing for Pickford and Maguire and the like, then Sterling absolutely gets a start every time. He single-handidly kept y’all in the Euros. And yet y’all just shit on him constantly. 

 

 

 

What needs to be remembered is that we don’t like a great many of these players and it doesn’t change when they happen to pull on an England shirt.  Dennis Wise wasn’t suddenly less loathsome when playing for England.  
 

Jordan Pickford is, and will always be, a short-armed Mackem wanker.  I don’t give a shite if suddenly starts playing like Gordon Banks. 

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3 hours ago, triggs said:

Pickford and Maguire are still playing well for England though

 

Maguire was utter shit in the Germany game immediately before this tournament. He's been fine so far but if he drops a major rick we can't say we weren't warned. 

 

Sterling has been poor for club and country since the last Euros. Not sure why we're encouraged to ignore that when players in better form are sat on the bench. 

 

Pickford has been fine for both Everton and England for a while now, I support not taking unnecessary risks in that position. 

 

 

Edited by Interpolic

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22 hours ago, Wullie said:

With England, there's always some weird clamour for one particular player. Was Grealish last time, now Foden. I think Foden's a phenomenal player but there's a sense he's very wedded, understandably, to the Man City system. He has never done it for England and it's understandable Southgate went first to players who have.

 

Would have been Maddison folk were moaning about last night if he'd been fit btw.

 

One thing I will say for Southgate is he does stick to his own ideas, and doesn't seem to be swayed by popular / media driven opinions about who to select. A lot of previous England managers have fallen into that trap. 

 

But then, there's still the issue of whether you as an individual think his judgement is right. 

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1 hour ago, Cronky said:

 

One thing I will say for Southgate is he does stick to his own ideas, and doesn't seem to be swayed by popular / media driven opinions about who to select. A lot of previous England managers have fallen into that trap. 

 

But then, there's still the issue of whether you as an individual think his judgement is right. 

being stubborn or inflexible or unwilling to take risks isnt always a potitive trait.

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1 hour ago, Cronky said:

 

One thing I will say for Southgate is he does stick to his own ideas, and doesn't seem to be swayed by popular / media driven opinions about who to select. A lot of previous England managers have fallen into that trap. 

 

But then, there's still the issue of whether you as an individual think his judgement is right. 

I think you're absolutely spot on. Southgate is not one for looking at evidence or making decisions based on what is happening on the pitch. The single most important thing for Gareth Souuthgate is Gareth Southgate and as long as Gareth Southgate thinks it's right, it doesn't matter whether it works or not.

 

He seems to believe his own hubris and it makes for some fucking painful to watch and highly ineffective football. But I'm only a fan, so my opinion isn't important. I'm not Gareth Southgate, so as far as he's concerned, my opinion is worthless, even if it is based on what has gone on during the match.

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