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I did too. Some one mentioned earlier that he was not put in a good position but he never seemed to put his stamp on any game.
Henderson - Dier behind Kane - Rashford with GOATFKTaker on one side and Midget TRex Poofter on the other?
That's the thing with national teams. High level talent development is a crap shoot; you have to take who's available at the moment and you can't go out and buy a left-back if you need one. It's ironic that England recently had a glut of CM talent including Lampard, Gerrard, Beckham and Scholes coupled with a relative dearth of wing players.
I don't think you can change things that drastically at the late stages of a tournament. Southgate would have had to laid the groundwork for that approach weeks ago in the run-up. Tactical tinkering isn't really the style of the manager. He puts his vest on and sends out his best XI.
I can't see Courtois. The waffle that comes to mind for me is KDB (or even Hazard). I don't think anyone rates Courtois as the best keeper in the EPL and you might have quite an argument of whether he is 2 (Ederson and Schmeichel are neck and neck for me).
Well he needed to do something after the Croatian goal instead of just going like for like. They were getting overrun by a better tactical setup. Croatia adjusted by having Perisic start tracking Trippier afterthe first 20-30 minutes and then having Modric and Ratitic make occupying runs into the box in the second half. England did nothing and ultimately paid the price.
It's a tough year. The Champions League team didn't win their league or their domestic cup. M'Babe has a better shot than Griezmann. He could have the league and the World Cup. And for keepers I think Lloris is better than Courtois.
Agree. National team managers get precious few opportunities to make real in-game tactical changes.
It’s going to be interesting to watch Sterling this season. He’s used to getting the stick on Merseyside but he’s been a lightning rod for criticism on a national level since the run-up.
Scary that he could've chosen to play for Croatia too. Imagine him on a wing with service from Modric and Rakitic! Glad there was never a fear of it happening though.
Close - but Dier next to Henderson is terrible. Both are strong enough in defense, but weak in creativity. Southgate's problem was not bringing anyone who could play as a creative CM next to Henderson.
A lot were fairly tough on him, but he did what was asked; to be the creative/making runs forward. That is so not his game as seen by his touches and passing. Hell, he has a weak shot to go with that as well. He needs a lot of talent around him to be creative and he can run onto balls and get tap ins. He just didn't fit into this role IMO.
Fair, but I think Henderson has some sneaky creativity when he's allowed to play further forward. He's excellent on first touch distribution and has put in some great killer balls when given the chance. He's not going to light anything on fire, but he could sit just ahead of Dier and make a good partnership imo
I actually think Henderson is fine. Their real problem though was Croatia’s outside offensive guys (Perisic and Rebic) were simply better than England’s wingbacks and worked hard enough to neutralize England’s numbers advantage on either side. Once Perisic started tracking Trippier and they gave help to Manduzic in occupying the 3 CBs, they could then overrun them by switching the ball and then crossing into the middle.
you almost wonder if even for a nano second he wonders "what if"?
Lallana and Ox have been the players Southgate had been using as the creative midfielders. If you recall, Lallana was extremely hot and one of Englands best players in spring of 17 until injuries hit.
I had a lot of the same thoughts. England was better in the first half, but Croatia got comfortable and pinned them back in the second half. A switch from the 3 CB approach could have helped them perhaps.
Rashford plays for Man U. Sterling played for Liverpool. That basically answers the question at the end. Playing for City normally doesn't get you hype either. London or United are your choices for the press.
plays for Monaco. Wages look to be 60k euro per week. Liverpool were linked to him last summer but he signed a new deal at Monaco through the 2020 season. He is 33 years old now and will turn 34 early in the new season.
looks like this caused a huge controversy on reddit where English mods were made to look like tools.
It’s kind of odd so many players don’t know the rules on a restart after goal. It’s come up several times this World Cup.
goals are goals, but this type of "scoring" is unsustainable to win a tourney, unless you're the 80s/90s Italy team - which neither england nor any other team on earth is, or will be again.
Andy Rob will never be in the semis of the World Cup but I’d take him over every fullback that was in the semis.
Right. England still a very young team, but not being able to score is obviously a pretty major issue.
Right. England still a very young team, but not being able to score is obviously a pretty major issue.
I will say that I also think Stones played really well and much better than what we usually see from him at City. He made some key challenges and in general was just plain rock solid back there.
