THE England thread

[balo]

Well played England !  I think you have a chance now to go further than the so called experts predicted .   

And Rashford is your secret weapon . Sterling is just on the pitch now to confuse the opposition, and he's doing a good job at that . 

  

[Mooner]

Maguire and Young look like they can be got at. 

Sterling?

 

 

[smokie36]

Will England and Belgium rest players in the midweek game?

 

Could have the air of a friendly...thoughts?

[jellydog]

35 minutes ago, RonniePickering22 said:

Will England and Belgium rest players in the midweek game?

 

Could have the air of a friendly...thoughts?

Much intrigue Ronnie, as both of them would like to avoid a tough opening game in the knockout stage. Its better to be second in their group than first. Martinez has already indicated he'll be starting a "B" team.

[smokie36]

21 minutes ago, jellydog said:

Much intrigue Ronnie, as both of them would like to avoid a tough opening game in the knockout stage. Its better to be second in their group than first. Martinez has already indicated he'll be starting a "B" team.

 

Sterling should start then. ?

[Jip99]

22 minutes ago, jellydog said:

Much intrigue Ronnie, as both of them would like to avoid a tough opening game in the knockout stage. Its better to be second in their group than first. Martinez has already indicated he'll be starting a "B" team.

 

 

My bet for 3 England wins in the group stage might have a chance then.....?

[smokie36]

Kane will demand he starts....he wants the golden boot for the tournament no doubt. 

[overherebc]

14 hours ago, chickenslegs said:

 

Some people will always find a way

 

Even Southgate said this morning, it's a good win but you have to consider the level of the opposition, his words, not mine.

[Kadilo]

3 minutes ago, overherebc said:

Even Southgate said this morning, it's a good win but you have to consider the level of the opposition, his words, not mine.

I thought he summed up the performance really well. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44595251

 

 

[mommysboy]

13 hours ago, Bredbury Blue said:

^Interesting comments on Sterling. I didn't think anybody was particularly good or bad, i'd mark them all similar.

Yes, agreed.

 

It was such strange opposition that it is impossible to draw conclusions, yet 4 years ago England probably would have struggled to grab a victory...or worse.

 

The defence gave the ball away, and that would see us out of the competition against a half decent team; I don't know how much of that was due to the peculiar nature of the game.

 

I'd be inclined towards 2 deep midfielders and Cahill in defence for the next match.  

 

I reckon both sides will feature squad players anyway.

 

 

[Bredbury Blue]

Raheem Sterling - Was desperate to score but failed to do so. Overall the winger justified Southgate’s faith in him with a spellbinding assist for Lingard’s goal.7

^Guardian's rating of Sterling.

[mommysboy]

On 6/24/2018 at 8:34 PM, overherebc said:

What's going to happen when they play a real team ???

Then it becomes 50/50 I guess.

[smokie36]

2 hours ago, mommysboy said:

Then it becomes 50/50 I guess.

 

Depends how the England defence perform....no question they have an attack.

[Rc2702]

10 minutes ago, RonniePickering22 said:

 

Depends how the England defence perform....no question they have an attack.

Lingard will be the one to watch. 

[AlexRich]

I thought England were very impressive against Panama, but the test of their chances in the tournament will be clearer against Belgium. If they dispose of them easily I'd not be surprised to see them in the semi-final ... and beyond if the God's smile on them. 

[carmine]

The reality is that we put six past a side that is the equivalent of beating Stevie Wonder at darts.

 

The back four is dodgy, end of.     

 

Why is Sterling on the pitch?  We'd be better off playing with ten men, he's just getting in the way and probably begging off the others with his complete and utter uselessness.

 

we stand a better chance against a Belgium B team but i doubt its beneficial in this instance to top the group.

 

All in all its shaping up nicely to be a classic England outing with us beating the whipping boys, expectations soaring to ludicrous proportions and then we gett knocked out by the first decent side we play.

 

?Hope i'm wrong of course.....

[alfieconn]

4 hours ago, AlexRich said:

I thought England were very impressive against Panama, but the test of their chances in the tournament will be clearer against Belgium. If they dispose of them easily I'd not be surprised to see them in the semi-final ... and beyond if the God's smile on them. 

Totally disagree, Belgium will play a weakened team, England will rest players, probably be a non event.

[carmine]

2 minutes ago, alfieconn said:

Totally disagree, Belgium will play a weakened team, England will rest players, probably be a non event.

I'll tell you what, Southgate needs to play his best defense to get them better drilled.  Its like the blind being led by the partially sighted.  I doubt he even knows his best defensive line up.  If you can't look rock solid against the likes of Panama and Tunisia what are you going to be like against decent sides?

 

Regards the rest, i'd like to see Loftus-Cheek and Rashford starting and frankly anyone who is showing any form and i don't want to see clearly out of form players being played on reputation.

[StevieH]

1 minute ago, carmine said:

I'll tell you what, Southgate needs to play his best defense to get them better drilled.  Its like the blind being led by the partially sighted.  I doubt he even knows his best defensive line up.  If you can't look rock solid against the likes of Panama and Tunisia what are you going to be like against decent sides?

 

Regards the rest, i'd like to see Loftus-Cheek and Rashford starting and frankly anyone who is showing any form and i don't want to see clearly out of form players being played on reputation.

 

i don't know why england would play a weakened team for this, it's match practice, it won't be the most hell for leather game anyway and as you say the defence needs a bit more drilling, particularly against a better standard of attack. tournaments are about momentum, england have it, why rock the boat?

[Kadilo]

21 minutes ago, StevieH said:

 

i don't know why england would play a weakened team for this, it's match practice, it won't be the most hell for leather game anyway and as you say the defence needs a bit more drilling, particularly against a better standard of attack. tournaments are about momentum, england have it, why rock the boat?

I agree to a point but there is the flip side that is someone gets injured and someone comes in without any minutes under their belts that too could cause problems. 

If you believe the bbc it looks like Kane will continue (why not, he’s on good nick and came off after 65 mins), Rose will come in for Trippier who has a slight knock, and he may give Cahill and Dier a run in case we have to adopt a different formation against better teams. They say Rashford will also start.......I would of thought that was a given. 

Its a difficult dilemma for Southgate, damned if you don’t damned if you do. Martinez has already said he could change all 10 outfield players due to injuries, yellow cards and resting so we probably won’t learn too much either way. 

[carmine]

26 minutes ago, Kadilo said:

I agree to a point but there is the flip side that is someone gets injured and someone comes in without any minutes under their belts that too could cause problems. 

If you believe the bbc it looks like Kane will continue (why not, he’s on good nick and came off after 65 mins), Rose will come in for Trippier who has a slight knock, and he may give Cahill and Dier a run in case we have to adopt a different formation against better teams. They say Rashford will also start.......I would of thought that was a given. 

Its a difficult dilemma for Southgate, damned if you don’t damned if you do. Martinez has already said he could change all 10 outfield players due to injuries, yellow cards and resting so we probably won’t learn too much either way. 

Rose in for Trippier?  You sure about that!?  Sounds like a disaster.

 

Kane is our best striker but he should only play if the set up allows for Rashford too.  If Kane gets crocked we need the back up striker with minutes played and some form.

 

As i see it the key issue for England now, and it is an issue, is the defense.  They inspire no confidence whatsoever, even against a pub side like Panama.  This must be knocked into shape before the knockout stage begins, that is, our usual departure date.

[Kadilo]

2 minutes ago, carmine said:

Rose in for Trippier?  You sure about that!?  Sounds like a disaster.

 

Kane is our best striker but he should only play if the set up allows for Rashford too.  If Kane gets crocked we need the back up striker with minutes played and some form.

 

As i see it the key issue for England now, and it is an issue, is the defense.  They inspire no confidence whatsoever, even against a pub side like Panama.  This must be knocked into shape before the knockout stage begins, that is, our usual departure date.

Apologies, the suggestion was for TA-A to come in for Trippier and poss Rose for Young to give his aging legs a rest. 

I think Stones has grown and looks more stable at the back than Maguire who seems to give the ball away at will. You could even see in the Panama game he can be got at when closed down quickly. Personally I would play Cahill instead of Maguire going forwards but that ain’t gonna happen in Southgate world. 

[StevieH]

there's a lot of responsibility on henderson in that formation and i still think that a back 3 will be exposed and got at by better sides. perhaps not belgium if martinez does play his second string but a front three of hazard, lukaku and mertens would give england problems.

 

 

[carmine]

10 minutes ago, Kadilo said:

Apologies, the suggestion was for TA-A to come in for Trippier and poss Rose for Young to give his aging legs a rest. 

I think Stones has grown and looks more stable at the back than Maguire who seems to give the ball away at will. You could even see in the Panama game he can be got at when closed down quickly. Personally I would play Cahill instead of Maguire going forwards but that ain’t gonna happen in Southgate world. 

Ah right, makes sense.  Maguire look out of his depth, which is very concerning

[Kadilo]

Just now, carmine said:

Ah right, makes sense.  Maguire look scout of his depth, which is very concerning

Southgate likes him, he’s one of his specials.

[carmine]

9 minutes ago, StevieH said:

there's a lot of responsibility on henderson in that formation and i still think that a back 3 will be exposed and got at by better sides. perhaps not belgium if martinez does play his second string but a front three of hazard, lukaku and mertens would give england problems.

 

 

 

I can't see him being able to play a back three, more a 4231 with a very defense minded double pivot to give as much time as possible and more protection to the back four.  

[carmine]

1 minute ago, Kadilo said:

Southgate likes him, he’s one of his specials.

Oh well, hey ho.  

[StevieH]

4 minutes ago, carmine said:

 

I can't see him being able to play a back three, more a 4231 with a very defense minded double pivot to give as much time and protection to the back four.  

 

that would make sense against better, ball-hogging sides with better attacks. but he's supposedly wedded to his 3 at the back thing and isn't for changing. 

 

to be honest though england's pace in attack looks like it could give them a chance against just about anyone so far, particularly when it comes to knockout matches.

[carmine]

1 minute ago, StevieH said:

 

that would make sense against better, ball-hogging sides with better attacks. but he's supposedly wedded to his 3 at the back thing and isn't for changing. 

 

to be honest though england's pace in attack looks like it could give them a chance against just about anyone so far, particularly when it comes to knockout matches.

I can see us scoring against anyone but its the conceding that worries me.  Those three do not have the pure defensive attributes to make a back three.

 

At Spurs, we were doing it with Alderweirald and Vertonghen who have played 257 games together, and are both superior defensively to any English center back.  

[StevieH]

1 minute ago, carmine said:

I can see us scoring against anyone but its the conceding that worries me.  Those three do not have the pure defensive attributes to make a back three.

 

At Spurs, we were doing it with Alderweirald and Vertonghen who have played 257 games together, and are both superior defensively to any English center back.  

 

yeah it ain't exactly bonucci, chiellini and barzagli is it.