England - the future....

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Hoop Blah
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Re: England - the future....

by Hoop Blah » 02 Jan 2018 12:11

bcubed Out of interest why don't you like him?


He just seems to typify a lot of things I don't like about modern footballers and for a long time I've thought he looks like he rates himself far too highly.

One incident that turned me off him was when he was playing for England against Slovenia and piled in to back up Rashford and sparked a bit of a pushing match. He kept going back for more despite being pulled back by senior players and he made more of it than needed. He could easily have cost England and was warned as such publicly by Southgate.

The next day he went on social media saying how he'd always have Rashfords back.

He just strikes me as a bit of a twat.

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Re: England - the future....

by bcubed » 02 Jan 2018 13:20

Hoop Blah
bcubed Out of interest why don't you like him?


He just seems to typify a lot of things I don't like about modern footballers and for a long time I've thought he looks like he rates himself far too highly.

One incident that turned me off him was when he was playing for England against Slovenia and piled in to back up Rashford and sparked a bit of a pushing match. He kept going back for more despite being pulled back by senior players and he made more of it than needed. He could easily have cost England and was warned as such publicly by Southgate.

The next day he went on social media saying how he'd always have Rashfords back.

He just strikes me as a bit of a twat.


You could be right but if being a twat is a reason for non selection, we could be struggling to find a squad!

Personally I think he's always made an impact when playing for England and right now no one is in better form.

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Re: England - the future....

by Hoop Blah » 02 Jan 2018 14:16

bcubed You could be right but if being a twat is a reason for non selection, we could be struggling to find a squad!


True! Although, to be fair, I think the current crop seem a pretty decent bunch of honest lads. Maybe a few, like Sterling, Alli and Wilshire, haven't covered themselves in glory at times but the core of the group (Kane, Rashford, Henderson, Dier, Stones, Lallana etc) don't wind me up.

bcubed Personally I think he's always made an impact when playing for England and right now no one is in better form.


Yeah, I wouldn't argue against that. As a goalscoring midfielder he's in a great run of form.

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Re: England - the future....

by Hoop Blah » 03 Jan 2018 08:19

Hoop Blah
bcubed ...right now no one is in better form.


Yeah, I wouldn't argue against that. As a goalscoring midfielder he's in a great run of form.


On reflection, Raheem Sterling might have something to say about no one being in better form.

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Re: England - the future....

by bcubed » 09 Jan 2018 20:53

I'm sure Stones will start in the World Cup but my worries about him were apparent this evening
He was beaten for pace by Reid from Bristol City and slid across him to concede a horrible penalty

If Reid can make him look silly what chance is there against quality internationals?!


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Re: England - the future....

by double d » 09 Jan 2018 21:18

bcubed I'm sure Stones will start in the World Cup but my worries about him were apparent this evening
He was beaten for pace by Reid from Bristol City and slid across him to concede a horrible penalty

If Reid can make him look silly what chance is there against quality internationals?!


Our defence will always be a liability in big tourneys

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Re: England - the future....

by Hoop Blah » 09 Jan 2018 22:25

bcubed I'm sure Stones will start in the World Cup but my worries about him were apparent this evening
He was beaten for pace by Reid from Bristol City and slid across him to concede a horrible penalty

If Reid can make him look silly what chance is there against quality internationals?!


He's been a lot better this year from the little I've seen for City but he's probably always going to have a mistake in him to some extent or other (as do all players tbf).

I wouldn't worry too much about a mistake tonight though. He's been out for quite a while and possibly wasn't the most focused for tonight too. Judge him more on the big games against the better players when it means more and he's fully match sharp (as he hopefully should be at the World Cup).

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Re: England - the future....

by bcubed » 15 Jan 2018 14:34

Hoop Blah
bcubed I'm sure Stones will start in the World Cup but my worries about him were apparent this evening
He was beaten for pace by Reid from Bristol City and slid across him to concede a horrible penalty

If Reid can make him look silly what chance is there against quality internationals?!


He's been a lot better this year from the little I've seen for City but he's probably always going to have a mistake in him to some extent or other (as do all players tbf).

I wouldn't worry too much about a mistake tonight though. He's been out for quite a while and possibly wasn't the most focused for tonight too. Judge him more on the big games against the better players when it means more and he's fully match sharp (as he hopefully should be at the World Cup).


I hope you're right and he may not be up to full fitness yet, but next big game v City he let Firmino in and was easily out muscled

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Re: England - the future....

by Hoop Blah » 09 Mar 2018 09:23

Today marks the 100 days until England's first game of the World Cup.

I'm not really sure how the side will look with a number of players not firing on full cylinders at the moment. There are a number of players who looked nailed on a few months back who's form and fitness must be causing Southgate concerns. The likes of Lallana, Rashford, Stones, Rose, Cahill, Henderson and Alli will almost certainly be in the squad, but they're a long way off where England want them to be.

I've even read calls for Ryan Sessegnon to be in with a shout of a call up!

More questions than answers right now IMO.


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Re: England - the future....

by bcubed » 09 Mar 2018 11:39

Hoop Blah Today marks the 100 days until England's first game of the World Cup.

I'm not really sure how the side will look with a number of players not firing on full cylinders at the moment. There are a number of players who looked nailed on a few months back who's form and fitness must be causing Southgate concerns. The likes of Lallana, Rashford, Stones, Rose, Cahill, Henderson and Alli will almost certainly be in the squad, but they're a long way off where England want them to be.

I've even read calls for Ryan Sessegnon to be in with a shout of a call up!

More questions than answers right now IMO.


And add to that the now regular problem that not enough players are getting first team football.
Although I did hear someone saying that at least they won't be tired come the World Cup!

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Re: England - the future....

by Hoop Blah » 09 Mar 2018 12:59

There is some good news for Southgate as well of course.

Kane is continuing his good form and Vardy is still banging them in too. Butland, Dier, Sterling, Walker, Ashley Young, Wilshire, Lingard and Oxlade-Chamberlain are all having pretty good seasons and pushing their claims, whilst there are one or two who are emerging this year like Nick Pope and James Tarkowski at Burnley, Harry Maguire at Leicester and Gomez impressing so much in the last set of friendlies.

I happen to think there's a decent amount of English talent out there, we just always seem to expect every player in the squad to be a superstar. As per my earlier post though, Southgate probably does need a few of the players he wants to take to kick into gear a bit to avoid too many headaches.

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Re: England - the future....

by Hoop Blah » 09 Mar 2018 13:56

I doubt anyone else cares yet but...

It looks like Southgate will be going with some form of the 3-4-3, similar to that played at City and Chelsea, the World Cup. If that's the case I'm thinking those in contention of making the squad are below, with the players in bold being the ones I think will be going. Italics are players I think are close but could just be missing out, or perhaps sneaking in. Those with an * against them I think have a bit to prove to Southgate before getting in the team or squad.

Keepers
Butland, Pickford, Hart*, Hope, Forster, Heaton

Right Wing-Backs
Walker, Trippier, Clyne, Trent-Arnold, Young

Left Wing-Backs
Rose*, Bertrand, Shaw, Cresswell, Sessengnon

Centre Backs
Stones, Jones, Keane, Gomez, Maguire, Cahill, Smalling, Mawson, Tarkowski, Dunk

Central Midfielders
Dier, Henderson, Wilshire, Livermore, Drinkwater, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Delph, Winks, Ward-Prowse, Cork, Chalabah

Attacking Midfield/Wingers
Alli, Lallana*, Sterling, Lingard, Barkley*, Wellbeck, Walcott, Redmond

Centre Forwards
Kane, Vardy, Rashford, Sturridge, Defoe, Carroll, Abraham

We still look a bit light in the central midfield department so I think there's a chance someone could sneak in (perhaps that's Wilshire to be fair). On performances over the last few years it would be Drinkwater, but I think he's burnt his bridges, and Livermore's season has been a bit of a nightmare so I think Delph would be the next in the queue, with Barkley the most talented option but just hasn't played enough or, seemingly, earnt Southgates approval.

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Re: England - the future....

by Sanguine » 14 Mar 2018 11:43

double d
bcubed I'm sure Stones will start in the World Cup but my worries about him were apparent this evening
He was beaten for pace by Reid from Bristol City and slid across him to concede a horrible penalty

If Reid can make him look silly what chance is there against quality internationals?!


Our defence will always be a liability in big tourneys


Might be misremembering, but I don't remember the likes of Terry and Campbell being cause for concern.


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Re: England - the future....

by Hoop Blah » 14 Mar 2018 13:54

Squad for the Italy and Holland friendlies gets announced tomorrow.

Hopefully Southgate will call up Wilshire and start the process of getting him back into the side. It'll also be a good chance for the likes of Vardy and Rashford to stake their claim with Kane being sidelined with his ankle problem.

Centre half is probably the most interesting position at the moment. Most of those who looked in the driving seat before Christmas (Stones, Jones, Gomez and Cahill) have been struggling to hold down a position in their club sides but I'd imagine they'll all be in the squad and aren't under too much threat for their place.

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Re: England - the future....

by BR0B0T » 15 Mar 2018 00:57

Sanguine
double d
bcubed I'm sure Stones will start in the World Cup but my worries about him were apparent this evening
He was beaten for pace by Reid from Bristol City and slid across him to concede a horrible penalty

If Reid can make him look silly what chance is there against quality internationals?!


Our defence will always be a liability in big tourneys


Might be misremembering, but I don't remember the likes of Terry and Campbell being cause for concern.


Adams, Cole, GNeville, Campbell, Terry, Ledley King, Pallister, Keown, Butcher, Pearce, Walker, Parker etc

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Re: England - the future....

by BR0B0T » 15 Mar 2018 00:59

oh and...

Jimmy Armfield
Gerry Byrne
Jack Charlton
George Cohen
Norman Hunter
Bobby Moore
Ray Wilson

did alright as well

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Re: England - the future....

by bcubed » 15 Mar 2018 09:25

BR0B0T oh and...

Jimmy Armfield
Gerry Byrne
Jack Charlton
George Cohen
Norman Hunter
Bobby Moore
Ray Wilson

did alright as well


Hunter aside they were decent

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Re: England - the future....

by Sanguine » 15 Mar 2018 10:20

To turn it around, it has actually been a lack of goals scored that has hindered us at recent major tournaments - just 14 scored in our last 15 Finals game, and 3 of those were the Euro 2012 group game with Sweden.

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Re: England - the future....

by Hoop Blah » 15 Mar 2018 10:25

Agreed, our problems over the last 20 or 30 years (Euro '96 aside I guess) have been around playing with enough freedom and flair to score goals.

I still maintain that we've had the players but we've just been too scared and inhibited to do anything of any real note.

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Re: England - the future....

by bcubed » 15 Mar 2018 11:35

Personally I think it's lack of tactical nous (inability to break down well drilled defences) and lack of mental toughness ( as witnessed by the regular penalty failures) that are the biggest problems.

That and the fact that our players just aren't as good as we think they are

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