A new golden generation for England?



Excellent article in my opinion.

As ever, an exercise in box-ticking from the FA is likely to undo all the hard-earned results from the Premier League's Elite Player Performance Plan that we are just starting to see. Increasing squad quotas for homegrown players will only lead to an increase in homegrown players "making up numbers" on benches and lessen the quality of the league for the ones that do play.
 
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Jim Reaper said:
Play Trent and rice as double pivot with a number 8/10 hybrid Infront.
Kane
Sterling Grealish Sancho
Rice Trent
Chilwell. AWB
Maguire Gomez
Henderson

Every player has a good backup

Kane - Rashford
Sancho - Greenwood
Sterling - Saka
Grealish/Maddison - Mount - Foden - Barkley
Rice - Winks
Trent - Dier - Choudhury - Loftus
Chilwell - Shaw
AWB - James - Aarons
Maguire - Tomori/Godfrey
Gomez - Stones
Henderson - Butland - Pickford

That's without ox/Henderson/Alli who will have a shot at next tournament and also without prospects like Garner/Bellingham amongst others. The future is bright.
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Sensible post, until I see Butland there :lol:
 
Web of Bissaka said:
Heard this quite often over the years. Time for them to really mean it.

Attacking and FBs are the best parts.

Midfield and CBs are still issues.
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Trent and Rice as a double pivot with a hybrid 8/10 in front will work very well. We have loads of cover at RB and Trent is more than capable of playing in the centre.

Also...CB, Maguire and Gomez is potentially great. Maguire will perform very well with pace alongside him.
 
Could this young lad Phillips in the Leeds midfield be the answer to Englands midfield question? I haven't seen more than a 4 or 5 games and he seems to go off his feet a little to easily for my liking, but in fairness to the lad it is very effective and his passing is very tidy. It will be interesting to see how he gets on in the Premier League next season because that is the one glaring area of the pitch that needs addressing if England are going to challenge for major trophies.

Keeper, fullback, attacking midfield, wingers and up top all look very, very strong.
 
Jim Reaper said:
I personally think butland is a good third choice keeper. Either him or pope
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No kidding. Butland is making howlers after howlers with Stoke in the Championship, and he has turned from hero to zero among their fans. Pope, on the other hand, is now one of the best keepers in the top tier. To me he should be England's no. 1 ahead of Pickford or Henderson.
 
hmchan said:
No kidding. Butland is making howlers after howlers with Stoke in the Championship, and he has turned from hero to zero among their fans. Pope, on the other hand, is now one of the best keepers in the top tier. To me he should be England's no. 1 ahead of Pickford or Henderson.
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Henderson should be no 1. Pope and Pickford can fight it out for no 2
 
The_Midfielder said:
How does England compare with Spain, Argentina, France, Germany?
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If you consider youngsters = 23 and under, its pretty even with brazil

GK (Alisson starts probably for next 10 years so its irrelevant)

Dodo (Shakhtar)
Gabriel (Lille)
Militão (Madrid)
Lodi (Atleti)

B.Guimarães (Lyon)
Arthur (Juve)
Vinicius (Madrid)
Rodrygo (Madrid)

Martinelli (Arsenal)
Jesus (City)

These are more known in europe although there are ones that will be known soon like Tetê (Shakhtar), Cunha (Hertha), Couto (City), Reinier (Madrid), Talles Magno, Matheus Henrique, Jean Pyerre who all play in brazil, also Richarlison and Douglas Luiz at Premier League are under 23

Edit : just noticed you didn't ask about Brazil :lol:
 
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Henderson
TAA/AWB Gomez Maguire Chilwell
Rice Foden
Sancho Sterling* Rashford
Greenwood

*Foresee him becoming a top AM as he ages as loses his raw pace. He’s already got the passing, dribbling and shooting needed.

This team is a World Cup winning team if i’ve ever seen one. When they enter their respective primes, hopefully simultaneously, they will all be world class, topped off with Maguire and TAA’s experience at the back. 2026 will be when football comes home for me. Win it in the States.
 
RashyForPM said:
Henderson
TAA/AWB Gomez Maguire Chilwell
Rice Foden
Sancho Sterling* Rashford
Greenwood

*Foresee him becoming a top AM as he ages as loses his raw pace. He’s already got the passing, dribbling and shooting needed.

This team is a World Cup winning team if i’ve ever seen one. When they enter their respective primes, hopefully simultaneously, they will all be world class, topped off with Maguire and TAA’s experience at the back. 2026 will be when football comes home for me. Win it in the States.
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Hmm when have i read stuff like this about an England side before... Hmmm...... They will all be world class will they? I guess the other sides just might as well not turn up. All without Kane too?
 
balaks said:
Hmm when have i read stuff like this about an England side before... Hmmm...... They will all be world class will they? I guess the other sides just might as well not turn up. All without Kane too?
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For me the major difference between that lineup and so many we've seen in the past is those players are all already performing well in the PL, it's not a load of youth team players who haven't made the step up yet.

There will be bumps in the road and players will come out of nowhere and ones who everyone expected to be great fall away, but the future looks extremely promising.
 
The_Midfielder said:
How does England compare with Spain, Argentina, France, Germany?
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France are stacked. Germany have some good youth and Argentina and Spain are lagging behind.

I would say England and France are quite close although France edge it probably.

Tier 1: France and England
Tier 2: Italy Germany, Spain, Argentina, Brazil
Tier 3: Portugal

Something along those lines but this is all potential some will reach it and some won't so it could change
 
balaks said:
Hmm when have i read stuff like this about an England side before... Hmmm...... They will all be world class will they? I guess the other sides just might as well not turn up. All without Kane too?
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You know full well Kane will be surpassed by Greenwood by the time the former is 33 and the latter 24. It’s just how it’s going to be, look at Mason now at 18 for proof of that.
 
RashyForPM said:
You know full well Kane will be surpassed by Greenwood by the time the former is 33 and the latter 24. It’s just how it’s going to be, look at Mason now at 18 for proof of that.
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I don't know that at all and neither do you. The amount of 'wonder kids' who looked amazing at 17-19 who then faded into nothing is enormous. Not saying that will happen with Greenwood at all but it is not guaranteed that many of these young players will amount to much. Injuries, loss of form/confidence, pressures outside of football all can derail a promising career.
 
Jim Reaper said:
Henderson should be no 1. Pope and Pickford can fight it out for no 2
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Pope is more consistent and reliable this season, and he deserves to be no. 1 with his performance at Burnley. Henderson, despite I like him so much (I said he should replace de Gea a few months back), still has some flaws in his game and he has to further prove himself to Southgate. Starting at United would definitely help him but I don't see it happen after Ole handed the ridiculous contract to de Gea.
 
paraguayo said:
If you consider youngsters = 23 and under, its pretty even with brazil

GK (Alisson starts probably for next 10 years so its irrelevant)

Dodo (Shakhtar)
Gabriel (Lille)
Militão (Madrid)
Lodi (Atleti)

B.Guimarães (Lyon)
Arthur (Juve)
Vinicius (Madrid)
Rodrygo (Madrid)

Martinelli (Arsenal)
Jesus (City)

These are more known in europe although there are ones that will be known soon like Tetê (Shakhtar), Cunha (Hertha), Couto (City), Reinier (Madrid), Talles Magno, Matheus Henrique, Jean Pyerre who all play in brazil, also Richarlison and Douglas Luiz at Premier League are under 23

Edit : just noticed you didn't ask about Brazil :lol:
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I haven't watched everyone of them but for those I've seen, only Lodi and Martinelli look promising. Militao, Arthur and Rodrygo haven't fulfilled their potential so far. Jesus is hugely overrated.
 
Interested what the midfield will be next year at the euros. Would love Southgate to go full maverick and have Foden and Grealish starting. England need tempo and ball carrying rather than all the endless pace that can be easily nulified by smart defences.

It certainly should have better options in that area than 2018 which was Henderson, Dier, Delph etc.
 
RashyForPM said:
Henderson
TAA/AWB Gomez Maguire Chilwell
Rice Foden
Sancho Sterling* Rashford
Greenwood

*Foresee him becoming a top AM as he ages as loses his raw pace. He’s already got the passing, dribbling and shooting needed.

This team is a World Cup winning team if i’ve ever seen one. When they enter their respective primes, hopefully simultaneously, they will all be world class, topped off with Maguire and TAA’s experience at the back. 2026 will be when football comes home for me. Win it in the States.
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Not sure why you're trying to shoehorn AWB in there, Southgate doesn't seem to rate him and even a fair number United fans want that Laird kid to upsurb him at club level.

There's also no chance a world cup is won playing 4-2-3-1, we'd fall victim to the same trick that buggered the 00's side, the top continental sides would pack their midfield with technical players and totally dictate the game.
 
hmchan said:
I haven't watched everyone of them but for those I've seen, only Lodi and Martinelli look promising. Militao, Arthur and Rodrygo haven't fulfilled their potential so far. Jesus is hugely overrated.
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Militao had a incredible season at Porto and now is mostly on the bench but did well enough, Rodrygo still is 18 you need to wait a bit. Arthur I agree, I could have put other players but he will grow in Juve. Jesus can be overrated but he still scored 22 goals this season
 
Jim Reaper said:
France are stacked. Germany have some good youth and Argentina and Spain are lagging behind.

I would say England and France are quite close although France edge it probably.

Tier 1: France and England
Tier 2: Italy Germany, Spain, Argentina, Brazil
Tier 3: Portugal

Something along those lines but this is all potential some will reach it and some won't so it could change
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Think I agree with this. France seem to produce extremely talented players compared to talented Spanish players that are consistently produced, but not to what France has done. For example, there is nobody who is as athletic as Mbappe is. Nobody who is as technical as Cherki is, who is a step above from the already technically skilled attacking midfielders every nation is producing. Reminds me of Brazil with Ronaldo and Ronaldinho. Like there is just something extra given to a certain quality to make them stand above the normal technical player.

I would have included Dembele in that, but he needs to get back on track. Extremely two footed with dribbling ability. Camavinga looks to be that for a defensive midfielder.

Having said that, this kind of thing doesn't guarantee a better producing player. So take it with a grain of salt.
 
France have an excellent team but I can't help but feel they get a little overrated in their depth because their national league is a lot weaker than the likes of Spain, England, Italy, Germany so the quality to star (and debut) in it is massively reduced. Obviously they have plenty outside the French league as well but a lot of the depth people talk about has previously been massively overrating the likes of Thomas Lemar and Nabil Fekir who showed that actually they aren't particularly great players when they stepped up to a better league.

I mean everyone was talking up how incredible a player Ndombele was.....then he moves to the premier and you see he's a pretty technically talented but by no means particularly notable centre mid who's fitness levels are shocking.
 
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It’s an incredible generation, been following football for 30 years and this is potentially the best England team I’ve seen. But compared to England teams of 1990 and the early 2000’s, the global competition has dropped way off. Those other generations had to compete with some of the greatest from Brazil, Italy, Netherlands, France, and so on. England had brilliant teams but they still weren’t the best. This team now is a different story, it’s well capable of competing (on paper at least).
 
The biggest question mark of the current breakthrough of English players is the midfield. For me, they need some steel in the middle of the park and I'm still unconvinced by Declan Rice and think he is a tad overrated, but may well be proved wrong.

They've got plenty of attacking talent in the centre with Grealish/Maddison/Foden but defensively they really only have Rice that's on his way through.
 
Couple of great goals in The Championship yesterday by young England players to keep an eye on.

Ben White for Leeds, a modern centre back. Belongs to Brighton.



Rhian Brewster for Swansea to get them in the playoffs. Has done quite decent in his first spell in senior football after two years injured.

 
Wheels slammed on the break then.

Surely the main worry is how few goals England score from open play against good defences? Was a big problem in the World cup and remains one over two years on.

Probably England's best 45 minutes under Southgate was Spain away and you obviously had Jordi Alba and whoever was playing RB bombing forward at every chance so left loads of space and Sterling and Rashford exploited that.

Think I said it this time last week you can have all the pace in the world in the final third but if teams are just low block defending it's very difficult to break through.

Need far more guile and invention in the central area but Southgate still prefers runners and workhorses by the looks of things, you need a balance there.
 
Really weird tactics from Southgate. He should be nurturing our excellent attacking prospects, not completely isolating them with an ultra defensive team against fecking Denmark of all teams.

I do hope we don't ruin another promising generation with inept management.
 
Another golden generation is going to be failed by terrible management.

Imagine fielding 2 DM’s & 5 defenders against Denmark. What the feck was he thinking?
 
Raw said:
Really weird tactics from Southgate. He should be nurturing our excellent attacking prospects, not completely isolating them with an ultra defensive team against fecking Denmark of all teams.

I do hope we don't ruin another promising generation with inept management.
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You are stacked with attackers but you have serious problems in midfield and defence.
 
Raw said:
Really weird tactics from Southgate. He should be nurturing our excellent attacking prospects, not completely isolating them with an ultra defensive team against fecking Denmark of all teams.

I do hope we don't ruin another promising generation with inept management.
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Looks like it's going that way (yet again).
 
Against good/great teams

Henderson
Trent Gomez Maguire Chilwell
Rice Henderson
Sancho Grealish Sterling
Kane

against shit/average teams

Henderson
Trent Gomez Maguire Chilwell
Henderson
Maddison Grealish
Sancho Kane Sterling​

It’s not that hard.
 
alexthelion said:
Looks like it's going that way (yet again).
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You guys seriously overrate your players though. You do have a few talented players coming through that could become very good but there are too many average players in key positions to actually do much against the really top sides.
 
If we're being honest, Southgate just plays a really, really shit brand of football.
 
balaks said:
You guys seriously overrate your players though. You do have a few talented players coming through that could become very good but there are too many average players in key positions to actually do much against the really top sides.
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Foden, Greenwood, Saka, James, etc. England have plenty of top youngsters. All get games at top clubs too.

We seem to have a plethora of options at full backs, attacking midfield & out wide. There doesn’t seem to be many centre backs & defensive/central midfielders coming through though.
 
The 3-4-3 doesn’t suit the squad. Need to get more creativity into the midfield.

I’d be tempted to drop Kane too. Won’t happen but I think England would benefit from a more fluid front 3.

Henderson
Trent - Maguire - Gomez - Chilwell
Sancho - Henderson - Rice - Sterling
Rashford - Kane
​
 
Jim Reaper said:
France are stacked. Germany have some good youth and Argentina and Spain are lagging behind.

I would say England and France are quite close although France edge it probably.

Tier 1: France and England
Tier 2: Italy Germany, Spain, Argentina, Brazil
Tier 3: Portugal

Something along those lines but this is all potential some will reach it and some won't so it could change
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Can you explain why England tier 1 compared to Brasil tier 2 and Portugal 3? Argentina in the same tier as Brasil, ahead of Portugal? I doubt Argentina is producing more talent than Uruguay, let alone Brasil and even compared with Portugal is really doubtful. Not saying England doesn’t have quality but there’s nothing that proves they are on the same level as France, and even more laughable to say England is producing more quality players than Spain. The last 2 UEFA under 21 Euros didn’t show nothing like that. But hey I must be watching another sport.
 
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