England Euro 2024 Squad and Discussion

Status
Not open for further replies.
Fortitude said:
Rice-Mainoo-Bellingham

Rice-Bellingham-Foden

Wharton-Rice-Bellingham

Rice-Bellingham-Palmer

(I don’t see a point to any midfield involving Gallagher as he’s not good enough for this level)

England have options that all look to be amongst the best in the competition at one thing or another, just that Southgate hasn’t a clue and hasn’t style by which he has any conviction; you have midfields for various kinds of styles and managers there, but they would know exactly what they want to do with their selection and have 100% conviction in it, with no dithering and no doubt.

Southgate will collapse in on himself at the first hint of trouble or pressure in-game, rendering various midfields a redundancy as they resort to panicked hoofball because they’ve not been given solid instructions or plans for continuity.
Click to expand...
I think all those combinations are decent and not really much better. Compared to the top 5 ish teams we are lacking.
 
Hammondo said:
I think we have an unbalanced midfield that lacks in some areas.
Click to expand...

It’s not the best set of midfielders in the competition but it should be enough to outplay England’s three group stage opponents. That’s the current focus, not whether we can go toe to toe with Toni Kroos.
 
MoskvaRed said:
It’s not the best set of midfielders in the competition but it should be enough to outplay England’s three group stage opponents. That’s the current focus, not whether we can go toe to toe with Toni Kroos.
Click to expand...
Very true, if we balance it better than yesterday.
 
Hammondo said:
Literally our weakest. Rice no, foden is not central midfield, Wharton maybe but hasn't shown it well, Mainoo very good in some ways but needs to develop his passing. Compared to other top nations we are lacking.
Click to expand...
This is such a weird take. Our only real area of weakness is out and out DM, Rice is good there but he’s better when he can come forward. In terms of technical ability and passing we’ve got a great group.
 
tomaldinho1 said:
This is such a weird take. Our only real area of weakness is out and out DM, Rice is good there but he’s better when he can come forward. In terms of technical ability and passing we’ve got a great group.
Click to expand...
We have 0 stand out passers.
 
Hammondo said:
We have 0 stand out passers.
Click to expand...

The obvious answer is to play TAA at RB to cover for this. Play either Mainoo or Wharton next to Rice with Bellingham ahead, and a runner on that LW instead of Foden (I'd go with Gordon). If Shaw comes back you can retry the Foden on LW experiment but for now there has to be an outlet on that left side to provide some width and off the ball running since Kane won't do it.
 
Valencia Shin Crosses said:
The obvious answer is to play TAA at RB to cover for this. Play either Mainoo or Wharton next to Rice with Bellingham ahead, and a runner on that LW instead of Foden (I'd go with Gordon). If Shaw comes back you can retry the Foden on LW experiment but for now there has to be an outlet on that left side to provide some width and off the ball running since Kane won't do it.
Click to expand...

Correct
 
Josh 76 said:
England have been crying out for a player who can keep the ball for years. We finally have one, now they are saying he's not this and that. That's the problem with England fans and media. They want a Premier league team to play international football. That's why players like Trent and Foden are getting in the team. It simply won't work.

Mainoo should be the first player on the team sheet. Rice and Bellingham can't be dropped. Kane won't be dropped. Saka picks himself. So that leaves one place in the team. That player should be Gordon. He will give balance to this team and get the best out of everyone else.
Click to expand...

mainoo first player on the team sheet? What?
 
The Purley King said:
You are massively underrating mainoo’s ability to pass between the lines.
I haven’t seen as much of Wharton but from what I have seen he always looks to pass it forward.
Click to expand...
I think mainoo will develop into a great passer, at least that's how I would want him, but I don't see it yet.
 
tomaldinho1 said:
If your benchmark is a midfield of Modric, Kroos and Xavi then sure, if you live in reality we have more than enough ability in that dept
Click to expand...
But we don't, they all play for teams where other players are the stand out passers.
 
Hammondo said:
But we don't, they all play for teams where other players are the stand out passers.
Click to expand...
What do you actually mean by passing? As in really long range cross field balls? Because otherwise you just haven’t watched any of these guys play.
 
Passing is such an all encompassing term that needs context.

you have the long passing maestros like Pirlo, Scholes, Alonso, Kroos etc

then you have the guys who never do those but are exceptional at those 8 yard weighted through balls that cut a defence open. Like Bernardo silva, de bruyne, iniesta, mata etc

every now and then you get a combination who can do both exceptionally like modric, xavi and zidane
 
England have lots of guys who can do the latter well (short medium through balls) but they dont really have a long range sprayer.
 
Powderfinger said:
I don't mind TAA in midfield in theory. International football is not a press heavy game and the team could really benefit from having that quality passer from deep. But if you're going to make that kind of move, the rest of the side needs to fit. You need runners in the front line (or else what's the point of having a deep lying player with such a quality passing range) and you need to have a tactic that involves dropping Trent into the backline in possession to get on the ball when facing the field. Germany pushes its two fullbacks forward, drops Kroos into a back three, and then he looks up and can use his passing range. England just played Trent like a bog standard midfielder, often receiving with his back to goal and in congested spaces, and that's just a recipe for disaster.

This is Southgate's problem in a nutshell. He has some ideas about how to tweak things, but is too much of a coward to actually follow through with the logical implications for the rest of the team.

Unfortunately, the options for truly changing the side are limited by Southgate's selections and his marginalization of White. By leaving out Rashford he has nobody to stretch the play, he somehow picked zero fit left backs so there is nobody to really provide width over there except maybe Gordon, and he has committed to an aging RB who can't invert or overlap effectively. Basically, he committed to getting nothing in attack out of both his fullbacks and to having a front line that almost exclusively wants the ball to feet. He can swap out TAA for Mainoo or Wharton but those limitations will still exist.

I think given those limitations the best idea would probably be Palmer and Bellingham as twin 8s and Gordon LW. Four stay at home defenders shielded by Rice, two wingers to provide width and stretch the play, then hope its enough of a platform for those central players to create some magic. If you struggle to progress the ball, push Bellingham and Kane close together and play long to them.
Click to expand...
I don't think TAA is having good ability to control the ball when under pressure. Yes he is a good passer but he need space and time to make his ability into good effect.

Playing as right back is one thing but playing as CM near your own edge of the box totally different especially opposition have two three players closing you down near your box.

Agreed with you to play 4-3-3 with rice as a holding midfielder with two 8s but foden or palmer anyone okay for me alongside Jude.
 
tomaldinho1 said:
What do you actually mean by passing? As in really long range cross field balls? Because otherwise you just haven’t watched any of these guys play.
Click to expand...
No I'm not concerned by long passes, I believe short passes are a lot more important. The ability to quickly and accurately move the ball with short passes that are intelligent choices. Some medium passes as well are crucial on top of that.
 
AfonsoAlves said:
mainoo first player on the team sheet? What?
Click to expand...

He's right. Mainoo would win us the competition if he got in sync with Bellingham. Foden will never be any good without Pep telling him when to take a shit via remote control. Southgate needs to get a clue.
 
Don’t get the Trent in midfield thing, not so long ago he wasn’t even getting in the squad. Looks like Southgate has buckled under the pressure. Mainoo, Wharton even someone like Longstaff are far better suited
 
Personally our best team is

Pickford
Any left footed LB - Stones - Konsa - Walker

Rice - Gallagher/Mainoo - Bellingham

Saka - Kane - Grealish
​
The problem with Southgate is he has no idea what a strong team looks like or how to make good subs. Trippier after the season he's had?
Dropping Grealish, who offers something no one else does on the LW? Picking Gordon I can understand as I've long rated him, but Eze? 4 England caps and injured for half the season for Palace? Mainoo looked good in the England games he's played, suddenly he goes with TAA? The man is getting heavily carried by a great squad.. which covers up just how put of his depth he is.
 
Zoo said:
Don’t get the Trent in midfield thing, not so long ago he wasn’t even getting in the squad. Looks like Southgate has buckled under the pressure. Mainoo, Wharton even someone like Longstaff are far better suited
Click to expand...

Southgate suffers from the same mental breakdown as previous England managers...the pressure to play big names regardless of whether doing so undermines cohesion.
 
lex talionis said:
Southgate suffers from the same mental breakdown as previous England managers...the pressure to play big names regardless of whether doing so undermines cohesion.
Click to expand...

Sad because this is pretty easily the best chance England have for winning a major tourney, and it's not like benching big names means you are never allowed to sub them on.

Honestly I think England fans would understand more if he DID bench big names because at least it would show some balls to make a tough decision instead of just repeating the same mistakes that England managers have done for years.
 
antohan said:
"We play a game called (were)wolf and that's the face of a member of staff when he doesn't know what is going on"
images


Next up: the face of a member of staff when he doesn't know that he doesn't know what is going on
1711544409042_1909295e-a85c-4b14-8449-2e2d4c0eb0da.jpg
Click to expand...

Can’t beat a bit of Werewolf
 
Valencia Shin Crosses said:
Sad because this is pretty easily the best chance England have for winning a major tourney, and it's not like benching big names means you are never allowed to sub them on.

Honestly I think England fans would understand more if he DID bench big names because at least it would show some balls to make a tough decision instead of just repeating the same mistakes that England managers have done for years.
Click to expand...

I think last time out was our best chance. Defence feels less solid this time around. Attacking talent is fantastic but we’ll be found out against the better teams I reckon
 
Hammondo said:
No I'm not concerned by long passes, I believe short passes are a lot more important. The ability to quickly and accurately move the ball with short passes that are intelligent choices. Some medium passes as well are crucial on top of that.
Click to expand...
So I go back to it being a weird take, we have a lot of players who are excellent at that.
 
UnofficialDevil said:
Mount, Maddison, Grealish, Maguire, roughly 400m spent on those players and none of them are in Euro 2024. Weird.
Click to expand...

Maguire is injured, isn’t he? And Mount has played about 20 minutes for United. Maddison and particularly Grealish are closer calls but neither has made a convincing case.
 
MoskvaRed said:
Maguire is injured, isn’t he? And Mount has played about 20 minutes for United. Maddison and particularly Grealish are closer calls but neither has made a convincing case.
Click to expand...
I know, but if you add Rashford that's five players that if were on form would completely change the game for England. Big loss for this tournament.
 
StuCol said:
I think last time out was our best chance. Defence feels less solid this time around. Attacking talent is fantastic but we’ll be found out against the better teams I reckon
Click to expand...

Let's remember Greece won the Euros. We almost won the last ones. It's a very open competition.

What you need is to be organised. What you don't need is Phil fekkin Foden and Trent Alexander Arnold stinking the place up playing out of position.
 
Guys, any recommendations for the best route to watch the Euros from Canada, all the games are being shown on TSN but I don’t have acces to that. Any advice appreciate, thanks.
 
Didn't see anything to suggest England's knockout team won't be the simplest lineup with everyone in basically the same spot they play for their club (Bellingham in his role at Dortmund):

--------------Kane-----------
Gordon-Bellingham--Saka
------Rice------Wharton-----
Shaw-Guehi-Stones--Walker
--------------Pickford-------------

If Bellingham or Saka play like a star you can win the tourney. Less variables. Guys like Foden, Trent and Palmer are good bench options who can create if you need a goal in a 2nd half.

Gordon probably isn't ready, but Grealish isn't in the team (who knows, maybe he looked meh during training, though he did play better than pretty much everyone else in the last friendly) so there's not really an obvious candidate there.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.