England Euro 2024 Squad and Discussion

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Gareth Southgate: "Alexander-Arnold? He's had some moments where he's delivered what we thought he would. We know it's an experiment." "We know we don't have a natural replacement for Kalvin Philips. We're trying different things." (BBC) #EURO2024


Gareth are you okay?
 
Only positive to take from that is surely the performances can’t get any worse?

His persistence to stick with Trent in midfield is mind boggling, everybody else can see it so why can’t he?
 
TheGame said:
Nah I would keep Walker at RB, thought he was fine.
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Doesn't offer any sort of progression/creativity. He's fine in a cohesive system where he can just make simple passes, occassional crosses, and then defend wide areas like a demon. But at this point just save him for if you have to run into France and see how Trent does at his natural spot. Because right now you just went through an entire 90 minutes struggling to get anything on target against Denmark
 
The line up in the next game will be unchanged and the first substitution will be Gallagher in for TAA. Make like a Tory and head to the bookies with this knowledge and count your money.
 
Another generation of good English players wasted by an utter clown of a manager.
 
Trying to fit square pegs into round holes that don’t play that way week in week out and with completely different players, is totally hatstand.
Southgate should be sacked right now so we have a remote chance
 
Malons said:
The line up in the next game will be unchanged and the first substitution will be Gallagher in for TAA. Make like a Tory and head to the bookies with this knowledge and count your money.
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What he’s absolutely terrified of is giving the media and fans what they are begging for in case it works. When/if he tried Palmer or Mainoo it will be on his terms so he can tell us in his infinite wisdom that they are young players and only he knows how to use them correctly.
 
He’s been England’s coach for nearly a decade. It’s an outrage.
 
waza7111 said:
England's players look absolutely knackered compared to the other top teams. Like they can't be bothered to run.
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They look knackered because their use of the ball has been the worst in the tournament, which gives them no rest in or out of possession, so to make up for it, all they are doing is running around like headless chickens without pause. That is ruinous and absolutely exhausting.
 
TheGame said:
It's quite amazing how other teams can fit players in a system like Germany but we have to drop everyone to make it work. We could start with playing a decent partner for Rice and an actual LB who can get forward to make use of Foden coming inside but we haven't brought on apart from an injured player. Then press as a team and it would make a big difference. We can't even do the basics nevermind the lineup.
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Not having a proper LB when you intend to play Foden on the LW is just incompetent. Relying on Shaw is just strange and unnecessary, the other options might not be world beaters but having some balance and someone to overlap would make a big difference.
 
Palmer and Mainoo will be given their chance at 119 minutes as we head into penalties in the Round of 16.

Seriously, though, even Southgate can’t be so tone deaf as to not adjust the selection for the Slovenia game?
 
Fortitude said:
They look knackered because their use of the ball has been the worst in the tournament, which gives them no rest in or out of possession, so to make up for it, all they are doing is running around like headless chickens without pause. That is ruinous and absolutely exhausting.
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Sounds like another team we all know and love
 
Liver_bird said:
Trent is not a traditional midfielder and never has been. So pointless trying that out for the first time in the run up to a major international tournament. Just play him at right back and you can play someone with some actual in behind threat on the wing. Foden in the 10 and ask Bellingham to be the 8, one of those two need to make that sacrifice and I’d bet on Jude being better there than whatever the hell foden is doing on the left.

Why Gallagher is the first change over Wharton and Mainoo is baffling too. His qualities are not suited to being in a disciplined two. I’d stick Gomez at left back too. Will offer nothing going forwards but at least you’ll have a solid defensive player as opposed to whatever trippier is supposed to be doing there. It would mean dropping walker which I know he’s loathe to do, but at least it’s a side that mostly has its best players in their best positions.

It’s a fools errand though we’ve got some of the most talented players in the world who’ve won leagues and CL’s playing in front of their own box. Worlds away from teams like Germany and Spain and even the lesser teams who all press high and give it a go. Appalling setup and structure. Tactically Southgate has no clue. His best tournament was when he could make the very simple alteration of using Rashfords pace off the bench to give Kane a runner other than sterling. It’s all a mismatch and the manager is being found wanting at this level. Not that we didn’t know that.

We might get lucky and make the quarters but we’ll be found out sooner or later.
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Completely agree.

It's like Southgate thinks he's smarter than Klopp. If Trent was a midfielder doesn't Southgate think Klopp would have figured it out and not just resorted to it when every Liverpool midfielder and their dog was injured?

Southgate is useless as a tactician. We have an issue controlling possession, and our defenders have nobody to give the ball to, so he brings on Gallagher. People like Southgate explain why Michael Carrick had no real England career.

I just remember Xabi Alonso talking about Carrick and thinking I wish the England team feel this way about possession midfielders.

Wouldn't be surprised to see us lose to Slovenia.
 
Roboc7 said:
Not having a proper LB when you intend to play Foden on the LW is just incompetent. Relying on Shaw is just strange and unnecessary, the other options might not be world beaters but having some balance and someone to overlap would make a big difference.
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England have to be comically easy to defend against for these teams. Just shade everything towards the right side of the pitch, and then press high and pack the middle.
 
Resonance said:
Only positive to take from that is surely the performances can’t get any worse?

His persistence to stick with Trent in midfield is mind boggling, everybody else can see it so why can’t he?
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I thought that on Sunday and then we've just been served whatever that was this evening...
 
Bellingham is unfit btw. Should drop him from the squad, send him on holidays to recover
 
Well that was gash. No midfield presence. TAA is midfield doesn’t work, Foden on the left doesn’t work. Stick a proper midfielder and winger in there.
 
With Kanté back to form we can surely lend you Cama or Tchouaméni for the remainder of the competition. Not sure they are as good as Ballon d'Or contender Kalvin Phillips though.
 
Should've took Doughty until Shaw is fit. Before the squad was announced I wanted Bellingham+Rice with Foden, Palmer + Saka in front of them and to attack like a City/Liverpoo/Arsenal would.

You cannot have Foden playing LW without an attacking LB overlapping and it's even worse when one of the worst attacking fullbacks at top level is on the other side in Walker.

Against the bigger sides you can drop Saka or Palmer if needed for Mainoo and push Bellingham further forward.
 
reddev3 said:
Should've took Doughty until Shaw is fit. Before the squad was announced I wanted Bellingham+Rice with Foden, Palmer + Saka in front of them and to attack like a City/Liverpoo/Arsenal would.

You cannot have Foden playing LW without an attacking LB overlapping and it's even worse when one of the worst attacking fullbacks at top level is on the other side in Walker.

Against the bigger sides you can drop Saka or Palmer if needed for Mainoo and push Bellingham further forward.
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That's what I was saying before the squad was announced.

Walker--Stones--Guehi
Trent--Bellingham--Rice--Doughty
Saka--Kane--Foden​
Would have worked a lot better I think
 
Southgates post match interview was telling that he thinks we're missing Phillips, he has to go regardless of what happens at this Euros, although all the early signs are it wont be a winning tournament.

TAA cant play CM, Foden isnt disciplined enough to play LW and pair that with the lack of an overlapping Left back and you're left with a seriously unbalanced team. Kane keeps dropping deep but its ineffective with no real attacking full backs and 2 wingers who most of the time want ball to feet and look to come inside.

I don't think dropping Trent will matter because he obviously fancies gallagher next for that CM and whilst he will give energy to the midfield, he won't to anything to improve ball progression or retention which is baffling when you have the likes of mainoo and wharton sat on the bench getting little to no minutes on the pitch.

Foden looked fairly dangerous in central areas tonight and if there is an insistance that he has to play both Foden and Bellingham then he needs to move Bellingham into the 8 role and have Foden play as a 10, then he can play Gordon and the team will have some semblance of a workable shape.

If shaw isnt fit anytime soon then the gamble on him looks like a really poor decision as it really limits our threat down that side, especially with a LW who has no intention of playing anything like a winger.
 
Fortitude said:
They look knackered because their use of the ball has been the worst in the tournament, which gives them no rest in or out of possession, so to make up for it, all they are doing is running around like headless chickens without pause. That is ruinous and absolutely exhausting.
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I've not seen us do much in the way of any running at all. We looked dead in that game, absolutely dead. I've only watched 10 mins of the Spain v Italy game and it's night and day the pace it's been played at.
 
Valencia Shin Crosses said:
England have to be comically easy to defend against for these teams. Just shade everything towards the right side of the pitch, and then press high and pack the middle.
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Exactly it just makes it way too easy for the opposition. But we shouldn’t be surprised as we have a manager who is bemoaning not having Kalvin Phillips despite having loads of options at his disposal.
 
reddev3 said:
Should've took Doughty until Shaw is fit. Before the squad was announced I wanted Bellingham+Rice with Foden, Palmer + Saka in front of them and to attack like a City/Liverpoo/Arsenal would.

You cannot have Foden playing LW without an attacking LB overlapping and it's even worse when one of the worst attacking fullbacks at top level is on the other side in Walker.

Against the bigger sides you can drop Saka or Palmer if needed for Mainoo and push Bellingham further forward.
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Trippier and Foden together is madness. You're just giving up the left side completely, not only in attack but also with ball progression. Trippier isn't a threat to carry the ball forward, when the ball gets swung out to him Foden isn't even in front of him half the time. A big reason its so hard for England to progress the ball and it always seems like there aren't any options when passing from deep is that opposing sides don't really need to defend the full width of the pitch.
 
I can’t for the life of me understand Mainoo not coming on when Gallagher did, Bowen over Palmer or Eze over Gordon.

Hes clueless.
 
waza7111 said:
England's players look absolutely knackered compared to the other top teams. Like they can't be bothered to run.
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I bet that's mental. Like they're concentrating so hard on 'not losing' that they just pass the ball safely around, always focusing on keeping things tight or not being too risky. There wasn't anything particularly impressive about the way they were pressing or closing the opponents down to justify being that tired in the second tournament game, especially after how average they were in the first game. Concentrating hard does expend energy, in a different kind of way. The players are overthinking it, and that's because the manager is overthinking it and not keeping it simple.

It doesn't look very fluid when you watch them play. Everything looks like a struggle. Too many touches, too much time in between passes, no runs in behind, no overall awareness of what's going on around them. No dominance or authority when they have the ball. Denmark looked more in control than we did.
 
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