England Squad + Match Discussion (The Tuchel Era) | Jordan Henderson, Dan Burn, Kyle Walker all called up

[GoonerBear]

Trademark Nwaneri finish on his debut for the U21 last night.

 

[duffer]

Trademark Nwaneri finish on his debut for the U21 last night.

Do you think Arteta is going to play him and Saka once Saka is back?

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

Do you think Arteta is going to play him and Saka once Saka is back?

Saka was suffering a lot due to being overplayed. Could see Saka playing as a false 9 if he’s back for the end of the season.

It’s a great problem for them to have.

 

[duffer]

Saka was suffering a lot due to being overplayed. Could see Saka playing as a false 9 if he’s back for the end of the season.

It’s a great problem for them to have.

Oh for sure. Great for Arsenal no doubt.

 

[GoonerBear]

Do you think Arteta is going to play him and Saka once Saka is back?

Before Saka's injury and in pre season, Nwaneri was exclusively being used as 1 of the attacking 8's. I was actually wanting him to get some minutes on the right as well as I thought he had the skillset to play wide too, but until the Brighton game after new year Arteta didn't do that.

So he could be used to cover both Saka and Odegaard. I think he's a different player to Odegaard, he's more a 'last action' type number 10 than the playmaker Odegaard is, so will be interesting to see how things develop. Long term, I wouldn't mind seeing Odegaard moved to left 8 and Nwaneri right 8/10 as I think Nwaneri has already proven he's got a better finish than Odegaard in that right half space.

 

[DannyCAFC]

I think Saka and Bellingham are pretty nailed on and don’t see how Palmer or Foden can start since neither play off the left. I would have Palmer as the first sub to make an impact on the game.

LW could be anyone from Eze, Rashford, Gordon, Rogers etc

Agreed. I think Jude obviously can play deeper and it's tempting to play him CM to bring in Palmer/Foden at #10, but I think that's his best position and he's probably the one we should build around so give him that freedom I think.

People are often fixated on the starters but forget that they'll be plenty of minutes for players coming from the bench, especially in tournaments when you've got extra time often. I possibly wouldn't start Trent either for example as I'd prefer control and solidity for the first hour but he can 100% be very impactful from the bench in the same way Watkins won us the semi-final in the Euros and Palmer got our goal in the final.

The LW is interesting. I would think Gordon is probably the one in prime position but it's really open. Rogers looked very good yesterday so he's maybe an option even though he plays central for Villa and I'm not sure he's the absolute quickest. I also think even though he didn't make this squad Hudson-Odoi could be a darkhorse as he's one of the better options in terms of beating players 1v1 and creating chances with his dribbling. I would also say that playing Watkins off the left in some games could be a consideration - he played there plenty at Exeter and Brentford before the latter moved him to CF full-time and he'll provide a real threat running in behind.

I think whoever's selected we need to get the balance right as it was a little off yesterday, I like the idea of MLS inverting and providing extra protection in the build-up but there needs to be a bit more variety where he's also mixing in some under / overlapping runs as Rashford was often quite isolated yesterday.

 

[WeePat]

Trademark Nwaneri finish on his debut for the U21 last night.

It's mental that an 18 year old already has a trademark finish, but that really is a trademark Nwaneri finish. Almost all of his goals at senior level have that kind of left foot curler from outside the box.

 

[GoonerBear]

It's mental that an 18 year old already has a trademark finish, but that really is a trademark Nwaneri finish. Almost all of his goals at senior level have that kind of left foot curler from outside the box.

Yeah, dare I say it's almost a Robben esque type of finish where you know he's going to go inside on that left foot and bend one in but his shooting technique seems that good that there seems to be little that opponents can do about it just now.

 

[DannyCAFC]

It makes me feel physically sick to be banging the drum for a Palace player but I really hope we get to see Wharton in this midfield at some point soon.

Watching MLS last night as the starting LB invert and drop into midfield for the build-up got me thinking that with James/Trent on the other side at RB similarly adept at doing so, adopting that typical 2-3-5 system in build-up that we often see with possession-based sides these days with Wharton as the #6 could be great. Would allow Rice and Jude both license to get forward, and if there are two naturally attacking wide players also threatening in behind like Saka and Gordon it still allows Kane to drop deeper as well.

I don't mind Curtis Jones in that role as he's very technical and rarely gives the ball away, but I feel like Wharton is a more creative and better passer between the lines and a little better at the defensive work.

 

[saivet]

I think Saka and Bellingham are pretty nailed on and don’t see how Palmer or Foden can start since neither play off the left. I would have Palmer as the first sub to make an impact on the game.

LW could be anyone from Eze, Rashford, Gordon, Rogers etc

I agree on this - it's a form competition for the LW spot. It could be someone that no one is even thinking about now, if they have a strong end to this season and play well next season. As it stands, I think it will probably be Gordon who is the most likely but he will need to show what he can do in an England shirt as well during the qualifiers.