Round of 16 | England vs Slovakia | Spain vs Georgia

I'd probably be pissed off if this wasn't so utterly predictable.
 
James_42 said:
Rice looks a shell of himself, how the hell did Arsenal do so well this season when he looks so poor on the ball.
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Looks like a confidence thing. He receives the ball and never makes a turn.
 
Poor defensive moments. Fullbacks in particular.
Zero shots on target
Kane with about 5-6 touches maybe?

England :lol:

Mainoo comfortably England's best player.
 
I don't understand what Bellingham's position is supposed to be. Is he a second striker? Is he a floating ten? In which case, why does he never collect the ball?
 
The sad thing is that not many of us are surprised, especially once we saw the team sheet.

Saka off, (or to LB), Foden off (for width) and Kane off.
 
England must have about 5 bodies in the same space.

Foden coming in, Trippier coming onto his right foot, Bellingham running into the same space Foden occupies, Kane playing deep, Mainoo naturally pushing on because he has to with Declan Rice playing how he does.

This manager is utterly inept. The team needs balance.

Also Kyle Walker plays like a coward at international level. Is he a right back or a centre back playing right back?
 
Pronewbie said:
As I'd suspected.. the irony about this Slovak team is to that England would stand a better chance winning if they play adventurously down the wing but alas Southgate being Southgate may end up paying the price if he doesn't switch things up, especially with IFs.
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Literally just have to stretch the play but we’re so narrow it’s easy to defend against. Both wingers can’t take on a man and cut inside right into trouble. It’s basic stuff
 
Valencia Shin Crosses said:
I mean this front 4 so clearly doesn't work well yet he's persisted for it through 4 games now. Get Kane and Foden off, get Walker off, and honestly I'd put Wharton on for Rice but that will never happen
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Takes Watkins and Toney (who‘ll play minutes) a few RBs and Shaw at LB.

Despite a few games to see Saka and Foden aren’t at it, still won’t start Gordon and/or Palmer (who’s coming off a great season).

Overly cautious and picks ‘names’ over a balanced XI.

An awful manager.
 
Absolutely atrocious first half and you can't see England scoring unless changes are made.
 
Ekeke said:
Mainoo has played well, but England dont always play through him and when they havent its the same old slow, too many touches and too slow to pass the ball

If you're going to play Walker and Trippier as your fullbacks, Trippier should play on the right because he has good delivery. Walker offers nothing going forward and defensively he's just pace which he can do from leftback. Like every other game the left flank is non existant
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Yet people will bleat on about taking Saka off. Foden is pointless in this team
 
You can tell the fans at the stadium like Mainoo, they seem up for it every time he gets the ball anywhere near the opposition area.

On a side note. Rice needs to understand him following the defenders around whenever they have the ball makes build up slower and harder.
 
Brilliant half so far. Slovakia have been excellent. Same again and you will have done us all a favour.
That being said, I won't count my chickens, plenty of time for England to shit themselves back into the game.
 
Rockets Redglare said:
I don’t think Saka has been any better either. Dreadful.
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Saka’s been bad but still better. At least he gets involved, holds it up and does a little. The other are just terrible.

Mainoo has been the best of the bunch. Rice is so bad.
 
Foden needs to be off the left. Either sub him or move him central and sub Bellingham. Kane can come off for Watkins and a one legged Shaw is better than Trippier at left back so chuck him on too.
 
God knows what Declan Rice was doing on the goal - Schranz ran his socks off to get into position - and Rice .. well, didn't
 
Abhinav said:
Honestly he is not doing a lot to make himself a passing option. Playing bit like McT today. I think he is nervous and is a bit fazed by the occasion.
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He’s clearly not nervous or fazed; every chance he gets, he’s constructive and threatening. He’s also running into a decent amount of space for players of this calibre to hit, but they take 4 touches, and by then, any space worked for is gone… then they hit wide, mindlessly.

The players with nerve to combination play are sat on the bench.
 
Neil_Buchanan said:
Am I biased or has Mainoo been our only decent player?
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best of a bad bunch IMO, problem is square pegs in round holes again. One of Bellingham or Foden needs to come off (arguably both). Kane ain’t gonna do well with 2 AMs behind him as he drops deep and no one runs ahead for the pass. You need classic wingers who will run at the defence when there’s 11 behind the ball. Trippier also looks very uncomfortable at LB and isn’t providing any overlapping runs. I know we all like to think ourselves backseat managers, but I honestly think there’s some very obvious changes to make to bring balance back to the team.
 
padr81 said:
Not only should he be sacked for doing exactly what people said he would do when everyone knew it wouldn't work. I'm also gonna ask HRH to execute him.
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Will that be more exciting than watching this England team?
 
Andersonson said:
He has been good the few times he's had the ball, but not good enough without it. Last 5 was much better though, hopefully it continues. The quality is there
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He only has half a season of first team football under his belt, we need to remember that.

Also, I was watching him closely and there were quite a few times he found a little pocket of space between Slovakia's lines and the CBs ignored him. Kobbie is good enough to take the ball in those areas and lure a player out of position. We need to do more of that to break down stubborn defences like this. It's risky, but they need to trust each other more
 
I doubt either of these sides can handle Switzerland.
 
Maybe not at half time, but Trent will probably be on for Mainoo I think.
 
I think England will win, but enjoying the absolute meltdown in the meantime.
 
Redlambs said:
I've just ranted to the missus as about how for once we English can't blame anyone but ourselves for the cowardness we show. English manager, players, governing body...

Forgot about the ref.

I'm voting reform now.
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:lol:
 
Abraxas said:
Mainoo looks a significantly better player at this level than Declan Rice. Not sure Declan Rice suits international football as a deep midfielder in a team that's supposed to win games.
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You'd be 4-0 down without Rice. He's single-handedly kept you in the game in the first half hour where your defensive transition amounted to "Either Rice saves us or they're 1vs1 with Pickford"
 
Glorio said:
Untrue, you can only take responsibility if people pass the ball to you.

See what he actually did when he got on the ball. The defence are not passing into midfield, and everyone's trying long ball's straight into the forwards. They've very rarely actually used the midfield
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He doesn't position himself to get the ball enough, his positioning is very shy.
 
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