England/World Cup

[dickos1]

Southgate wouldn't get a job in the premier League. Fraud of a manager. Speaks well though about none football matters so to ticks that box

That'll be the manager that's got England to a final and a semi in the past 4 years. When the previous record was 2 semis in 52 years?

Is that the box ticking manager we are talking about?

Knew this would be posted. This England squad is the best in the world IMO. Especially up top. It's being completely wasted. A decent manager beats Italy and Croatia.

The squad in Russia wasn’t very good,
It had Ali, lingard, Ashley young Delphi, Phil jones, Cahill, welbeck etc etc etc

Getting to a World Cup semi with that squad wad a miracle and certainly wasn’t better than the Croatia squad

Absolute miracle beating Columbia on penalties and Sweden.

Got to a world cUp semi and a euros final and the only argument people have is about how bad the opposition was.
The opposition were no worse than the sides that have knocked us out before and no different to all the World Cup winners have played to win the trophy
Just because it’s England people woukd rather look for excuses as to why they did well rather than embracing the success

You're letting it think that Southgate is a good manager. Literally doesn't have a clue how to change things mid game when we're off it.

I’m not saying he’s a good manager nor a bad one, I’m just emphasising the point that his record in major tournaments is unbelievable when you compared with all the other managers we’ve had who had better squads

[tyke1962]

Southgate wouldn't get a job in the premier League. Fraud of a manager. Speaks well though about none football matters so to ticks that box

That'll be the manager that's got England to a final and a semi in the past 4 years. When the previous record was 2 semis in 52 years?

Is that the box ticking manager we are talking about?

Knew this would be posted. This England squad is the best in the world IMO. Especially up top. It's being completely wasted. A decent manager beats Italy and Croatia.

The squad in Russia wasn’t very good,
It had Ali, lingard, Ashley young Delphi, Phil jones, Cahill, welbeck etc etc etc

Getting to a World Cup semi with that squad wad a miracle and certainly wasn’t better than the Croatia squad

Absolute miracle beating Columbia on penalties and Sweden.

Got to a world cUp semi and a euros final and the only argument people have is about how bad the opposition was.
The opposition were no worse than the sides that have knocked us out before and no different to all the World Cup winners have played to win the trophy
Just because it’s England people woukd rather look for excuses as to why they did well rather than embracing the success

You're letting it think that Southgate is a good manager. Literally doesn't have a clue how to change things mid game when we're off it.

I’m not saying he’s a good manager nor a bad one, I’m just emphasising the point that his record in major tournaments is unbelievable when you compared with all the other managers we’ve had who had better squads

Yeh it's is unbelievable , he's still won nowt despite leading in both games that would have made a World Cup final and lifted the Euros .

It's unbelievable you consider that success .

The Germans , Italians and the French wouldn't .

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Why Foden didn’t come on for Mount is a total mystery.

Has he upset Southgate. We have a prodigious talent who hasn’t kicked a ball yet.
If he was BrazilIan, French or Spanish he would be starting games never mind coming on as sub.
Southgate is only interested in not conceding. He was not happy winning 6-2 on Monday.
Too negative. Our strength is our attacking players so we should play to our strengths.
What are we going to do against the top teams?  Bit concerned now. On Monday I thought we might have a team that’s going to go all the way..

Southgate you have the players that could win the World Cup. Don’t blow this opportunity and go out by being too cautious.
He who dares WINS.

Agree with all that. The approach just sews negative seeds which will now carry over to the Welsh game.

Before you know it, we're coming out of the group on the back foot and whoever we play next, the fear of losing will override our will to go out and win the game unless Gareth proves us wrong and let's the lions loose.

None of them got their kit dirty last night and USA didn't have to break sweat to nullify us.

[dickos1]

Southgate wouldn't get a job in the premier League. Fraud of a manager. Speaks well though about none football matters so to ticks that box

That'll be the manager that's got England to a final and a semi in the past 4 years. When the previous record was 2 semis in 52 years?

Is that the box ticking manager we are talking about?

Knew this would be posted. This England squad is the best in the world IMO. Especially up top. It's being completely wasted. A decent manager beats Italy and Croatia.

The squad in Russia wasn’t very good,
It had Ali, lingard, Ashley young Delphi, Phil jones, Cahill, welbeck etc etc etc

Getting to a World Cup semi with that squad wad a miracle and certainly wasn’t better than the Croatia squad

Absolute miracle beating Columbia on penalties and Sweden.

Got to a world cUp semi and a euros final and the only argument people have is about how bad the opposition was.
The opposition were no worse than the sides that have knocked us out before and no different to all the World Cup winners have played to win the trophy
Just because it’s England people woukd rather look for excuses as to why they did well rather than embracing the success

You're letting it think that Southgate is a good manager. Literally doesn't have a clue how to change things mid game when we're off it.

I’m not saying he’s a good manager nor a bad one, I’m just emphasising the point that his record in major tournaments is unbelievable when you compared with all the other managers we’ve had who had better squads

Yeh it's is unbelievable , he's still won nowt despite leading in both games that would have made a World Cup final and lifted the Euros .

It's unbelievable you consider that success .

The Germans , Italians and the French wouldn't .

Of course it’s success,
To give no recognition to actually getting there is ridiculous, look how many other managers have tried with better squads and failed to get us anywhere near a semi.
Southgate has done it two tournaments in succession but the clamour by all the negative brigade to look for excuses as to why he did well is embarrassing

[DRFC_AjA]

This "we should win it with this squad" attitude that comes every 4 years 

Pretty sure that each of say the top 10 ranked nations and each manager goes through this each world cup "we should have won it with that team"

Not saying we're going to win it this year, but then i'm also not saying we've got the best squad and therefore "should" win it, we'll get far and then it's all about luck....keep the faith 

And Italy have made a footballing career ,  for want of a better phrase, out of negative and slow football and their trophy cabinet is full.

[dickos1]

Why Foden didn’t come on for Mount is a total mystery.

Has he upset Southgate. We have a prodigious talent who hasn’t kicked a ball yet.
If he was BrazilIan, French or Spanish he would be starting games never mind coming on as sub.
Southgate is only interested in not conceding. He was not happy winning 6-2 on Monday.
Too negative. Our strength is our attacking players so we should play to our strengths.
What are we going to do against the top teams?  Bit concerned now. On Monday I thought we might have a team that’s going to go all the way..

Southgate you have the players that could win the World Cup. Don’t blow this opportunity and go out by being too cautious.
He who dares WINS.

Agree with all that. The approach just sews negative seeds which will now carry over to the Welsh game.

Before you know it, we're coming out of the group on the back foot and whoever we play next, the fear of losing will override our will to go out and win the game unless Gareth proves us wrong and let's the lions loose.

None of them got their kit dirty last night and USA didn't have to break sweat to nullify us.

We scored 6 goals only a few days ago,
Also we drew 0-0 with Scotland in the euros and then got to the final,drew with Ireland in italia 90 and reached the semi.
Groups are just about qualifying, that’s literally all that matters

[Monkcaster_Rover]

I think Southgate shackles this team.

That being said, Wales will have to come out and attack us on Tuesday so we should be able to pick them off.

Roll on 3-0 Wales.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Yes, I understand the pragmatic approach and yes, Southgate has got us to where we want to be however, I just think being overcautios ultimately catches up with us.

Instead of winning the group with our chests puffed out, we've let Wales make a game of it. Our players are drawn into a scrap but they have half an eye on the next round not wanting to get injured or suspended etc.

[Padge_DRFC]

This "we should win it with this squad" attitude that comes every 4 years 

Pretty sure that each of say the top 10 ranked nations and each manager goes through this each world cup "we should have won it with that team"

Not saying we're going to win it this year, but then i'm also not saying we've got the best squad and therefore "should" win it, we'll get far and then it's all about luck....keep the faith 

And Italy have made a footballing career ,  for want of a better phrase, out of negative and slow football and their trophy cabinet is full.

We went a decade not thinking that. This squad is one of the best in the world. Just not got the manager to go with it.

[dickos1]

One of the best squads in the world and he’s reached a World Cup semi and a euro final.
Sven, capello had better squads and got nowhere near that

[BillyStubbsTears]

Southgate wouldn't get a job in the premier League. Fraud of a manager. Speaks well though about none football matters so to ticks that box

That'll be the manager that's got England to a final and a semi in the past 4 years. When the previous record was 2 semis in 52 years?

Is that the box ticking manager we are talking about?

Knew this would be posted. This England squad is the best in the world IMO. Especially up top. It's being completely wasted. A decent manager beats Italy and Croatia.

Knew this would be posted. The biennial "We're England so obviously we are better than anyone else if only we had the right manager" trope.

[tyke1962]

The US put a press on us and Southgate couldn't even solve that .

You'd imagine at half time he'd have changed things and he didn't even manage that , in fact the US had their best spell in the entire game for the first twenty minutes of the second half .

Southgate just continued to scratch his chin , totally clueless on how to beat a press .

Stones to Maguire , Maguire to Stones , Stones to Pickford and back to Maguire .

Absolute clueless imbecile whose only strength is cultural within the national team .

[Padge_DRFC]

Southgate wouldn't get a job in the premier League. Fraud of a manager. Speaks well though about none football matters so to ticks that box

That'll be the manager that's got England to a final and a semi in the past 4 years. When the previous record was 2 semis in 52 years?

Is that the box ticking manager we are talking about?

Knew this would be posted. This England squad is the best in the world IMO. Especially up top. It's being completely wasted. A decent manager beats Italy and Croatia.

Knew this would be posted. The biennial "We're England so obviously we are better than anyone else if only we had the right manager" trope.

Question did you expect us to lose against Panama, Tunisia, Columbia and Sweden?

Also very odd reply btw. This England squad is probably the best there is. Not we are England so we're better than the world.

We've had about 10-12 years since probably 2008 since anyone thought we ought to be close or winning tournaments as well so you can shut up regarding that

[ravenrover]

I haven't watched any of the games so can't comment on how the teams have performed, but you all seem to be forgetting that Southgate has exactly the right qualities that the FA look for. He is quietly spoken, polite, deals with the media well and generally makes a good impression on people. Got absolutely nothing to do with being a good coach or manager or having the best players but not playing them. I will guess that the team he puts out against Wales will probably include the majority of his regular 1st 11, he may bring Henderson in in midfield but I would be very surprised if against the Welsh he starts Foden, Grealish, Trent or any of his other takented attacking playets. He needs a draw end of.

[tyke1962]

I haven't watched any of the games so can't comment on how the teams have performed, but you all seem to be forgetting that Southgate has exactly the right qualities that the FA look for. He is quietly spoken, polite, deals with the media well and generally makes a good impression on people. Got absolutely nothing to do with being a good coach or manager or having the best players but not playing them. I will guess that the tram he puts out against Wales will probably include the majority of his regular 1st 11, he may bring Henderson in in midfield but I would be very surprised if against the Welsh he starts Foden, Grealish, Trent or any of his other takented attacking playets. He needs a draw end of.

A world cup semi final and the final of the Euros were despite him not because of him in my opinion .

As you say he's the right fit at the FA .

[silent majority]

Southgate didn’t celebrate the 6 goals we scored against Iran, his focus was on the 2 goals we conceded. It’s what he does, it’s the mentality of a defender, it’s what he is and colours his thinking at all times.

[Goole Rover]

Southgate wouldn't get a job in the premier League. Fraud of a manager. Speaks well though about none football matters so to ticks that box

That'll be the manager that's got England to a final and a semi in the past 4 years. When the previous record was 2 semis in 52 years?

Is that the box ticking manager we are talking about?

Knew this would be posted. This England squad is the best in the world IMO. Especially up top. It's being completely wasted. A decent manager beats Italy and Croatia.

The squad in Russia wasn’t very good,
It had Ali, lingard, Ashley young Delphi, Phil jones, Cahill, welbeck etc etc etc

Getting to a World Cup semi with that squad wad a miracle and certainly wasn’t better than the Croatia squad

Absolute miracle beating Columbia on penalties and Sweden.

Got to a world cUp semi and a euros final and the only argument people have is about how bad the opposition was.
The opposition were no worse than the sides that have knocked us out before and no different to all the World Cup winners have played to win the trophy
Just because it’s England people woukd rather look for excuses as to why they did well rather than embracing the success

You're letting it think that Southgate is a good manager. Literally doesn't have a clue how to change things mid game when we're off it.

I’m not saying he’s a good manager nor a bad one, I’m just emphasising the point that his record in major tournaments is unbelievable when you compared with all the other managers we’ve had who had better squads

Yeh it's is unbelievable , he's still won nowt despite leading in both games that would have made a World Cup final and lifted the Euros .

It's unbelievable you consider that success .

The Germans , Italians and the French wouldn't .

Yes Tyke but the Germans, Italians and French haven’t won much outside of the game.

[NickDRFC]

Southgate didn’t celebrate the 6 goals we scored against Iran, his focus was on the 2 goals we conceded. It’s what he does, it’s the mentality of a defender, it’s what he is and colours his thinking at all times.

Southgate is a naturally cautious manager but I think that’s his mentality, not necessarily the “mentality of a defender”. Klopp, Pochettino & Bielsa were all defenders, Guardiola a very defensive midfielder, and are all managers who play with an attacking philosophy.

[EasyforDennis]

Anybody hear the GS interview after the game last night? He really doesn't rate Phil Foden.

Rashford
Sterling
Grealish
Kane
Saka
Mount

All in front of Foden. The man is a fool. Does he really think he knows better than Guardiola who picks Foden in front of Grealish every game. And that's not knocking JG as i think he is a terrific player.

[Padge_DRFC]

Thinks he's never played centrally for City apparently. Nice feller terrible manager. He'll be happier tonight because we kept a clean sheet.

[Campsall rover]

That was cack, but it's job done as far as qualification is concerned. I think the only way England fail to qualify is if they lose to Wales by 4 goals or more.

Not pretty, but being pretty in the group stage never won anyone a World Cup.

No one is asking us to be pretty, but if we play like that against the top teams we will get beaten.
USA should have won that game.

Yes of course.

But how long have you been watching tournaments?

How many times have you seen sides stumble through the groups then go deep into the tournament? Or teams blast through their group, then fall apart.

I'm far from saying England will win the tournament, but the game tonight doesn't really mean anything on that score. Other than that it makes it almost guaranteed that England will be in R2.

No not arguing with that BST.
It was just such a let down after the Iran match.

[silent majority]

Southgate didn’t celebrate the 6 goals we scored against Iran, his focus was on the 2 goals we conceded. It’s what he does, it’s the mentality of a defender, it’s what he is and colours his thinking at all times.

Southgate is a naturally cautious manager but I think that’s his mentality, not necessarily the “mentality of a defender”. Klopp, Pochettino & Bielsa were all defenders, Guardiola a very defensive midfielder, and are all managers who play with an attacking philosophy.

I was referring to GS and only him, I didn't mean all defenders had that approach. I could have worded it better I suppose.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Anybody hear the GS interview after the game last night? He really doesn't rate Phil Foden.

Rashford
Sterling
Grealish
Kane
Saka
Mount

All in front of Foden. The man is a fool. Does he really think he knows better than Guardiola who picks Foden in front of Grealish every game. And that's not knocking JG as i think he is a terrific player.

I think the reason he goes for Grealish, he knows he will get free kicks and will stop the flow of the game, which when we're going defensive, helps us get some respite and stops the oppositions momentum.

Defend a lead, yes get Grealish on. To go and win a game, Rasford and/or Foden would be my subs.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Southgate wouldn't get a job in the premier League. Fraud of a manager. Speaks well though about none football matters so to ticks that box

That'll be the manager that's got England to a final and a semi in the past 4 years. When the previous record was 2 semis in 52 years?

Is that the box ticking manager we are talking about?

Knew this would be posted. This England squad is the best in the world IMO. Especially up top. It's being completely wasted. A decent manager beats Italy and Croatia.

Knew this would be posted. The biennial "We're England so obviously we are better than anyone else if only we had the right manager" trope.

Question did you expect us to lose against Panama, Tunisia, Columbia and Sweden?

Also very odd reply btw. This England squad is probably the best there is. Not we are England so we're better than the world.

We've had about 10-12 years since probably 2008 since anyone thought we ought to be close or winning tournaments as well so you can shut up regarding that

The point is that in EVERY tournament, in EVERY generation, there's an over-hyping of how good the England squad truly is. I've seen it go on for decades. You've just come up with a classic of the genre with your insistance that we have the best squad in the world "especially up top". When France can lose the services of Benzema and still have Mbappe, Griezmann, Dembele, Coman and their all-time leading scorer to choose from.

I've given my take for years. The English system produces very talented players who can be coached into roles that work very well at club level. But at club level, the coaching is precisely aimed at instilling a system. Through constant repetition and refinement.

International football and especially tournament football doesn't allow the luxury of well-drilled systems. Managers don't get that time and contact with players. You rely much more on players' innate football intelligence and ability to work out solutions on the hoof. And that's where we pretty much always fall down. When set an unfamiliar challenge, our players are not clever and flexible enough to adapt. And we blame the manager...

None of which is to say that this squad isn't a very good one. It is. But it never gives the feel of being able to quite cope against the very best opposition. And that isn't the fault of the manager. It's the fault of the system that produces players who are not quite as good as many England fans believe them to be.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Unless we put that collective belief and confidence in the players, we may never know how good they could actually be.

France just now didn't settle for a point, they carried on wanting to win the game, and they did.

[belton rover]

Southgate has done an incredible job of bringing the team together. We should have won something  under Erikson and Cappello because we had a few world class players. Unfortunately, Ferguson and Wenger et al controlled the players back then.
Southgate has brought the England ‘team’ together.
Now, though, I think GS is lacking in game management. We really could win this thing and if we don’t, it’s probably time for him to give some one else the opportunity

[Sammy Chung was King]

The USA game was one that you should be going all out to win. It was there for the taking, but we allowed them to gain confidence, as the game went on. A poor performance but we didn’t lose. I would like to see more ambitious substitutions.

 Rashford he didn’t give enough minutes to, to get at that defence. Grealish coming on before Foden was bad, but Mount starting before him dumbfounds me. I know Mount and Grealish are wingers, but I think Foden in there with Bellingham and Saka would have overwhelmed the USA midfield.

Grealish while a good player, he flatters to deceive. Foden produces goals and makes things happen, as do Saka and Bellingham. Pick players that have an end product.
I’ve seen it time and again in World Cup tournaments, where we can win the group, make a mistake, end up runners up and make it harder for ourselves.

Southgate has done a good job, but could have done better if he had been braver in his decision making. He is still trying to protect the defence and its lack of pace. He has some of the better attacking players in the tournament but concentrated on the sides weakness instead of playing to our strengths.

 For me Foden and Rashford should start the Wales game. We need players that take a man on. Mount does that for club but is restricted for country.
To win a World Cup you have to take chances. He’s forever trying not to lose a World Cup-safety first.

[Glyn_Wigley]

I haven't watched any of the games so can't comment on how the teams have performed, but you all seem to be forgetting that Southgate has exactly the right qualities that the FA look for. He is quietly spoken, polite, deals with the media well and generally makes a good impression on people. Got absolutely nothing to do with being a good coach or manager or having the best players but not playing them. I will guess that the tram he puts out against Wales will probably include the majority of his regular 1st 11, he may bring Henderson in in midfield but I would be very surprised if against the Welsh he starts Foden, Grealish, Trent or any of his other takented attacking playets. He needs a draw end of.

A world cup semi final and the final of the Euros were despite him not because of him in my opinion .

As you say he's the right fit at the FA .

Do you think the overwhelming lack of success before Southgate was because of the managers and not despite them? Because that would mean not one of them would have done better than Southgate.

[Glyn_Wigley]

We'd have scored a dozen against Iran if we weren't so defensive!

[tyke1962]

I haven't watched any of the games so can't comment on how the teams have performed, but you all seem to be forgetting that Southgate has exactly the right qualities that the FA look for. He is quietly spoken, polite, deals with the media well and generally makes a good impression on people. Got absolutely nothing to do with being a good coach or manager or having the best players but not playing them. I will guess that the tram he puts out against Wales will probably include the majority of his regular 1st 11, he may bring Henderson in in midfield but I would be very surprised if against the Welsh he starts Foden, Grealish, Trent or any of his other takented attacking playets. He needs a draw end of.

A world cup semi final and the final of the Euros were despite him not because of him in my opinion .

As you say he's the right fit at the FA .

Do you think the overwhelming lack of success before Southgate was because of the managers and not despite them? Because that would mean not one of them would have done better than Southgate.

He's not the worst England manager we've had I'll say that .

My biggest issue with Southgate is in his inability to solve problems during games when things have started to go against us , I base a manager's credentials on finding solutions when it  isn't going your way .

Managers today have never had so many options open to them and certainly managers of the past didn't have that , far more options from the bench and players today are far more adaptable in playing a number of roles than they once were .

Certainly the options available to Robson , Venables or even Erickson were far more limited than today .

There was a distinct lack of tactical nous from Southgate that led to us not winning the world cup semi final and the Euro Final , in both games we scored early and were well on top .

Both teams came back at us and Southgate couldn't change the game back in our favour .

In my opinion Croatia and Italy didn't have better players than ourselves .

On Friday night the US didn't have better players to say the least , they had a better tactical plan but even then it wasn't something that couldn't have been overcome with a manager who had at least half a clue with the resources available to him .

Going back to the past our inability to win penalty shootouts has in many ways distorted the picture .

We were probably the better side against the Germans in 1990 and 1996 .

Even with 10 men we were comfortable against Argentina in 1998 and could have nicked it with the Campbell goal that was ruled out .

Robson and Venables could easily have won us tournaments .

Southgate has had us in position A twice and blew it and in my opinion he won't have us in anything like that position again .