England

[paul moy 235]

They need a playmaker.  Maybe a bit too early but Maddison perhaps, eventually ?Problems mainly last night were that Alli was suspended due to his stupidity, and of course Lallana was injured.

[AJ 1,224]

I don''t think Madders has ever been in the England youth set-up? Surprising if so, as he''s looking good for his age.

[Big Vince 318]

[quote user="hogesar"]Good news is Southgate can celebrate his 250k bonus for us qualifying.

which is equivalent to me getting a bonus for sitting on a chair.[/quote]

It''s all about the coaching. English players don''t get the quality coaching they need from a young age. Continental coaches are miles ahead in giving their players the skills and technique to progress into the men''s game. There are also a lot more coaches to players.

The FA doesn''t help the situation by being totally unfit for purpose and of course after they created the Premier League they allowed it to go its own way and so now it is so powerful everything works to the favour of the most powerful clubs leaving the national team on the sidelines of the big picture.

Leadership is such a big thing in any walk of life and I don''t think the FA has ever had it.

[lappinitup 629]

[quote user="Big Vince"]It''s all about the coaching. Continental coaches are miles ahead.....[/quote]Praise for Delia at last Vinnie. [:D]

[Baldyboy 0]

[quote user="Feedthewolf"][quote user="Baldyboy"]Jesse Lingard has barely kicked a ball all season yet is in the squad along with Harry Winks all because of who they play for. It’s no wonder some of the younger players go to big clubs early because they would never get in the squad playing elsewhere! How many players are there in the squad from Stoke, West Brom or West Ham? All established clubs in Premier League but not big enough in Southgate eyes![/quote]Who should be in the squad from those clubs, though? Rodriguez, Dawson and Gibbs from West Brom (all 27/28 years old)? Berahino/Shawcross? Noble/Carroll? Couldn''t make a case for any of those, surely? Sam Byram, at a push?It''s a vicious circle – the top six monopolise all the overpriced young English talent (which isn''t good enough anyway due to the comparatively poor coaching techniques in England), the ''have nots'' can get better value abroad so fill their squads with experienced non-British players, young English players don''t get regular first-team top-flight football... repeat until bored.[/quote]

I was using them as an example that’s all, I’d rather see Shawcross than some of them in the squad that are nothing more than benchwarmers at big clubs, it’s why they struggle in big games with England, along with the fact they play with more foreigners than Englishmen

[ec-p 98]

Wales seem to know what they''re doing, 1-0 up away to Georgia and still pushing forward with intensity to get another. Without Bale.

[hogesar 9,705]

Henderson is a very average Prem player but Dier seems to get a free ride because its ok that all he does is break up play. Yet Henderson is supposed to be able to do that and everything else.

Anyway, isnt part of the problem the fact that the FA pretty much determine how we play? All this England DNA rubbish.

We managed to look susceptible defensively and left massive gaps in midfield despite two midfielders in that defensive role. Yet at the same time we looked unable to create space and opportunities ourself.

Yes, Southgate is an uninspiring manager. Reckon over 50% of England fans would welcome Allardyce back.

[Indy_Bones 441]

Henderson or Dier are still far more deserving and justified in a call-up (and starting place), than Harry f**king Winks is!Just 122 mins of PL league football this season (90 of which are in a single game against Huddersfield), he hasn''t stood out as world class or shown pretty much anything to justify a call-up so far this season, yet he starts tonight against Lithuania, seemingly because he''s liked by Southgate because he looked semi-decent for the England U-21 side...The whole situation is becoming more and more ridiculous and laughable by the minute.Next call up could well be Ainsley Maitland-Niles, apparently off the back of his stunning performance for the single minute he''s played in the PL for Arsenal so far this season...

[Yellow Wal 314]

I''m just happy I''m not Scottish.

[TIL 1010 4,760]

Tonight was 90 minutes of my life i will never get back.

[Guest]

Henderson or Dier are still far more deserving and justified in a call-up (and starting place), than Harry f**king Winks is!

There may be some merit in your thinking but Winks was about the only one tonight who could be said to have played well enough.

Henderson is totally out of his depth but is another one who is stitched on, possibly even captain. I watch him deliberately and he gives the ball away more than to a team mate.

He will be absolutely anonymous in the WC.

I''m not saying Winks won''t be but he doesn''t look as of he will be any worse.

[Hucks6 169]

As I have said before.We always qualify but always come home early pity the English team didn''t have the other home nations mentally

[GJP 79]

Yeah, Winks has got a few more ideas on the ball than Henderson. He''s a good little player.

Really what they need is the player that Wilshere could be.

[Baldyboy 0]

I’m sure Winks will have that coached out of him soon enough by England’s charismatic coach 😂😂

[SwindonCanary 455]

England and Norwich the same, possession more important than taking a chance to create a goal.   

[Old Shuck 185]

The trouble with qualifying is that it leads to the FA thinking all is going well and there is no reason to change anything, any one or any particular system.

Bonuses, slaps on the back and large ports all round. They''ll all be looking forward to their all expenses paid (plus partners) jolly up in Russia next summer.

How long is Southgate''s contract for? Wondering if we''ll soon get an announcement that it has (if not already) been extended to the end of Euro 2020?

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 1,564]

While the England performances are hardly inspiring at the moment, I am a lot more positive about the potential of this team than I have been about England for a long time.

Alli, Kane, Dier, Stones, Winks, Rashford, Sterling, Pickford are all young players and developing all the time. If Southgate can get them working together over the long-term England could see a real benefit in the future. Building an international team is incredibly hard - the Spain team that dominated were about 6 years in the making before having a fantastic 4 year period. The German team had been mostly playing together for 8 years before winning the World Cup.

Southgate could have the right skill set for international football, the primary concern is getting the team organised and solid at the back, the reduced training time means this is crucial first step (it is why international is rather dull, everyone is focusing on the basics as they have little time to develop the other areas of the game).

Henderson is having a moment of very poor form, for Liverpool as well as England, but that doesn''t mean he should just be dropped and cast out of the team. He has put in good performances for club and country in the past and there isn''t really anyone to take his place right now.

As for Winks, he has about as many Premier League appearances as Dele Alli had when he was first called-up. If a player has the obvious talent it is well worth calling them up, especially for a game against Lithuania when England have already qualified.

[lake district canary 4,539]

[quote user="SwindonCanary"]England and Norwich the same, possession more important than taking a chance to create a goal.    [/quote]I guess that is tongue in cheek, as our successful run has been based on having less posession than our opponents!  To be absolutely fair to Farke, it''s not possession that is key, but being in control whether in possession or out of possesssion - in other words what has to be right is that the intensity of defending is at least the same as the intensity in attacking.  Possession, whilst desireable (as in it''s better for us to have the ball than the opposition to have it) is not the be all and end all.  Simple accuracy of passing is all that is required, not passing the ball around for the sake of it.  With England, there doesn''t seem to be any real system or focus, a lot of players not really playing that well as a team - I don''t think you can say that about Norwich after recent games.