Are You Happy With Southgate

[lake district canary 4,552]

4 minutes ago, hogesar said:

I could go on, but the point is you've talked a load of rubbish and not given a single valid reason for any of the points you've raised so far, both in this and your initial Euro's post where you didn't care how England performed but did care how Scotland performed.

 So (as it says in that article) Grealish had a bit of ground to make up after his covid partying nonsense.  And Mings?  Too many instances where he shows intent on injuring other players.  Maguire?

I've given plenty of valid reasons what I don't like about the England set up, from players, to managers, to the FA, to the fans, some of whom should have their passports removed permanently.  Those reasons may not hold up with you, but taken overall, I find very little to get enthusiastic about.  Oh, I left out the media as well, who have been spoiling the coverage of England football for years.

What do I like?  Fans that show joy at supporting their team regardless of how far they get in competitions. Teams that play above the sum of their parts rather than below.   Players that show a bit of maturity, on and off the pitch.

 

[TIL 1010 4,815]

1 hour ago, lake district canary said:

I don't know. The question was are you happy with Southgate, not who would you choose in his place.  Plenty to choose from, not for me to say.  I like the idea of Nigel Clough becoming manager at some stage. England international, mixed and varied management experience with some success in there too.

Nigel Clough ? Give your head a wobble Lakey.

Edited June 14, 2021 by TIL 1010

[sgncfc 1,259]

To be fair, I think this England squad are extremely talented from midfield forward. Our back 5, even our first choice, is probably not good enough to win a tournament but our front 6 options are probably better than anyone else's. If we can score first we have a chance against even the best teams.

But like everyone else, I think that if Harry Maguire is in your first choice centre back line up, you're not really playing the same game of football as France, Portugal etc. 

Croatia played to our strengths this time around, unlike last time and they no longer have better players. The better teams will expose us through the middle, on the ground, where we are less mobile.

So I wait to see what teams Southgate picks for each opponent.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

Brendan Rogers for me. 

[Indy_Bones 442]

I'm kind of on the fence with this one.

I appreciate a number of younger players are being given a chance, and he usually speaks quite well, but there are also what I see as strange choices both in squad and team selection that don't always sit right.

Trippier at left back was a bizarre one for me, and I'm sure Luke Shaw saw the teamsheet and thought "WTAF?", it certainly didn't cost us or prove to be a terrible decision, but I'm just not sure what the logic was. Nor in his pre-tournament statement when asked about having 4 right backs and saying he'd have taken a couple more if he could - just what is the plan, a team full of right backs???

The lack of a place in the squad for Lingard is also strange to me, he's been excellent for West Ham since joining on loan in Jan, 9 goals, 5 assists, PL POTM, but apparently that's not good enough and Saka gets picked ahead of him (not saying Saka is a bad player either).

An injured Maguire who even if he's technically fit for the final group stage match, won't be 'match fit' probably until AFTER the Euro's have finished, a similar story with Henderson who hasn't played in months but seems to have been included as some sort of cheerleader, and quite how Pickford is still no 1 in goal I'll never know.

That being said, the first 25 minutes against Croatia we looked incredibly dangerous and were unlucky not be leading after Foden's cracking effort, but then we had a long period of sitting back and not really doing much of anything, so a real mixed bag, however you can't complain about the result, but I think we'll need to see far more of how we started the match if we want to compete against the truly dangerous and on-form sides.

If we don't get at least a semi-final position, then I'd argue it's time for a change, but who that would be, and whether or not they can fundamentally change our approach to take account of players form in recent months is another. I remember sitting in disbelief as Holt didn't get a chance back when he was second highest English scorer behind Rooney, yet Andy Carroll got the nod despite being terrible, and Southgate like Hodgson before him has players that seem to be guaranteed a spot regardless...

[Terminally Yellow 2,485]

If it were me, I'd make international football management a limited time position.

For me, you'd get a Euros and a World Cup. That's four years - and then if I were the FA, I'd look for a new manager. I do think the England job benefits from having fresh voices, fresh ideas and managers who have recently been involved in the club game with first hand knowledge of players rather than the somewhat detached position I think long stints as England manager can lead to.

Not that I think the new manager has to come from club football. I'm happy for someone within England set up (ie the U21 manager) to get the chance if he or she has shown they deserve it. I also think succession planning could happen, with perhaps a young up and coming manager or coach invited as assistant coach, or something similar. 

If I were replacing Gareth Southgate right now, I'd be looking at Eddie Howe, Dean Smith and Graham Potter. I'm a huge fan of Graham Potter, in particular.