James Maddison

[dylanisabaddog 6,131]

I'm watching Manchester United play Leicester. United are 1 up from a breakaway goal by Rashford but Maddison is head and shoulders above everyone else on the pitch. I'm amazed he's still at Leicester and even more surprised he can't get in the England team. I'm not quite sure what he has to do! 

[Indy 3,471]

1 minute ago, dylanisabaddog said:

I'm watching Manchester United play Leicester. United are 1 up from a breakaway goal by Rashford but Maddison is head and shoulders above everyone else on the pitch. I'm amazed he's still at Leicester and even more surprised he can't get in the England team. I'm not quite sure what he has to do! 

Fall over if a players gets within a foot of him and scream like a banshee ala Grealish!

[GodlyOtsemobor 2,830]

Surely he won't be there much longer. 

 

With the England team it's clearly less of what HE has to do to get in, its more Southgate needs to vacate and a new manager go in as Gareth clearly has a Maddison shaped chip on his shoulder. 

Edited February 19, 2023 by GodlyOtsemobor

[Canary Jedi 609]

6 hours ago, GodlyOtsemobor said:

Surely he won't be there much longer. 

If he continues to play like this, gone in the summer I’d say …

…and don’t call me Shirley!

[Grumpy 147]

I must have watched a different game because I thought he was **** poor.

[Chelm Canary 404]

7 hours ago, GodlyOtsemobor said:

Surely he won't be there much longer. 

 

With the England team it's clearly less of what HE has to do to get in, its more Southgate needs to vacate and a new manager go in as Gareth clearly has a Maddison shaped chip on his shoulder. 

Southgate is an overrated disaster of an England manager. 

The fact he is still in place is laughable. 

 

Edited February 19, 2023 by Chelm Canary

[Robornio 131]

Having Maddison in the England squad and a designated free-kick taker in the team would be lethal in international football. The OPTA stats also tell a clear picture. Sadly, Southgate isn’t a good enough manager to realise it. 

Hopefully Newcastle or United spend millions to get him, and we can utilise our 20% cut for next season.

[Newtopia 573]

Southgate has proven himself to be the best manager since 1966, and Maddison has been given an opportunity to prove himself, he doesn't need to be better than any Man U players, he is up against Bellingham, Mount and Foden.  Genuinely think a squad place is his to lose, getting in the actual team really depends on formation.

[All the Germans 1,234]

14 hours ago, Chelm Canary said:

Southgate is an overrated disaster of an England manager. 

The fact he is still in place is laughable. 

 

This is ridiculous. I don't rate Southgate (because of entertainment value) and would prefer that he wasn't England manager. However, the  "disaster" and "laughable" comments are themselves laughable, as he is only behind Sir Alf Ramsey in competition finishes.

[Chelm Canary 404]

1 hour ago, All the Germans said:

This is ridiculous. I don't rate Southgate (because of entertainment value) and would prefer that he wasn't England manager. However, the  "disaster" and "laughable" comments are themselves laughable, as he is only behind Sir Alf Ramsey in competition finishes.

My opinion differs, but you're entitied to yours. 

[TheGunnShow 7,376]

Considering Southgate's got a fairly average and indeed unbalanced crop (a litany of good attacking midfielders and right-backs, but poor in attacking cover, not much at centre-half, a veritable heap of international mediocrity in goal, and lacking in defensive midfield) of England players to a Euros final, a WC semi-final and a WC quarter-final where they lost to the losing finalists, he's not done badly.

How many of the current crop would get in the Golden Generation team? Kane ahead of Rooney at a very big push??

[hogesar 10,754]

40 minutes ago, Chelm Canary said:

My opinion differs, but you're entitied to yours. 

Yeah,  I guess @All the Germans has things like facts and statistical evidence alongside historical comparison in his favour, as annoying as that is.

[Chelm Canary 404]

An average to poor manager that has now been in place for 7 years as England manager. He didn't have the credentials or experience to manage the England senior team in the first place. He possibly had the easiest run of fixtures ever seen on the world stage when he got to the finals in one major tournament. 

He has a propensity for sticking to his favourites and his tactics have never evolved. 

It's been 7 years and it's gone stale. Time to move on. 

Edited February 20, 2023 by Chelm Canary

[Robert N. LiM 6,270]

.

 

Edited February 20, 2023 by Robert N. LiM
Thought better of it

[ged in the onion bag 960]

How can anyone criticise Southgate in all reasonableness!   I really can't bear watching England, haven't enjoyed it for years but this guy has undoubtedly got as much out of this group of players as is possible...  There's only so far you can take a team if the opponents squads have better quality.   

No doubt, many of those who criticise Southgate for 'whatever' are also in the 'Maguire's a clown camp' primarily cos they read it on social media and got suckered into the narrative.... yet he was superb for us in the World Cup.... he was also brilliant in the previous two tournaments where we excelled under Southgate.    

Maddison is (IMO) our most creative player and he should be in the team but Southgate has brought through all of these younger players and he's been loyal to them which is commendable in my book.   And have they let him down?   Not really.   A semi-final, final and quarter-final in 3 tournaments ain't bad is it.  

Of course, we all have our opinions and he makes mistakes (I think we can only afford one holding midfielder as we need more quality to control the tempo and progress the play), he perseveres with Rice and Phillips and Henderson (they just can't keep the ball like our opponents) so we aren't ever going to win tournaments until we have a playmaker in there..... perhaps Bellingham will be that player but he's still young and inconsistent.   We aren't far away to be fair, but he's achieving any rational expectation in my book.

Now the World Cup is passed, I expect he will integrate Maddison (or try to).    

    

[ged in the onion bag 960]

7 hours ago, Chelm Canary said:

An average to poor manager that has now been in place for 7 years as England manager. He didn't have the credentials or experience to manage the England senior team in the first place. He possibly had the easiest run of fixtures ever seen on the world stage when he got to the finals in one major tournament. 

He has a propensity for sticking to his favourites and his tactics have never evolved. 

It's been 7 years and it's gone stale. Time to move on. 

How's he average or poor..... 7 years down the line and he has a group of players that give everything for him, that's undeniable.... re the run of fixtures, what's he supposed to do, ask if they wouldn't mind awfully swapping Croatia for Brazil?   None of these tournaments are easy to win, all the teams are well organised and have quality, look at Morocco.   Its unfair and naive to suggest he had an easy path, they still had to win the games. 

Pep Guardiola was running Barca B (his first manager role) when Barca asked him to step up and take over one of the biggest clubs in the world, where were his credentials and experience?    

On balance, there is no one who either has done or could do a better job.   We had Capello in charge at the height of his powers and he couldn't make a difference.    Southgate has made a difference, he doesn't let the press pick the team which is a bonus, he's removed the cliques, he had the fans behind the team again and he's got the best out of them.     What evidence is there in this squad sufficient to expect us to win tournaments.   We don't have the technical quality, particularly in midfield where it matters most! 

 

[Chelm Canary 404]

3 minutes ago, ged in the onion bag said:

How's he average or poor..... 7 years down the line and he has a group of players that give everything for him, that's undeniable.... re the run of fixtures, what's he supposed to do, ask if they wouldn't mind awfully swapping Croatia for Brazil?   None of these tournaments are easy to win, all the teams are well organised and have quality, look at Morocco.   Its unfair and naive to suggest he had an easy path, they still had to win the games. 

Pep Guardiola was running Barca B (his first manager role) when Barca asked him to step up and take over one of the biggest clubs in the world, where were his credentials and experience?    

On balance, there is no one who either has done or could do a better job.   We had Capello in charge at the height of his powers and he couldn't make a difference.    Southgate has made a difference, he doesn't let the press pick the team which is a bonus, he's removed the cliques, he had the fans behind the team again and he's got the best out of them.     What evidence is there in this squad sufficient to expect us to win tournaments.   We don't have the technical quality, particularly in midfield where it matters most! 

 

I'm not responding to this nonsense in any detail. It's 7 years and hasn't worked. 

Get a life.

[ged in the onion bag 960]

1 hour ago, Chelm Canary said:

I'm not responding to this nonsense in any detail. It's 7 years and hasn't worked. 

Get a life.

What hasnt worked?    It's clearly not nonsense, it evidences he's done quite well in the circumstances.   Seems you can't back up what I (and it seems quite a few other posters) thought was your nonsense.    7 yrs..... its actually been 57 years!   1966 was last time we won any tournament or got as close as Southgate has. 

If you write on this forum, you can expect responses..... the more ridiculous and unsubstantiated the post, the more likely you'll have it ripped to pieces....   you should be able to articulate your point, disappointing that you don't!    

[The Raptor 1,572]

Perhaps when you show the manager and fans how little you care by pretending to be ill and then getting seen in a casino on the day of the game you maybe don't deserve to be picked.

I think he's been called up since then but I'd say it's still in southgates thinking. He seems pretty conservative and tends to pick players he knows he can rely on. 

 

[Capt. Pants 5,001]

So an England midfield 3 of Rice, Bellingham and Maddison?

My gut feel with Maddison is he needs to shine at a higher club level. He's head and shoulders above everyone else at Leicester but needs to show what he can do elsewhere to really become the world class player we think he could be.

[Chelm Canary 404]

13 hours ago, ged in the onion bag said:

If you write on this forum, you can expect responses..... the more ridiculous and unsubstantiated the post, the more likely you'll have it ripped to pieces....   you should be able to articulate your point, disappointing that you don't

My posts aren't ridiculous or unsubstantiated. 

My comments about Southgate are popular opinion and as far as I'm concerned are correct. 

There are a group of people on this forum that will go after people that don't support their collective narrative. 

[Canary Wundaboy 1,423]

15 hours ago, Chelm Canary said:

I'm not responding to this nonsense in any detail. It's 7 years and hasn't worked. 

Get a life.

Can I ask what "working" would have looked like? Just curious as to what benchmark you're holding him to that deems the last 7 years as failure when it's been comparatively successful compared to other recent England managerial reigns?

[AJ 1,358]

15 hours ago, Chelm Canary said:

I'm not responding to this nonsense in any detail. It's 7 years and hasn't worked. 

Get a life.

[Chelm Canary 404]

38 minutes ago, Canary Wundaboy said:

Can I ask what "working" would have looked like? Just curious as to what benchmark you're holding him to that deems the last 7 years as failure when it's been comparatively successful compared to other recent England managerial reigns?

You absolutely can ask me. what we should do then is give him another ten year contract and hope it works out . 

Management doesn't work this way in football. 

[Canary Wundaboy 1,423]

11 minutes ago, Chelm Canary said:

You absolutely can ask me. what we should do then is give him another ten year contract and hope it works out . 

Management doesn't work this way in football. 

Could you answer the question I asked? You state that the last 7 years has been a failure, so what would you have deemed success? 

[Chelm Canary 404]

21 minutes ago, Canary Wundaboy said:

Could you answer the question I asked? You state that the last 7 years has been a failure, so what would you have deemed success? 

Obviously this is a loaded question and you're demanding an answer so ok.

Here is my answer and it has nothing to do winning in the short term

- integrating new talent and diversifying tactics 

- building a base for young and new players to have a chance in the England squad.

- setting an example that talent can overcome experience and favouritism

- playing for a big club doesn't mean you automatically qualify for playing for the country. 

To win anything we need to build from the ground. 

[Robornio 131]

I think Southgate has done several things well, especially since the dark days of the Roy Hodgson era. He took out Rooney, who flattered to deceive (especially in international competitions), created a cohesive camaraderie in the squad and allowed a new generation of players to come through (having managed many in the U21s). However, his predictable tactics, inability to see past his regular favourite players and negative game management decisions, have all hindered us winning anything (vs Croatia in 2018, vs Italy in 2021 and possibly vs France in 2022, though to a lesser extent).

Successful stats are also largely dependant on the quality of talent available at the time. We have some great players at the moment, so should be doing better. I think we can do better, and think Gareth’s taken us as far as he can (as he won’t change). Seven years and three international competitions in charge, is enough of a chance/time for anyone.

[Yellow Wal 315]

1 hour ago, Robornio said:

I think Southgate has done several things well, especially since the dark days of the Roy Hodgson era. He took out Rooney, who flattered to deceive (especially in international competitions), created a cohesive camaraderie in the squad and allowed a new generation of players to come through (having managed many in the U21s). However, his predictable tactics, inability to see past his regular favourite players and negative game management decisions, have all hindered us winning anything (vs Croatia in 2018, vs Italy in 2021 and possibly vs France in 2022, though to a lesser extent).

Successful stats are also largely dependant on the quality of talent available at the time. We have some great players at the moment, so should be doing better. I think we can do better, and think Gareth’s taken us as far as he can (as he won’t change). Seven years and three international competitions in charge, is enough of a chance/time for anyone.

 

Edited February 21, 2023 by Yellow Wal
Because I couldn't delete it!

[Yellow Wal 315]

Southgate's whole game is based on a defensive system. He regularly plays with 4 (occasionally 5) at the back, with 3 defensively minded midfielders,  2 of 3 forwards who are either midfielders or, in the case of Saka someone who has played at wing back and a centre forward who often can be seen closer to his own goal than the opposition's. 

If Maddison, who by his nature is an attacking player wants to get into the team he needs to become far more defensive,  and probably ruin his game.

I hold out little hope of him making a manager's team who is afraid to attack, just in case we concede.

I can never remember such an excellent array of attacking players as we have at the moment, it's just a shame we don't have a manager who has the guts to play them. 

[GJP 79]

1 hour ago, Robornio said:

I think Southgate has done several things well, especially since the dark days of the Roy Hodgson era. He took out Rooney, who flattered to deceive (especially in international competitions), 

Alternatively, Rooney carried England for years.