I get that when we have a man on both posts it allows Alli to attack the 6 yard box but he really does not do enough in midfield...
Sterling’s movement is great.
Sterling’s movement is great.
Internationals March (Euro Qualifiers + Friendlies)
- Thread starter Samid
- Start date
Typical Pepe shithousery
Tadic is superb. Hope Pepe didn't injure him 
I swear the way you lot bang on about Smalling you'd think he was the reincarnation of Maldini rather than a half decent centre back.
He's better defensively than guys like Stones & Maguire, but Southgate has a system and a style he wants to work with, and central defenders who are awkward on the ball don't work well in that system.
Smalling isn't good enough to alter the way we play, and we moaned for ages about shoe horning players in who didn't suit the system.
He's better defensively than guys like Stones & Maguire, but Southgate has a system and a style he wants to work with, and central defenders who are awkward on the ball don't work well in that system.
Smalling isn't good enough to alter the way we play, and we moaned for ages about shoe horning players in who didn't suit the system.
Tagline checks out.
Shameless.
We're playing well today, from the start.
Yeah that was disgraceful. Should have been a yellow at the very least. Tadic visibly hurt. Hope his ankle isn't seriously damaged.
Nobody thinks he's Maldini.
I just think he's a better defender than Keane or Tarkowski.
He's certainly a better option than fecking Phil Jones!
When did Tadic become Zidane reincarnated? Did I miss something?
He's ridiculously good
He's ridiculously good
if southgate wants the defensive option yes. going forward chilwell is better. it depends.
Seriously? Christ.
We're decent and have some exciting players (finally) but still clearly have a hell of a long way to go and some real weak areas.
For me France are by a distance the most complete national side, and then Brazil and Belgium follow behind, with us maybe edging in to that category.
Right... we're better off with Pizzi instead of Ronaldo then.
Sorry for my previous bias
Absolutely.
Chilwell is better. Shaw is a sure fire #2 over Rose though, for sure.
I really like Hudson Odoi. If he wants to progress he needs to get the feck away from Chelsea though. He'd be better served with us, Liverpool, Arsenal or Spurs. Chelsea and City are cancer for youth.
Joe Cole is a good pundit isn't he.
He is, but it's pretty clear he's being left out due to his ability on the ball, which is a valid criticism
Southgate has made it a key part of his system that the defenders have to be comfortable in possession, guys like Keane/Tarkowski aren't exceptional in that regard but they are better than Smalling.
If Smalling was a genuinely world class CB you could argue Southgate should make an exception, but I don't think he's at a level where you compromise on how you want to play.
I have said it in a other thread.....Smalling is only world-class (for Man Utd fans) during international breaks.
No one saying he is world class, he is just better at defending than all of the English CBs in the squad, funnily enough even the person you quoted is saying he is better at defending than Stones and Maguire
No I get that and I like the fact he wants us to play nice football.
I just think the likes of Jones and Tarkowski, they may be better on the ball than Smalling but not by a huge amount. And when it comes to actual defending Smalling is much better than both of them.
I mean how often does Tarkowski do anything on the ball playing for Burnley? They have 11 behind the ball and lump it forward every game dont they?
A crucial game at a major tournament, and if for whatever reason Stones and Maguire or Gomez were all unavailable i'd much rather have Smalling as emergency backup than Jones Keane or Tarkowski.
I think not having him in the squad at all is a bit much, but fair enough.
Also I think Smallings lack of ability on the ball is vastly overstated to be honest. Hes not great but neither are some in the England sqaud
The way some of you go on about Southgate,you'd think he's the English Pep Guardiola.
Yeah I'm not arguing Smalling is world class or should be first choice.
I'd have him in the squad over Jones and Tarkowski though.
Yeah same if Pogba was available in Paris. We would have tried playing it through him and he would have been marked out of the game.
the whole Smalling debate would make sense if England was losing games and fecking up defensively. as theyre not what's the point of analysing and debating it? the results have spoken for themself.
2 defensive midfielders and 4 forwards... fecking hell
William starts and Ruben Neves is on the bench
First start in the national team for 29 year old Dyego Souza too, can't believe it's 2019 and we still have to naturalize brazilians because we don't have a half decent striker.
Time for the players to step up and drag us through this given the manager is trying to sabotage the team.
Because you’ve got the best one in the world. Imo, Portugal should just play a 4-3-3 with Ronaldo upfront and get rid of the problem England used to have, which is playing players who scarcely deserve it like Carvalho.
P.s. can’t embed images so got rid of the lineup.
In what way do people think he's the English Pep Guardiola?
Because England fans like him?
That he has some kind of special system and is unable to fit certain players into it.
Just watched the pk against Portugal and Im not sure if is a penalty... I mean the only way will not be a penalty is if the keeper moves away from the player
Is he? He's just said Declan Rice is patrolling in front of the back four and preventing any counters but Montenegro have been a threat on the counter all first half.
It's separate. The finals are this year, the play-offs are next year. Any team that doesn't qualify from the groups get another shot based on how they ranked in the nations league with 4 possible slots per league.
I think if a manager cannot pick a superior in-form defender because he cant fit him into his system then there is an issue.
They are fecking up defensively.
A yellow card for taking the free kick too early?
Not sure I've seen that before.
Not sure I've seen that before.
Yellow yard? The refs a moron.
Very poor from Rose there.
That was bloody lucky. Danny Rose.
Don't forget, Carrick could barely get a game for England, either.
We played like crap vs France in the Euros final after Ronaldo got subbed off. We should have conceded 5 or 6 in the second half and didn't have one half chance... it was our worst half of the tournament and that's saying a lot considering how poor it got at times. Extra time France got tired and the game shifted.
Today we're playing worse since Ronaldo got subbed off too but we scored so we're better without Ronaldo... like Madrid were better without Ronaldo too.
The idea is you have to do less actual last ditch defending if you have players comfortable in possession and whilst Smalling might be better 1vs1 etc, some coaches value other assets more especially in the modern game and for a side expected to dominate most games.
Tarkowski is very comfortable on he ball from what I've seen of him. Doesn't get to show it off much for that Burnley side but he's good in that regard.