Ingerlund

[parklane1]

Very impressed by Keane who should have got MOM ( imo). Defoe showing that he is still a very good player.

 

[Baleforce]

That Defoe motm sums up England.
The media care more about narrative against a brick opponent than preparing for a world cup.

Defoe completed 6 passes. Was completely anonymous bar a tap in.
If he played like that in a world cup against decent opposition England would be overrun with effectively playing with 10 men.

Instead of people saying Defoe wasn't good enough the media give him the motm because it makes a good story.

if england play against decent opposition they will get overrun whoever we play

england have spent the last 30 years trying to build for the future, and have gotten consistently worse in the process, it's about time we accept what we are and just take each round as it comes, picking the best players available at the time irrespective of their age or what club they play for

it was slow paced game with no standout performances, defoe scored the winning goal, thats enough for a motm in most games without criticism during the season

 

[K.D.D.D.D.Soc]

No different than the friendly the other night. We must have better options?

Also, what the fudge has Oxlade-Chamberlain done to be an international player? Let's face it though, Livermore's on the bench. Not exactly a 'golden generation' is it?

Therein lies the problem. We must try the young players and build a team that can compete at international tournaments, we haven't got any world class players so must rely on team work and flexible systems. We've seen in the last few major competitions that teams grind out results and the days of Brazil and Holland playing beautiful football are long gone for the present. Lots of people have never seen England win a trophy and those that did remember it in a rosy glow, England didn't win playing free-flowing football they played a very pragmatic game built on team work and wearing teams down.

 

[parklane1]

Therein lies the problem. We must try the young players and build a team that can compete at international tournaments, we haven't got any world class players so must rely on team work and flexible systems. We've seen in the last few major competitions that teams grind out results and the days of Brazil and Holland playing beautiful football are long gone for the present. Lots of people have never seen England win a trophy and those that did remember it in a rosy glow, England didn't win playing free-flowing football they played a very pragmatic game built on team work and wearing teams down.

The wingless wonders.

 

[K.D.D.D.D.Soc]

The wingless wonders.

It was a great change in the game and particularly good for me as I had limited ball skills, but could run and tackle all day long. It was the virtual death of the cultured wing half and ball playing inside forward.

 

[thfcsteff]

That Defoe motm sums up England.
The media care more about narrative against a brick opponent than preparing for a world cup.

Defoe completed 6 passes. Was completely anonymous bar a tap in.
If he played like that in a world cup against decent opposition England would be overrun with effectively playing with 10 men.

Instead of people saying Defoe wasn't good enough the media give him the motm because it makes a good story.

1) Decent opposition will play more football thus leave more spaces. He nearly scored early-doors on the near-post off a Walker pass BTW...

2) England would line up with different shape, and likely different players,in such situations.

He is absolutely the right man for a squad position. He proved today that we still need a natural goalscorer in there (albeit Alli was behind him!) but he was there, there first and snaffled it away. MOTM? No. Keane for me. But I think you're being churlish.

 

[scaramanga]

if england play against decent opposition they will get overrun whoever we play

england have spent the last 30 years trying to build for the future, and have gotten consistently worse in the process, it's about time we accept what we are and just take each round as it comes, picking the best players available at the time irrespective of their age or what club they play for

it was slow paced game with no standout performances, defoe scored the winning goal, thats enough for a motm in most games without criticism during the season

Therein lies the problem. We must try the young players and build a team that can compete at international tournaments, we haven't got any world class players so must rely on team work and flexible systems. We've seen in the last few major competitions that teams grind out results and the days of Brazil and Holland playing beautiful football are long gone for the present. Lots of people have never seen England win a trophy and those that did remember it in a rosy glow, England didn't win playing free-flowing football they played a very pragmatic game built on team work and wearing teams down.

A quote from Ted Knutson on the state of English coaching:

This circles back to FA coaching courses, which have been revamped (again) in the last year. I did the class days for England level 2 badges almost exactly a year ago, and while I generally liked the process they used to teach you how to think about coaching, I thought they were also lacking in certain areas. The section on pressing was largely ineffective and dismissive, where the instructors were telling us it was fad-ish and existed before. Technically this was true, BUT

• That ignores the fact that the current iterations of pressing come in many varieties and are substantially different than what you saw from the 70’s through the 90’s
• Pressing variations really matter for evaluating top level tactics and play, which means they really matter for top level coaching
• The instructors, who were otherwise quite good, displayed no real understand of this particular topic. Or really of shot locations and effectiveness. Which, if we’re trying to train and develop better coaches and in turn better players, is probably a big deal.

Maybe this type of subject material doesn’t matter at level 2, and I was expecting too much, or maybe English coaching education is still struggling dramatically to overcome decades of ineptitude to catch up with modern times. I honestly don’t know.

We're at least a generation behind the rest of the developed footballing world in coaching - which means we're at least two behind in creating a decent crop of players/coaching staff.

 

[camspur]

Bertrand is really off today - several bad passes and naff decisions

No different to any other game I've seen him play in. We are sadly lacking at LB and until our Danny boy comes back it'll be a problem area.

 

[Grays_1890]

I have a massive issue with this week and want so much not to critical

We looked so lethal against Germany and wasted that on a friendly and came back and looked knackered.

 

[billyiddo]

If Southgate is trying to set us up as a pressing team then he'll have the same troubles against poor teams that we have had in the past and Liverpool have had this season - it could be a decent tactic for England as we aren't blessed with great players and if properly implemented can help us compete against better sides at tournaments but the trouble will be that we need to balance that with the qualifiers where you are playing the bulk of your games against sides where the tactic can falter

 

[Lemonade Money]

If Southgate is trying to set us up as a pressing team then he'll have the same troubles against poor teams that we have had in the past and Liverpool have had this season - it could be a decent tactic for England as we aren't blessed with great players and if properly implemented can help us compete against better sides at tournaments but the trouble will be that we need to balance that with the qualifiers where you are playing the bulk of your games against sides where the tactic can falter

Said it before, but every game should be a dress rehearsal for playing a top team in the quarters/semi/final in hot weather. We do the opposite, we practice a high tempo game against weaker opposition, and then change our game to an untried system in the quarters/semi/final, because err..., it's hot and we're playing a top team.

 

[Aldo]

Said it before, but every game should be a dress rehearsal for playing a top team in the quarters/semi/final in hot weather. We do the opposite, we practice a high tempo game against weaker opposition, and then change our game to an untried system in the quarters/semi/final, because err..., it's hot and we're playing a top team.

Questionable preparation for a World Cup in Russia.

 

[Lemonade Money]

Questionable preparation for a World Cup in Russia.

Moscow's typical high temperatures in the warm months of June, July and August are around 23 °C (73 °F), but during heat waves, which can occur anytime from May to September, daytime temperature highs often top 30 °C (86 °F) for sometimes one or two weeks.
Sochi has a humid subtropical climate.

 

[K.D.D.D.D.Soc]

As long as we have centrebacks that think passing the ball 20 yards sideways to each other is possession football we will struggle. Everyone wants to crucify Stones but at least he tries to get the team moving forward at a decent tempo, his defending will improve once he plays with a decent experienced partner/s. This current crop of players have very few experienced international players to help them and those experienced players like Hart, Cahill, Walcott, Wellbeck & Henderson have not been consistent performers or starters. Qualifying for Russia is the FA's priority and how that is achieved is immaterial to them. Realistically England's aim should be to get pass the preliminary round and then set themselves up to not get beat and hope to grab a win anyway they can, this is unacceptable to the clowns in the media and the vast majority of the nation that have never been to a match in their life and want to believe we have the best players, playing in the best league.

 

[K.D.D.D.D.Soc]

Moscow's typical high temperatures in the warm months of June, July and August are around 23 °C (73 °F), but during heat waves, which can occur anytime from May to September, daytime temperature highs often top 30 °C (86 °F) for sometimes one or two weeks.
Sochi has a humid subtropical climate.

Years ago I spoke to Big Chiv and he told me when he played for England v USSR in Moscow it was the hottest temp he ever played at.

 

[jts1882]

For England it is unfortunate that Dier is not playing in midfield for us. England played some decent football with Dier, Alli and Henderson at the Euros before it went wrong. It had a good balance and the team failed mainly because of the goals scoring.

Perhaps England just need to be bold. Play a back three of Stones, Keane and Dier and see how it develops. There will be mistakes on the way. Walker and Rose wide, with plenty of respectable cover, Lallana for this pressing and the fact that England tend to play better when he is there, even if it is not so obvious why. That leaves two forward positions, where there are plenty of options, and the two midfield positions. The latter is a problem area, which is why Dier probably needs to play there. Henderson is a good fit, but trying someone like Oxlade-Chamberlain wasn't such a bad idea. It's a shame Barkley is playing the more forward position for his club.

 

[K.D.D.D.D.Soc]

For England it is unfortunate that Dier is not playing in midfield for us. England played some decent football with Dier, Alli and Henderson at the Euros before it went wrong. It had a good balance and the team failed mainly because of the goals scoring.

Perhaps England just need to be bold. Play a back three of Stones, Keane and Dier and see how it develops. There will be mistakes on the way. Walker and Rose wide, with plenty of respectable cover, Lallana for this pressing and the fact that England tend to play better when he is there, even if it is not so obvious why. That leaves two forward positions, where there are plenty of options, and the two midfield positions. The latter is a problem area, which is why Dier probably needs to play there. Henderson is a good fit, but trying someone like Oxlade-Chamberlain wasn't such a bad idea. It's a shame Barkley is playing the more forward position for his club.

I like the 3 at the back system and think the 3 players you named can make it work, but you must have dynamic fullbacks who want to play the ball forward rather than backwards. I don't like the idea of a defensive midfielder as it limits the teams ability to move forward when someone believes they have a rigid place in the team, but feel having two football intelligent, athletic players can provide a platform, like the old fashioned wing halves and allow the 4 forward players freedom to interchange.

 

[Mr_B]

I've always been a big fan of Defoe but the fact that a 35 year old playing for a relegation bound club is a more than viable striking option really sums up the dearth in quality in the england squad.

 

[Danishfurniturelover]

With regards to the lack of ball playing centre backs, I think it is a shame the lad at Liverpool Gomes is not getting more game time as he looks a talent. Also Holding at Arsenal who I saw several times in the Championship when he was with Bolton and he looked like another young English player who plays the game the right way, but is another example of wenger not trusting young players anymore.

 

[Jordinho]

With regards to the lack of ball playing centre backs, I think it is a shame the lad at Liverpool Gomes is not getting more game time as he looks a talent. Also Holding at Arsenal who I saw several times in the Championship when he was with Bolton and he looked like another young English player who plays the game the right way, but is another example of wenger not trusting young players anymore.

Serious injury can do that to you.