Almost every England player has had a kicking now and it's the turn of Arsenal pair Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka.
Almost every England player has had a kicking now and it’s the turn of Arsenal pair Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka.At what point do we stop looking at Rice’s midfield partner to solve England midfield woes, and start looking at the common denominator, Rice himself. To his credit, he has tried to dictate the tempo and direction the game, but that tempo is ponderous, and direction is often sideways or backwards.
Similarly no-one seem to be willing or able to try and beat their man to create something – though credit to Foden for having a go. It improved to a degree once Mainoo, Palmer and Gordon came on, and even Trent, who was at least trying to play the ball forward. But way too little way too late. Aside from the full back issue I am still baffled by the fact some players are considered shoo-in starters for England. For example Saka. I just don’t get it or him. His signature move at Arsenal is to cut in from the right onto his left and get off a shot or cross from there. And it often works in the PL, but defenders seem to have worked out his go-to move at International level and I’m not sure what else he offers.
England’s problems are many but they sit in front of and behind Bellingham and Foden not within them. The one in front is a big one because Harold Kane is in the running for being England’s greatest striker. But the problem with Kane is that he likes to get involved too much. Look at Foden. At City, Haaland doesn’t get involved TOO much which usually draws criticism and you could argue City play better football without him. But by not getting involved he doesn’t take up any space.
We need players that can control the game. Players who can move the ball quickly and occupy the opposition’s half with the ball. When Mainoo came on, it was no coincidence that England were suddenly a hell of a lot closer to the oppositions box than they had been for the rest of the tournament. I’m not saying Mainoo is HIM for England but someone like that is definitely needed. And no, not Kalvin Phillips.
The mood amongst fans seems frustrated. People were excited about the range of talent at our disposal. Pre-tournament XIs featuring five or six attackers were not unusual. The media have, as ever, been massively complicit by wanging on about how we’re tournament favourites – without pausing to explain what that really means – and anything less than total victory, or a brave semi-final exit playing scintillating, balls-out football, would be total failure.
There’s a couple of other points worth making. First, there’s an obvious pitfall to trying to stodge your way to tournament success: if we go out next round, or even the round after that, losing 0-1 to someone moderately decent, no England supporter will feel like it’s been a success. What is certain is that, in ten or twenty years, we will look back on this time with a different appreciation for what ol’ Gareth has achieved. With the distance of years, we will be able to see more dispassionately how he changed the atmosphere and expectations around the England team, how he integrated a new generation of technical players, how he developed a tournament blueprint which brought more success than any other.
People seem to have forgotten the state of the England team Southgate took over from Sam Allardyce. Yes, seriously Sam Allardyce – I’m not joking!! The reason we played 5 at the back in Russia was because our defenders were too scared to pass the ball around in a back 4. Yes, seriously – Im not joking. Southgate has transformed England and is our 2nd most sucecssful manager of all time.
I’m praying Southgate is playing the long game and pacing us through a seven-game tournament. Its hard to believe England’s 2nd best ever manager isn’t much better now with 8 years experience and better players. I don’t buy the media narrative. Fans were singing his name and we said “Football’s coming home again”. But now the toxic atmosphere surrounding the England is back. The hate, the spite and the rage. Now fans are booing Southgate and throwing bottles and cups at him.
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