England v Austria

[tiger76]

the main reason I want Southgate gone is because when he was introduced he made it very clear he would only pick players who are in form and not reputation. He's a liar #Southgateout

Well you and I may well get our wish after the Euro's as Gareth Southgate himself has stated that anything less than a semi-final place would constitute failure,https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/57325398 and given England would play all but one of their tournament games at Wembley I'm inclined to agree, we'll never get a better chance to mount a sustained challenge in a major tournament for an awful long time after this, so it's imperative GS and the squad grasp their opportunity with both hands and more aptly feet to make themselves living legends, do I hope we'll do it, absolutely as a passionate Englishman of course I do, however do I genuinely believe we can do it, alas I have to say my expectations are low.

[boatshed bill]

Well you and I may well get our wish after the Euro's as Gareth Southgate himself has stated that anything less than a semi-final place would constitute failure,https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/57325398 and given England would play all but one of their tournament games at Wembley I'm inclined to agree, we'll never get a better chance to mount a sustained challenge in a major tournament for an awful long time after this, so it's imperative GS and the squad grasp their opportunity with both hands and more aptly feet to make themselves living legends, do I hope we'll do it, absolutely as a passionate Englishman of course I do, however do I genuinely believe we can do it, alas I have to say my expectations are low.

Funny,
i thought anything short of winning it would be in the failure category

[Jakubclaret]

Ok so who should be selected instead of them?

I'm equally intrigued by the people who want Southgate out wondering myself who would come in & do the same job or better, I'm all for replacing underperforming managers & players but a few suggestions accompanied with that general theme wouldn't go amiss.

[boatshed bill]

I'm equally intrigued by the people who want Southgate out wondering myself who would come in & do the same job or better, I'm all for replacing underperforming managers & players but a few suggestions accompanied with that general theme wouldn't go amiss.

good point.

I'm not putting anyone forward, but what about a succession plan?
So we have ex-players who may fill the current manager's position, taking advantage of having worked with him...
just a thought?

[Jakubclaret]

good point.

I'm not putting anyone forward, but what about a succession plan?
So we have ex-players who may fill the current manager's position, taking advantage of having worked with him...
just a thought?

Nobody's jumping out, people seem to be calling for the head without putting anything forward namewise.

[Spijed]

What has Southgate done to suggest he's a good manager, or rather who's he beaten so far that makes you think he's the man for the job?

[Jakubclaret]

What has Southgate done to suggest he's a good manager, or rather who's he beaten so far that makes you think he's the man for the job?

I'm not debating the merit of that argument I'm not overly keen on him myself but I'm not calling for his head without suggesting appropriate replacements like some other people are.

[boatshed bill]

Might watch the highlights from other friendlies, my initial thought is that these warm up games will tell us very little about any country's ability to win this tournament.

[minnieclaret]

My biggest gripe about Sarfgate is that we play as though our forwards have only just met. The top sides have a rhythm about them with players making runs to take defenders away and others making blindside runs. We are lucky to have Mount, Grealish and Foden (not that I would suggest he plays all three) who can carry the ball and beat a man but for England they too often end up with nobody to play in.
As said at HT Kane is coming far to deep to pick up the ball. He is our spearhead and should stay up top to receive it.

[Buxtonclaret]

Thought Pickford looked a waiting accident that final 20 minutes.
Think him and his manager have a lot in common.

[bf2k]

My biggest gripe about Sarfgate is that we play as though our forwards have only just met. The top sides have a rhythm about them with players making runs to take defenders away and others making blindside runs. We are lucky to have Mount, Grealish and Foden (not that I would suggest he plays all three) who can carry the ball and beat a man but for England they too often end up with nobody to play in.
As said at HT Kane is coming far to deep to pick up the ball. He is our spearhead and should stay up top to receive it.

His first few games we looked exciting. Fast, free flowing attacking football. Now we’ve gone back to possession football which is so slow it’s painful. The one time we attack quickly we scored.

[Milltown1882]

What has Southgate done to suggest he's a good manager, or rather who's he beaten so far that makes you think he's the man for the job?

Who was the last manager to take England to the World Cup semi final? Burnley fans hate him because he doesn’t pick half our squad that finished 17th in the league.

[Vegas Claret]

What has Southgate done to suggest he's a good manager, or rather who's he beaten so far that makes you think he's the man for the job?

Southgate's only redeeming feature was he relegated Boro

[Taffy on the wing]

Decent goal made by Grealiish and Lingard, and an easy finish for Saka, but that defence still gives me nightmares, and better teams than Austria will punish England when it truly matters.

It's this predictable, non sensical, passing about at the back that will be our undoing.......it's old hat!
Every team expects it & has a trap set for it.

Oh and the Circus Clown who is our #1 Goalkeeper....He's a Liability & TOO SHORT!

Add to that, we have an imbecile of a manager who plays everyone in an unfamiliar position..

[Newcastleclaret93]

Who was the last manager to take England to the World Cup semi final? Burnley fans hate him because he doesn’t pick half our squad that finished 17th in the league.

You have nailed this in one!

Spijed and Vegas are being critical about his selections saying he only goes for big names but they can’t give alternatives. Just jumping on the I hate Southgate train for no reason.

England’s most successful manager in over 20 years.

[CaptJohn]

Turgid performance IMHO but lots of regular starters missing. If we play that tippy-tappy stuff against the top sides they will murder us as they're better at it. We need to get space behind teams for the likes of Saka, Mount, Sterling and Foden to use in fast attacks so we need to create that space by playing deeper at times to draw defences out. Looking forward to the tournament but not that hopeful of our chances TBH.

[Steve1956]

FB_IMG_1622702575654.jpg (80.62 KiB) Viewed 778 times

I wonder if he came on a red scooter powering up on mushrooms.

[RVclaret]

Really impressed with Bellingham in the middle and I would start him alongside Rice in the Euros. Madness that he is 17 years old.

As for the front line, I agree with other posters in that we need more runners in behind and that is where Sterling/Rashford come in - it’s just a shame both ended the season out of form. Kane’s Spurs success came with Son alongside him making runs beyond him on the left - this is something we need one of those two to do.

As things are right now, I would start with this 11:

Pickford
Walker Stones Maguire Shaw
Bellingham Rice
Foden Mount Sterling
Kane

Love Grealish but Mount and Foden just beat him to the starting 11 for now. Foden and Sterling can swap positions if we need to stretch the game a bit more (onto their ‘natural’ sides). Really need Maguire to be fit because Mings is absolutely tragic and it beggars belief how he gets called up. Coady also isn’t good enough in a back 4.

Otherwise, we play a back 3 with Walker in there and James/Chilwell the wing backs like they play for Chelsea. Mount goes to the left and Foden right with Sterling on the bench.

[Billy Balfour]

I'm not arsed about the Euros, as long as we don't get beat by Scotland.

[dandeclaret]

Who was the last manager to take England to the World Cup semi final? Burnley fans hate him because he doesn’t pick half our squad that finished 17th in the league.

THEY won't like it, but YOU are correct.

It's another for the style over substance brigade. Semi final of the world cup, good performance in the nations league, solid qualifying campaign for the Euros...... results are good + in the main.

[Foshiznik]

Yes he got us to a semi final of a World Cup, but let’s be honest about it, it wasn’t that difficult seeing the quality of opposition we went up against. We came up against croatia and bottled it.

[dandeclaret]

Yes he got us to a semi final of a World Cup, but let’s be honest about it, it wasn’t that difficult seeing the quality of opposition we went up against. We came up against croatia and bottled it.

Such a reductive argument. Most teams who perform well in an international tournament don't face much opposition, particularly given hindsight. I don't remember too many people going into the world cup stating that we should be expecting Semi Final as a minimum. I know the bookmakers didn't have england in the first 4 favourites for the tournament on the 100% book. With hindsight, everything is easy. I can't believe I didn't back Burnley to go 23 games unbeaten in the championship from Christmas, cos given that the team easily stayed up in the prem the following year, it was only to be expected given the quality of opposition they were facing in those 23 games.

[Foshiznik]

Such a reductive argument. Most teams who perform well in an international tournament don't face much opposition, particularly given hindsight. I don't remember too many people going into the world cup stating that we should be expecting Semi Final as a minimum. I know the bookmakers didn't have england in the first 4 favourites for the tournament on the 100% book. With hindsight, everything is easy. I can't believe I didn't back Burnley to go 23 games unbeaten in the championship from Christmas, cos given that the team easily stayed up in the prem the following year, it was only to be expected given the quality of opposition they were facing in those 23 games.

Take your point. I can accept I was maybe a little harsh.