England Team v Slovenia

[TheFamilyCat]

-----------Pickford
Trent-Stones-Guehi-Shaw?
-------Wharton*-Rice
Palmer----Foden------Gordon
-----------Watkins

* or Mainoo.

Jude was shite tonight, Foden toiled and provided some moments of quality but it just isn't his position.

More chance of me playing than that line up.

[CoolClaret]

More chance of me playing than that line up.

Sadly, though it is what I'd pick!

[Casper2]

I wonder if Southgate will still bemoan not having Kalvin Phillips

He had the choice to pick him if he wanted him that much

[BobSykes]

I can think of euros and world cups when we've gone out agonisingly early even at the group stage but at least it's been exciting and the pulse has been set racing en route.

I've felt nothing about this lot this time round, utter dross in all three games apart from 2 early goals in games 1 and 2. Once again England rather taking the edge off my enjoyment of the tournament.

[expoultryboy]

Agree with that Cool . Are Bellingham and Foden the new Lambert and Gerrard ?

[Poulton-le-Claret]

He had the choice to pick him if he wanted him that much

Yeah I've heard of managers having a moan that a player isn't available due to injury, but never because they are so crap they can't be selected

[Woody9229]

Didn’t realise Burnley set piece coach worked for Southgate

I was thinking the same and even the missus said it’s like watching Burnley generally but the set pieces have been truly shocking

[quoonbeatz]

Gary Neville just said we're the only country who looks at a good player and says "yeah but how are we going to get him in the team?" Everyone else just manages it.

He's half right but that's the problem. England have a load of players who are by and large the same type of player and they all play in similar positions. Trying to shoehorn them in isn't the route to success. Pick a proper team. Its OK to not have all the beat players playing at once.

[CrosspoolClarets]

In 30-40 years I have never seen a punditry consensus such as there is, all agreeing Bellingham has to drop back into a single, and at times double, pivot, Foden inside, Gordon wide, and potentially Palmer in for Saka.

The only equivalent I can think of in the universal opinion bar the manager way is the Trafford / Muric one.

Brilliant explanation from the Aussie tonight by the way about Palmer, the way he eliminates an opponent is scary. With this England side, that is what we need. Still cannot quite believe we nearly had him at Burnley less than a year ago.

[willsclarets]

I'd drop Saka, Tripps and Gallagher from that side

Pickford
Walker
Guehi
Stones
TAA
Mainoo
Rice
Bellingham
Foden
Palmer
Kane

[jedi_master]

Gary Neville just said we're the only country who looks at a good player and says "yeah but how are we going to get him in the team?" Everyone else just manages it.

He's half right but that's the problem. England have a load of players who are by and large the same type of player and they all play in similar positions. Trying to shoehorn them in isn't the route to success. Pick a proper team. Its OK to not have all the beat players playing at once.

This is spot on, but we always do it. Scholes on the left wing etc.

[Taffy on the wing]

AWFUL STUFF!..........Hard to watch...... the 1+ minute for Gordon (what was that?)

THE MAN CLEARLY HAS NO FCUKING IDEA WHAT HE'S DOING & IT'S BEEN OBVIOUS FOR YEARS.

[Casper2]

Yeah I've heard of managers having a moan that a player isn't available due to injury, but never because they are so crap they can't be selected

Exactly

[Winstonswhite]

In 30-40 years I have never seen a punditry consensus such as there is, all agreeing Bellingham has to drop back into a single, and at times double, pivot, Foden inside, Gordon wide, and potentially Palmer in for Saka.

The only equivalent I can think of in the universal opinion bar the manager way is the Trafford / Muric one.

Brilliant explanation from the Aussie tonight by the way about Palmer, the way he eliminates an opponent is scary. With this England side, that is what we need. Still cannot quite believe we nearly had him at Burnley less than a year ago.

Missed our best chance though didn’t he?

[CoolClaret]

Agree with that Cool . Are Bellingham and Foden the new Lambert and Gerrard ?

They could well be... Maybe if Bellingham drops into midfield it may be different, but then that's putting Rice into a role that he's not favoured in.

Basically - Southagate just needs to pick an XI with the players playing in their best positions - some will miss out but that's just how the cookie crumbles.

[Tresor'sTracksuit]

Southgate talks absolute bullshit.

[summitclaret]

That's 4 games in the last fortnight where we have been utter sh1te against weak opposition. Playing for a draw when 1 goal for Denmark would have meant that we had to face Germany next.

Gordon on at 89 mins was completely bonkers. Should have started, as should Palmer.

[RVclaret]

Jude playing deeper isn’t the answer either. The answer is Wharton. But we aren’t going to see it.

[South West Claret.]

England win their group what is there not to like

[Darthlaw]

-----------Pickford
Trent-Stones-Guehi-Shaw?
-------Wharton*-Rice
Palmer----Foden------Gordon
-----------Watkins

* or Mainoo.

Jude was shite tonight, Foden toiled and provided some moments of quality but it just isn't his position.

I’d go with both Wharton and Mainoo and drop Rice who offered nothing tonight.

Mainoo, Palmer and Gordon all improved the team tonight which has probably come as a shock to Southgate and Southgate alone. He even had to put TAA on so he didn’t get a nosebleed.

[CrosspoolClarets]

Missed our best chance though didn’t he?

Can’t remember a good chance in all honesty.

Assume you meant Palmer at the end, yes, tough chance, but by his levels he snatched at it.

[Casper2]

Let's experiment and build in the tournament. Every game in the last 2 years should have had foden and Bellingham in midfield. Instead he spent two years telling us foden can't play there or no.10

[Poulton-le-Claret]

Southgate can't understand some of the fans booing. They've spent hundreds (if not thousands) of pounds to be bored to death and be relying on results elsewhere to top arguably the easiest group at the tournament.

[Darthlaw]

Let's experiment and build in the tournament. Every game in the last 2 years should have had foden and Bellingham in midfield. Instead he spent two years telling us foden can't play there or no.10

I do wonder if he was trying to get fired pre tournament but the general malaise around the England team meant the FA forgot he was in charge?

[Hozz]

Work means I’m going to be unable to catch any more England games, quite fortunate unfortunately.

[CoolClaret]

I’d go with both Wharton and Mainoo and drop Rice who offered nothing tonight.

Mainoo, Palmer and Gordon all improved the team tonight which has probably come as a shock to Southgate and Southgate alone. He even had to put TAA on so he didn’t get a nosebleed.

I thought Rice orchestrated some of our best chances in the first half but then went missing - though Gallagher who was playing next to him was all over the place; think he will show more of his class with more of a sitter next to him.

I'd be happy to see Wharton and Mainoo though, nothing to lose right now.

[Colburn_Claret]

The answer isn't the players, it's the manager.
Pick ANY eleven, there won't be any movement looking to be an option for the man on the ball.
There won't be any blind runs trying to pull defenders out of position.
The opposition won't get tired in the second half because they haven't had to run first half.
When passes are made, it will be to someone facing away from goal, with a defender on his back, so his only option is to pass backwards.
Kane will get bored at the lack of service, and play deeper and deeper looking for the ball.

It's all basic stuff, and Southgate can't see it.

[CrosspoolClarets]

Personally I’d make him the first manager ever to be sacked mid tournament, but realistically it ain’t going to happen, like Wrighty’s idea of Saka at left back, where, like Bale, he started at.

He has resisted so hard the Jude at no. 8 idea that it is obvious he won’t do it despite almost all pundits calling for it. Love Jude, fantastic player, must play, but he isn’t good enough in tight spaces to operate as a 10, whereas Foden’s quick feet were playing lovely passes to various teammates.

Really, in a nutshell, this comes down to what we saw last year in the PL which Vincent commented on a lot. Top football has changed. It is far more attacking, flamboyant. Teams that don’t adapt get left behind. That feels like this England. The Dutch can’t defend for toffee despite having VVD. But I sense they will defend easily against us while also finding it easy to create chances. Could be a long Sunday evening if it is them.

[bobinho]

Gary Neville just said we're the only country who looks at a good player and says "yeah but how are we going to get him in the team?" Everyone else just manages it.

He's half right but that's the problem. England have a load of players who are by and large the same type of player and they all play in similar positions. Trying to shoehorn them in isn't the route to success. Pick a proper team. Its OK to not have all the beat players playing at once.

Alf Ramsay won a World Cup with exactly that mentality.

We have an awful lot of really good players. Good enough to win a major tournament id say. They’ll win nothing managed by this absolute muppet. He’s coached the skill, the class and the desire right out of them.

[wildcat391]

I’d go with both Wharton and Mainoo and drop Rice who offered nothing tonight.

Mainoo, Palmer and Gordon all improved the team tonight which has probably come as a shock to Southgate and Southgate alone. He even had to put TAA on so he didn’t get a nosebleed.

Did anyone see the interview before the game with Declan Rice? He was asked if he had noticed any criticism, of the team, and himself.
His answer was from someone who knows he's in the team no.matter how shoite he plays in any one game. Pure arrogance. Arrogance is not a bad thing necessarily, but only when it's backed up with substance.

[willsclarets]

Alf Ramsay won a World Cup with exactly that mentality.

We have an awful lot of really good players. Good enough to win a major tournament id say. They’ll win nothing managed by this absolute muppet. He’s coached the skill, the class and the desire right out of them.

Well turning the best player in Spain into a passenger within 3 games is impressive in a way

[bobinho]

Southgate talks absolute bullshit.

His pre and post match interviews are written by Garth crooks. The guy speaks in absolute riddles.

[Stalbansclaret]

What did Southgate mean in his post-match ITV interview when he said " it's a strange environment that we're playing in" ? The only thing I can think of is that he doesn't understand why there is discontent when we have qualified from the Group. He's a bit dim if so as he knows we went into the tournament as favourited with a much-lauded proliferation of attacking talent. Somehow he has turned that into a unit that grinds out low-scoring just-about-enough results against inferior opposition in an utterly turgid and pedestrian manner.
Someone should get him to have alook at how Austria play.

[Darthlaw]

Alf Ramsay won a World Cup with exactly that mentality.

For a team which goes on about our success in 66 so much, we do seem to have a short memory about doing it without one of our best players (Jimmy Greaves) in the final, opting to go with the best team instead.

Now we crowbar in the best names and hope for the best.

[Pearcey]

Well, at least my pre tournament hopes and expectations have been dashed early this time. Woeful again and the improvement gap is too big unless Southgate does something drastic.

[Goliath]

It's time to just get a team with balance. Foden and Bellingham aren't working together.

Personally I'd go with this

..............Pickford

Trippier..Stones..Rice..Walker

...............Wharton...Mainoo

Palmer..........Foden.......Gordon

.....................Kane.

Trippiers use of the ball is smarter then any other full back we have but there's not much attacking threat from either side with him at left back. I'd just swap him and Walker around, it just makes way more sense.

Bellingham and Saka I would drop to the bench and just build around Foden. 2 central midfielders who play with their brain and can pick forward passes into Foden.

Also would allow Kane to drop deep with Gordon providing a runner in behind him.

[grapidianclaret]

Alf Ramsay won a World Cup with exactly that mentality.

We have an awful lot of really good players. Good enough to win a major tournament id say. They’ll win nothing managed by this absolute muppet. He’s coached the skill, the class and the desire right out of them.

Don,t forget the entertainment. He coached that out of them early.

[Elizabeth]

There’s been mention of the great Alf Ramsay, quite rightly.
He would drop ‘Poster Boy’ Bellingham for the next game I’m fairly sure

[IanMcL]

I was watching and suddenly, they had half time and the second half started!

It was on but I was doing other things then and listening for heightened levels of excitement, which failed to materialise, until the final whistle.

11 good players plus subs but no team. Strange.

[Silkyskills1]

In 30-40 years I have never seen a punditry consensus such as there is, all agreeing Bellingham has to drop back into a single, and at times double, pivot, Foden inside, Gordon wide, and potentially Palmer in for Saka.

Sorry, I'm a bit baffled. Can you explain what a single pivot is and what the difference is between that and a double pivot?
I first came across the word 'pivot' at grammar school in the 60's playing basketball for the first time in my life. Recall it being something like one foot being 'anchored' to the ground allowing you to twist and turn looking to release the ball. Not sure that's what you mean, though.

[Ric_C]

We've gone from tournament favourites to a team that is a laughing stock of Europe at how boring we are in just 3 games. Some feat that

Having seen the last 4 games of turgid shite, some big decisions need to be made

Jude needs dropping, or at least play him with Rice

Palmer and Gordon need to be given a chance and also Wharton or Mainoo

Change of formation could be an option?

However Southgate hasn't got the balls to do any of these things. We are going home shortly unfortunately barring an absolute miracle.

Pickford shouting "top of the group" after the game to the fans, just shows that the players don't get why everyone is annoyed.

[Swizzlestick]

How are we a "laughing stock of Europe"? Christ, we've not been great and produced some dull football, but we're top of the group. Most in Europe care about what their country is doing and that's it. Most teams will want to avoid us.

Mainoo and Palmer looked very good last night and need to start.

[Newcastleclaret93]

We've gone from tournament favourites to a team that is a laughing stock of Europe at how boring we are in just 3 games. Some feat that

Having seen the last 4 games of turgid shite, some big decisions need to be made

Jude needs dropping, or at least play him with Rice

Palmer and Gordon need to be given a chance and also Wharton or Mainoo

Change of formation could be an option?

However Southgate hasn't got the balls to do any of these things. We are going home shortly unfortunately barring an absolute miracle.

Pickford shouting "top of the group" after the game to the fans, just shows that the players don't get why everyone is annoyed.

This shows how insular England fans are.

We are certainly not the laughing stock of Europe. I’m currently working over sees and the opinion of England is the complete opposite of this.

[ecc]

It should be recalled that England were seeded.

Out of the first six seeds only Belgium might not finish in the first two of the group.

One of England's problems is rarely playing official, meaningful matches outside of tournaments.

[Tresor'sTracksuit]

One of England's problems is Gareth Southgate and the negative mindset he's given everyone.

[Newcastleclaret93]

This shows how insular England fans are.

We are certainly not the laughing stock of Europe. I’m currently working over seas and the opinion of England is the complete opposite of this.

[Ric_C]

I didn't say we were the laughing stock of Europe. I said we are the laughing stock of Europe at how boring we are

[summitclaret]

I'd make Southgate and the whole squad watch Georgia's brilliant performance tonight at least twice tomorrow, with are you watching England being played out loud.

[gandhisflipflop]

https://x.com/IpsRich/status/1805859067 ... Ml1WQ&s=19

[Quicknick]

Don't forget the new manager.