Maddison..........

comment by True Blue (U9486)
posted 7 hours, 35 minutes ago
We've seen it all before but I'm fairly sure he'll cement his place in the England Squad............. Once he's gone to a 'bigger' Club.
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I’m not sure about this. I don’t think Southgate discriminates against smaller club players like previous managers have. To me it’s purely that he either doesn’t like the player or he doesn’t fit in to his formation.

comment by Merseysidefox (U4842)
posted 1 hour, 23 minutes ago
comment by True Blue (U9486)
posted 7 hours, 35 minutes ago
We've seen it all before but I'm fairly sure he'll cement his place in the England Squad............. Once he's gone to a 'bigger' Club.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

I’m not sure about this. I don’t think Southgate discriminates against smaller club players like previous managers have. To me it’s purely that he either doesn’t like the player or he doesn’t fit in to his formation.
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It's indoctrinated into the scheme of things with England, they'll tempt you with a squad place but then a few words about 'progressing'.

Play for a big Club, well not actually play very much but you're at a big Club and you're in, just the way it is.

comment by True Blue (U9486)
posted 50 minutes ago
comment by Merseysidefox (U4842)
posted 1 hour, 23 minutes ago
comment by True Blue (U9486)
posted 7 hours, 35 minutes ago
We've seen it all before but I'm fairly sure he'll cement his place in the England Squad............. Once he's gone to a 'bigger' Club.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

I’m not sure about this. I don’t think Southgate discriminates against smaller club players like previous managers have. To me it’s purely that he either doesn’t like the player or he doesn’t fit in to his formation.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
It's indoctrinated into the scheme of things with England, they'll tempt you with a squad place but then a few words about 'progressing'.

Play for a big Club, well not actually play very much but you're at a big Club and you're in, just the way it is.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

I don't think you're completely wrong True Blue. I'll give Southgate some credit in that he's a massive improvement on a long list of previous England managers when it comes to selecting players from outside the Top 6.

However, it's perhaps inevitable that there'll always be that residual feeling that those contracted to a Top 6 club (note i'm not saying playing regularly for a Top 6 club) will often have a priority of some kind.

Jesse Lingard is the one for me - one who if he were playing for Bournemouth/Leicester/Everton, in the same form he's been in for the past 12 months or more, frankly I don't believe he'd be under consideration for the England team.

I don't think this criticism is entirely fair. Chilwell played a full game last night and has established himself. Maguire forced his way into the England side while still a Leicester player. It seems more likely that Southgate has other options he wants to try that he's more familiar with due to the youth system.

Ultimately, if Maddison keeps racking up goals, assists and strong performances, then his chance should come.

As for Southgate himself, we know he's not the greatest manager in the world but he has got England players playing for the shirt again, which we hadn't seen for over a decade before his arrival. So he deserves credit for that at least.

Can I shock you, I quite like Southgate. Yes he’s as average as the England team are, but he at least accepts that and is trying to get us to play to a style that both works in international football but suits English players used to fast paced games.

Spain or Brazil we are not.

comment by The_Dungeon_Master (U4830)
posted 28 minutes ago
As for Southgate himself, we know he's not the greatest manager in the world but he has got England players playing for the shirt again, which we hadn't seen for over a decade before his arrival. So he deserves credit for that at least.
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Like I said on the match article last night, I think he's benefited from being in the right place at the right time. The staleness of the Golden Generation had pretty much come to an end when he came in and some good youngsters have started coming through. The team has pretty much picked itself without the need for any nous from Southgate.

Southgate has never done anything to convince me that he’s anything more than a bang average manager, but he’s a nice guy. He plays the press well and is a good ambassador for the national team, which is half the battle.

He rightly won a lot of plaudits by promoting youth and changing the direction and perception of the England team. With lowered expectations he had a free ticket at the World Cup and our ridiculously easy run to the semis helped him even more.

But all this will only take him so far. He can’t keep just throwing promising kids in. At some point he’ll need to build a settled side with good experience. We’ll never win anything at our current stage of transition.

On last night itself I kind of understand why Maddison might not fit in the current system - unless he takes Barclay’s place.

Surely we have a better CB than Keane and we know Maguire has a mistake in him, but maybe he’s as good as we’ve got for now. We also need to find better than Rice, Barclay and Henderson, although there is room for improvement.

Up front we do look ok, but need more discipline. If the forwards weren’t all trying to outscore each other last night we might have won the 2nd half.

A final observation: who’s told Southgate that Chilwell can hit a dead ball?

A final observation: who’s told Southgate that Chilwell can hit a dead ball?

————

Lols!

I actually think Rice has all the attributes to become a top player and Henderson does a job. My issue with the midfield selection is Barclay. I’d pick pretty much any English player over him.

I l ow what Southgate’s problem is. He can’t have Maddison as part of a 3 behind a front 3 as he would expose the defence even more. However, Barclay hardly did a stellar job of stopping that yesterday.

This is why i’ll Start to lose faith in southgate if he sticks rigidly to 4-3-3. 4-2-3-1or Leicester patented 4-1-4-1 is now looking much more suited to the players we have. Even 3-5-2 if you want to get Rashford involved.

But if you’re telling me your best formation means Ross Barkley is starting for England, I’m here to tell you you’ve got the wrong formation!

I actually thought Barclay had one of his best games for England last night.

Sterling was absolutely top drawer though. Just keeps getting better and better.