No Henderson in the provisional squad 

Well that was shit

14 minutes ago, Marc505 said:

Southgate sounding a bit more rattled on the 606 interview than on TV

Ooh what was said?

Well that was as boring as it gets. 

England are currently 1/2 NOT to get to the Final.

24 minutes ago, Rizlar said:

You don’t like Southgate do you ?

He is probably a lovely man and with a spotless reputation . 

 

But I want Blood And Thunder football from my national team ........at this moment in time Id take Thud And Blunder rather than that tepid turgid non football. 

I thought that after the Denmark performance England needed a statement performance to reignite confidence in the team, but that wasn't it. Despite being stuck out on the right wing, Palmer created more in 20 minutes than Saka did in 70. Gordon was OK but was given no time. Missed opportunity to play Wharton to partner Rice and dominate the midfield.

They lacked pace and tempo and like BWFC were slow in the build up giving Slovenia plenty of time to get their entire team between us and their goal whenever we (eventually) got forward.

It lacked imagination and we didn't deserve anything but a draw.

I can only hope these three games are part of a masterplan to cruise through the group stage with the minimal expenditure of energy and they'll burst into life when the knockout stage commences.

This is exactly the same record and GD as the group in World Cup 1990

3 minutes ago, jmjhb said:

This is exactly the same record and GD as the group in World Cup 1990

much better group in 1990

We’ve certainly ended up in the easier half of the draw

 

That’s a bloody tough half. They could still get Holland too. 

9 minutes ago, desperado said:

We’ve certainly ended up in the easier half of the draw

 

All chocolate cuckoos arent we ? 

5 minutes ago, Krimzon said:

All chocolate cuckoos arent we ? 

?

Summat to do with Swiss? Clocks? Chocolate?

Edited June 25, 20242 yr by desperado

Southgates a stats based manager in the same mould as IE.

66% of the time you’ll get a ‘result’ - a narrow win or a draw.

The problem comes when you come up against a team that attacks & puts you under pressure, that’s when you lose.

It’s a fucking boring football  philosophy.

To avoid Holland we need somebody from group F to qualify ahead of Hungary. We’d then play 3rd from group E currently Slovakia 

It’s extremely likely to be Holland 

Edited June 25, 20242 yr by desperado

1 hour ago, Not in Crawley said:

Gary Neville can't pull off a linen jacket.

The rat faced cunt.

Not really surprised by that performance. More of the same. No idea what Southgate is thinking other than 'safety first'.

For the brief time we saw them, Gordon and Palmer shook things up a bit.

Before the tournament, like most I thought defence would be the problem area. Not sure what we have in midfield but it sure ain't creativity. Huff and puff sideways and backwards.

I can't wait for the FA's yes man to fuck off. I don't care who replaces him just get shut FFS.

 

Am I missing somet but surely we can all see that we are carrying bellingham-  the lad is amazingly talented but he is goosed,  apart from the first half of the first game he has been none existent and gave so many passes away, it's like his extended season has caught up with him.

Huge call that Southgate won't make but rest him in the next game, play foden in middle, palmer on the right and saka/gordon on the left.   Calculated gamble ?  Yeah probably but Southgate would be lynched if he doesn't play palmer from the off on sunday

4 minutes ago, W.cramp said:

Am I missing somet but surely we can all see that we are carrying bellingham-  the lad is amazingly talented but he is goosed,  apart from the first half of the first game he has been none existent and gave so many passes away, it's like his extended season has caught up with him.

Huge call that Southgate won't make but rest him in the next game, play foden in middle, palmer on the right and saka/gordon on the left.   Calculated gamble ?  Yeah probably but Southgate would be lynched if he doesn't play palmer from the off on sunday

Don't disagree but the match for experiments was last nights. We were through, the previous games had been turgid & there were squad players bursting to gave a go 

The fckg idiot's only response was to replace TAA, who should never have been in midfield, with Gallagher. Of him, Maddison & Grealish ... Gallagher is a distant 4th.

His experiment failed, Gallagher was pulled & still he stayed unflexible.

I hope Evatt watched that and saw why, for all his huffing & puffing, he gets criticised.

Bellingham has had half a good season in an ok league. But he certainly isn’t doing enough for England to justify pushing probably our most naturally gifted player out of their preferred position. Talk about square pegs in round holes. One of the later formations from last night probably involved 3/4 players in their best positions. For me the best managers are willing to make the brave decisions even if that means dropping some of the “best” players for the benefit of the team. It’s fine if you pick 11 great players and they happen to gel, but when that isn’t happening you have to try something different. Simply bringing on like for like replacements in the same formation isn’t going to make any difference. As we’ve seen for the last 3 matches.

9 hours ago, Not in Crawley said:

Gary Neville can't pull off a linen jacket.

See, I'm like that with hats, I've tried & better tried with various ones but no, just can't.

8 hours ago, gonzo said:

Ooh what was said?

Sorry I went sleep I could only handle 5 minutes of the phone in after 😂

He just talked about how they're working under an odd atmosphere, and about the reception they got at the end. Reporter asked if it hurt hearing boos etc and he kind of stumbled on his words a bit which I'm not used to hearing from him then just said I want the fans to support the players it doesn't matter about me.

This "working under an odd atmosphere" thing that he's mentioned a couple of times now needs looking into. Wonder what he means, surely not just some criticism from pundits etc?

People chucking stuff at a manager who has just qualified top of the group need their passports taking off them. Utter knobs. 

This is what Southgate always does. Get through the group stages safely without expensing a shit ton of energy trying to play total football and then see how things lie. It's conservative and it's not always the best watch - but it's led to our biggest successes as a national team since 66. 

Whether that approach will work this time is a percentages thing plus a bit of luck. Like someone points out earlier. Very much an Evatt style. 

But booing the side off and chucking bloody cups isn't going to improve those odds. I'm surprised Southgate kept the job on after the abuse he got post Italy - but I'll never understand the way some football supporters minds work. 

Bellingham has gone from playing with rodrygo and Vini's pace allowing him to have freedom and space to Foden and trippier funneling everything inside. I'm not surprised he's pissed off. It's not working for anyone. 

It's clear as day that Slovenia just pressed until the ball went to the left hand side and just let trippier have it. Easy to defend.

When Foden came inside it was Jude who was tasked with dropping wide into the space first half. Imagine using your two best 10s to rotate left wing duties. 

1 minute ago, kent_white said:

People chucking stuff at a manager who has just qualified top of the group need their passports taking off them. Utter knobs. 

Well, chucking stuff (that's got no chance of reaching. Ever thrown an emply plastic beer 'glass' ?) isn’t great.

Giving the manager dogs abuse for poor squad selection, poor team selection, poor tactics and whinging when criticised is fair game in my view. 3 games, 40m max decent play.

These complaining have spent serious £thousands on flights, trains, tickets, accommodation to see lacklustre performances and players/manager earning £millions get emotional for not being hugged.

F'kem.