BCB England football team thread

[Diamond Dog]

Great article.

[borofan]

Spot on.

[...]

Good article on Wayne Rooney.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/bl ... te-england

Blimey, Barney's changed his tune a bit...

https://www.theguardian.com/football/bl ... flatlining

https://www.theguardian.com/football/bl ... y-charlton

And not for the first time either

https://www.theguardian.com/football/bl ... oy-hodgson

[...]

Barney Ronay down the pub last night.

[Dr Markus]

Southgate in by the looks of things, no great surprise.

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/12016/10676702/gareth-southgate-to-be-confirmed-as-england-manager-sky-sources

Safe pair of hands for the job maybe? Could be wrong but I can't see youse improving drastically or anything.

[KeithPratt]

The only real positive I can take is that Southgate is actually the first manager since Hoddle who represented England on the pitch and has had tournament experience.

However I'm struggling to think who really would be any better. Perhaps the fact that he has U21 experience for a while might rub off on younger members of the squad. What England needs at this level is continuity so that the experience for the younger players does not alter significantly when they make the step up. It works for Spain and it works for Germany.

We'll see. I don't think we'll have any issues qualifying for the World Cup but we simply aren't good enough in terms of players to make a significant impact in the knock-out stages of a tournament. I've also yet to see any evidence of a tactical mind from him.

Perhaps the fact that this hasn't been a "coronation" in terms of an appointment and that it's all been rather low-key might help him.

[Dr Markus]

England's problems, to get sorted, would take 10 to 15 years maybe longer to solve. Also a lot of hardship for fans and a bit of cop on to actually look at other successful countries and try what they're doing.

[Dr Markus]

Roy Hodgson suggests some England players did not understand his instructions

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/12016/10685267/roy-hodgson-suggests-some-england-players-did-not-understand-his-instruction

[...]

Roy Hodgson suggests some England players did not understand his instwuctions

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/12016/10685267/roy-hodgson-suggests-some-england-players-did-not-understand-his-instruction

Just fixed that for you, Marcus

[KeithPratt]

IIRC at Fulham Hodgson drilled his players into oblivion about instructions, an approach that didn't have much of an impact at Liverpool. Even before he was appointed England manager it was plainly obvious that as a coach there was a ceiling that he'd already reached. He could take a group of journeymen and make them a solid defensive unit, but more than that he was exposed.

[Diamond Dog]

Even now he thinks he did absolutely nothing wrong, made no bad decsions, has left a very solid base to build on because, apparently, he established a style of play that was very good too.

No, really, that's what Hodgson said.

[WG Kaspar]

To be fair he was no worse than Capello, who had a far more talented bunch at his disposal

[...]

Even now he thinks he did absolutely nothing wrong, made no bad decsions, has left a very solid base to build on because, apparently, he established a style of play that was very good too.

No, really, that's what Hodgson said.

I think the problem involved with Hodgson saying anything is that people struggle to make out what it is what he means because of all of the shit
that comes flowing out of his mouth each time he opens it.

[KeithPratt]

This morning's Times has suggested that we have a lack of quality and pace in central midfield. I think Dier and Henderson are good, but certainly nothing to worry any major international side.

[WG Kaspar]

I'd say this has been a problem for about 50 years now

[Darkness_Fish]

This morning's Times has suggested that we have a lack of quality and pace in central midfield. I think Dier and Henderson are good, but certainly nothing to worry any major international side.

It's the quality that's the issue from our midfield, rather than pace, surely? Do we need someone who can charge through the middle at 100 mph? Up front we've got pace (and hopefully Rashford will provide some quality), and from the wings we've got pace. But without any creative spark, we're a bit fucked. Lallana and Sterling seem to be our most creative players at the moment, but I don't think they're going to be worrying any of the big guns too much.

[Diamond Dog]

Sterling is a nonsense. Completely over-rated and over-hyped.

[KeithPratt]

He's still young. I think he showed what he is capable of under Rodgers at Liverpool, and obviously alongside Suarez which probably helped his game a lot, but it's obvious that he's hugely inconsistent and hasn't progressed since then.

I certainly wouldn't put him in the first XI at the moment. Questions about motivation and personality abound too, which is unfortunate.

[Lord Rother]

Well, I thought we were rubbish again last night. France may only have won by the odd goal but they look so much better than our one dimensional players.

Sterling is terrible - of course the occasional thing comes off (nice backheel) but he has sod all awareness and just runs into trouble all the bloody time. International footballers who are going to make an impact on that stage against decent opposition see things as they are about to happen - he doesn't. He's a split second too late in everything he does, too slow to react, to slow to pass, too slow to shoot....

The fact that he's quick, has good ball control and can dribble, just isn't enough.

[KeithPratt]

Rooney retires. A great record in many ways - 119 appearances and 53 goals, but the reality is that in terms of England greats, he is nowhere near either Lineker or Charlton.

I saw his 2 goals against Croatia in Lisbon back in 2004, and the truth is that he was never that player again. Maybe that's because he probably would have burnt out by 25 if he'd carried on like that, or that as someone mentioned recently that he was "too honest" a footballer.