Madness. Honestly 12% possession after the goal is too stark. There’s nothing else to talk about beyond that. No one’s asking for England to play like Spain lol.
Of past years like the 90s to mid 2000's... yea. We were terrible at keeping possession and gave the ball away cheaply to better sides (think Portugal / Italy / Spain / Brazil) but in qualifying and for a lot of games this tournament (and probably the Euros) we kept the ball quite well. I mean we had 44% at half time against Argentina and i think had the ball the most for every other game. I said in the other post, he is not taking the loss well as far as taking responsibility, and he's not endearing himself to the fans who are upset and want to see what the plan is now. Genuinely interested in the 3rd place game now to see who we play, how we play, and what the vibes are. I know nobody wants to play it, I'd be okay if it was removed, but it exists, we're in it, so maybe lets give it a go?
Curious for the opinion of an England/Arsenal fan as someone who is a United fan with no international allegiance. Surely the redundancy of having both Rice and Anderson with Mainoo on the bench is a bit maddening, no? As someone who watches him week in and week out, after the season he had, I just think he would’ve fit in perfectly next to either of them instead of them both together.
Nah, I agree really, the balance of the midfield was totally wrong. Rice and Anderson are too similar. You need to pair Rice with a midfielder who is more of a passer and carrier, as Arsenal do with Zubimendi. What’s annoying is we have plenty of good ones these days. Adam Wharton, Alex Scott, Kobbie Mainoo, Myles Lewis Skelly to name a few. It left us without enough technical security in midfield and so we struggled to keep the ball and control games. That he only picked of them and then refused to use him is pretty infuriating.
A couple of the guys in the gym were talking about hearing rumors they’ll have to move to World Cup final due to the wild fires in Canada. Anyone seen anything about that?
I think in a perfect England set up you’re looking for someone to compliment Bellingham and Rice, and Kobbie/Wharton feel like they cover the two profiles that help bring that balance. Kobbie more of a build up connect the dots CM and Wharton the type to break through the lines with his passing ability. Realistically I would have gone with Bellingham/Rogers, Mainoo/Wharton, Rice/Anderson as my options A and B for those three respective midfield positions.
Am literally rolling past met life as I type this, smoke was terrible this morning - bonkers thunder lightning and torrential rain right now - but seems like tomorrow will be okay
Saka and Rice are clearly injured or absolutely gassed, but he’s going to play them anyway. I hate him.
Makes you think, if only England could have brought on their own player like Saka against Argentina to run at the two booked centre backs and 36 year old left back… Can’t think of anyone who fits that bill sadly….