Euro 2020 Qualifiers

[foxfanazer]

12 minutes ago, spacemunky said:

People love "stars" so it always has to be about someone that people can name. I agree it should be all about the team.

 

I don't see Kane as a guy that will do well with all the extra pressure. Let him just go and play and do what he does. 

 

I've watched for long enough that even if they score 5 goals in every match leading up to Euros, I will still temper my expectations.

 

I like that you see quite a few different players playing now. I think Southgate's doing a decent job managing that and seeing who will be the group he goes with.

Yep, been burned enough times getting my hopes up with England

 

I do like the youthfulness of this side though and we don't pass sideways all of the time unlike previous regimes

[Guest ttfn]

9 hours ago, UniFox21 said:

Mentioned this earlier, Spain aren't the giants they used to be. It's great to be in a position to beat them, but theyre in a huge transition phase. And the Croatia game was a huge win, no arguments there.

 

But the last few "big" teams we've played; Belgium x2, Croatia x3 and Spainx2. We've won twice, Croatia and Spain. 

 

Yes we have the quality and potential to be a top side, we haven't been able to regularly perform against top teams.

It’s hard to know what more than can do than win the last two games against “big sides”. As I said before, the difference between the World Cup side - which, fun as it was to get to the semi final, was dull and lacking in imagination from open play - and this one is night and day.

 

As for writing off Spain as “not what they were”, well you’re right, they’re no longer the greatest international team of all time. But winning a competitive fixture in Spain is something that next to nobody does, ever, and this Spanish side remains one of the top teams in world football. Before the Lopetegui debacle they swotted aside all comers and looked a good bet for the trophy. Since then they’ve had mixed results but won their only other home competitive fixture 6-0 against a side which beat us at the World Cup.

 

That win in Spain was England’s most impressive result since the 2002 World Cup. Aside from winning away in France (who we’ve not had a chance to play in a competitive fixture yet), it’s hard to imagine a tougher encounter, but now we’ve achieved that the issue is apparently that they’re not as good as we thought or that we don’t beat the top sides consistently? Reminds me a lot of when we won the league - first it was “they haven’t played anyone good yet”, then “their luck will run out”, now of course it’s ingrained in history that the other teams were all shit. Just enjoy it ffs, I can tell you from painful experience that having an England team playing football this good doesn’t come around very often.

 

9 hours ago, Finnegan said:

 

Eeehhhh. I'd hold that sentiment until you play someone decent tbh (and not in a friendly.) This latest England is very Spursy, absolutely brilliant at being a flat track bully, hence why you were going to win the world cup after beating Panama. 

 

But then you come up against a decent side and forget how to play. The sport becomes a hell of a lot different when the opposition are organised and parking the bus. 

 

With the exception of Raheem Sterling being in form, it's pretty much the same core parts as the summer which is really only a few months ago. Not a great deal has changed. 

 

I'm not being negative for the sakes of it, you've got a great future with some of the young players in your squad and yeah you really could actually be challenging for major trophies. 

 

But there's still a niggle there in that you're yet to actually look creative against a tidy team when it matters and that's still a question mark over a manager who, let's be perfectly fair here, has done basically **** all in his career tactically. 

Agree about Southgate, we were a better tactician away from a World Cup final, but you take the rough with the smooth - he’s got the team playing for each other in a way that nobody else has managed in the 25 years I’ve been watching England.

 

England have spent years scraping past mid-ranking European opponents in qualifiers - it’s part of what has contributed to the apathy associated with the national team. Even in qualifying for the last World Cup the results were the same - drab 1-0s and 2-1s against sides we struggled to break down.

 

All recent evidence suggests we’re capable of picking apart those sides (something we’ve not been good at since Capello was in charge) and also beating decent opposition when the opportunity presents itself.

 

As for your comment about the team

not having changed much since the World Cup, I think that’s pretty demonstrably false - the strongest 11 no longer includes Trippier, Young, Maguire or Lingard, they play a different formation and the style of football is fundamentally different. I think if you picked a 23 man squad today you’d struggle to get past 16 or 17 who were at the World Cup - that’s a lot of change in nine months.

 

I keep coming back to this but “England don’t beat anybody good” has always been a fair stick to beat the national team with. Since the World Cup, when this new generation has started to be placed front-and-centre, they’ve passed every test against a “big side” except the home game against Spain. I don’t really know what more they can have proved at this point.

 

The Nations League finals will be another test in the summer, assuming of course that it’s allowed to count as a test and not dismissed out of hand as a Mickey Mouse Cup. Whether England win or lose will probably inform that.

 

If anything for me the niggle is “it’s too good to be true” - we’ve had our fingers burned before. Fool me once...

[Guest]

When the papers are claiming that Barkmey shined in a game you know the opposition must be shit.

 

I enjoy seeing us win games and I like the fast tempo and passing that Southgate has installed but, really, what is the point of qualifiers? Each group has the team that will qualify and it really is boring and a waste of time.

[whoareyaaa]

The old England side would have bored there way to a 1-0 or 2-1 victory in the last 2 qualifying games, at least now we are seeing them play without any fear and the goals are flowing.

 

The 4-3-3 should help us stop the better teams as we can switch it up when required.

[RowlattsFox]

It was a good performance. We can still look slow and laboured at times but the difference is we can burst into life, especially on the counter attack. Wide players who are willing to commit defenders and run at them. Some interesting options with Rashford to come back in too. Definitely a bit of swagger about this group, probably turn into over-confidence and arrogance and that's something Southgate will need to be wary of. Not sure Alli has played well for England and the games seem to go on around him. Kane is a goal scorer, and he should be scoring tap ins like that, at the world cup he spent too much time outside the box. 

 

Just seems like fun to part of a England squad at the minute, and that helps the fans get on board with them. 

[CosbehFox]

1 hour ago, ttfn said:

As for your comment about the team not having changed much since the World Cup, I think that’s pretty demonstrably false - the strongest 11 no longer includes Trippier, Young, Maguire or Lingard, they play a different formation and the style of football is fundamentally different. I think if you picked a 23 man squad today you’d struggle to get past 16 or 17 who were at the World Cup - that’s a lot of change in nine months.

 

I keep coming back to this but “England don’t beat anybody good” has always been a fair stick to beat the national team with. Since the World Cup, when this new generation has started to be placed front-and-centre, they’ve passed every test against a “big side” except the home game against Spain. I don’t really know what more they can have proved at this point.

 

The Nations League finals will be another test in the summer, assuming of course that it’s allowed to count as a test and not dismissed out of hand as a Mickey Mouse Cup. Whether England win or lose will probably inform that.

 

If anything for me the niggle is “it’s too good to be true” - we’ve had our fingers burned before. Fool me once...

Exactly this. The World Cup wasn't pretty but it was a foundation. (I'd make the same point about Wales on Sunday - 1-0 up, team full of attacking ability but they correctly shut up shop - sensible building up of confidence). Since then, the team has gone on leaps and bounds. The pace they play at is probably the best I've seen an England team since 1996. The system has been tweaked since the WC to get the best out of the form player Sterling and Kane has adapted very well to it as well. There's still a question of balance in midfield - sometimes we go heavy with defensive minded midfielders and other teams we go heavy with too many 10s. Southgate's evolved the team and achieved that brilliantly. We've gone away from having a 3-5-2 into a 4-3-3. 

[CosbehFox]

11 hours ago, foxfanazer said:

Yeah Kane scores against the likes of Tunisia and Panama but didn't show up in the big games. It's good that people are excited about England again but it's too early to be getting carried away. Sterling can't be expected to carry us against the big teams and there's nothing to suggest he can

He scored in the final minutes of a must win Nations League game against the World Cup runners-up. 

[foxfanazer]

2 minutes ago, Cardiff_Fox said:

He scored in the final minutes of a must win Nations League game against the World Cup runners-up. 

Ok but imo for the plaudits he gets he needs to regularly turn up against the big teams

[MC Prussian]

Looking forward to seeing Kasper Schmeichel in action against Switzerland tonight.

Can't be there in Basel, but will be watching on TV.

[AKCJ]

12 minutes ago, foxfanazer said:

Ok but imo for the plaudits he gets he needs to regularly turn up against the big teams

Kane is world class. Baffling how this forum lets a piss poor 'rivalry' with Spurs affect their view in that regard.

 

I don't particularly like him. I  think he's self-obsessed. But there's absolutely no doubt of his ability. 

[foxfanazer]

17 minutes ago, AKCJ said:

Kane is world class. Baffling how this forum lets a piss poor 'rivalry' with Spurs affect their view in that regard.

 

I don't particularly like him. I  think he's self-obsessed. But there's absolutely no doubt of his ability. 

Where did I question his ability?

 

It's more baffling how people read a post and totally miss the point

[Jon the Hat]

36 minutes ago, AKCJ said:

Kane is world class. Baffling how this forum lets a piss poor 'rivalry' with Spurs affect their view in that regard.

 

I don't particularly like him. I  think he's self-obsessed. But there's absolutely no doubt of his ability. 

Name one world class striker who isn't though.  If he wins us some silverware, he will be forgiven anything.

[AKCJ]

23 minutes ago, foxfanazer said:

Where did I question his ability?

 

It's more baffling how people read a post and totally miss the point

"For all the plaudits he gets he needs to regularly turn up against the big teams".

 

He absolutely does regularly turn up against the big teams.

[AKCJ]

5 minutes ago, Jon the Hat said:

Name one world class striker who isn't though.  If he wins us some silverware, he will be forgiven anything.

Yeah don't get me wrong. Every world class striker is like that. Just that i'm able to separate my appreciation of his talent to my loathing of his ego.

[foxfanazer]

16 minutes ago, AKCJ said:

"For all the plaudits he gets he needs to regularly turn up against the big teams".

 

He absolutely does regularly turn up against the big teams.

For England? I'd check again

 

One thing that he is unfairly criticised for is the nature of his goals being primarily tap ins and penalties. Who cares how they go in? With the style we're playing we need someone to be in the six yard box finishing off moves. It's better that we don't play it to him all of the time and we have some variation in our play

[foxfanazer]

Not allowed to have any constructive criticism when the 'it's coming home' crew are about. Nobody's saying we're not improving and that we're not exciting to watch but it's against the better teams where we can really measure our progression

[Samilktray]

Can’t believe we allow these 3rd world countries to even attempt to qualify with the big boys, let alone allow them to subject our boys to racism. Mad 

[Fox92]

7 minutes ago, foxfanazer said:

Not allowed to have any constructive criticism when the 'it's coming home' crew are about. Nobody's saying we're not improving and that we're not exciting to watch but it's against the better teams where we can really measure our progression

I just don't your "Kane donesn't turn up against big teams" ...... it's not just him is it.

 

[foxfanazer]

5 minutes ago, Fox92 said:

I just don't your "Kane donesn't turn up against big teams" ...... it's not just him is it.

 

No of course not but if he's being lauded as world class he needs to start doing it imo. The likes of Jordan Henderson, Dele Alli etc aren't world class so my expectations are lowered. But people on here want to make it a Leicester v Spurs thing. Probably the same people that have been on Vardy's back for most of the season

[Stadt]

For years it’s been fashionable to slag England off, I thought the World Cup would put an end to it but it hasn’t

[AKCJ]

33 minutes ago, foxfanazer said:

For England? I'd check again

 

One thing that he is unfairly criticised for is the nature of his goals being primarily tap ins and penalties. Who cares how they go in? With the style we're playing we need someone to be in the six yard box finishing off moves. It's better that we don't play it to him all of the time and we have some variation in our play

He won the golden boot in the last tournament we were in. If that isn't turning up in big games then I don't know what is.

 

Since becoming Captain he has 14 goals and 3 assists in 15 competitive games.

[foxfanazer]

2 minutes ago, AKCJ said:

He won the golden boot in the last tournament we were in. If that isn't turning up in big games then I don't know what is.

 

Since becoming Captain he has 14 goals and 3 assists in 15 competitive games.

Are you playing dumb or can you not read? I said turning up against the big teams. The only team he scored that were remotely competent was Colombia from the penalty spot

[foxfanazer]

6 minutes ago, Stadt said:

For years it’s been fashionable to slag England off, I thought the World Cup would put an end to it but it hasn’t

Who's slagging them off? Seems people are excited by this young side

[AKCJ]

9 minutes ago, foxfanazer said:

Are you playing dumb or can you not read? I said turning up against the big teams. The only team he scored that were remotely competent was Colombia from the penalty spot

Depends where you set the bar for 'big teams'.

 

Since being named captain he's scored twice and assisted 3 goals in 7 games against 'big teams' (Belgium,Spain, Croatia and Colombia).

[ScouseFox]

raheem sterling is simply the best player in the world atm and i can’t see how anyone can argue with that