England’s No 1

[outwoodclaret]

I was watching the Sky Football Centre this morning and they were discussing the rivals to Jordan Pickford. When it came to Nick Pope the comment made was “he’s okay but he plays for Burnley”. What the f*ck!!!

[The Bedlington Terrier]

I was watching the Sky Football Centre this morning and they were discussing the rivals to Jordan Pickford. When it came to Nick Pope the comment made was “he’s okay but he plays for Burnley”. What the f*ck!!!

You are joking - right?

[Attilla]

It was a comment from Danny Mills whose opinion's on BFC are in fairness , irrelevant !

[The Bedlington Terrier]

It was a comment from Danny Mills whose opinion's on BFC are in fairness , irrelevant !

Eleven clean sheets. Mills is another anti-Burnley phooking eejit! Sutton & Mills dream team!

[alfinyalcabo]

Bellend of the highest order..

[sinkov]

I heard a comment a few weeks ago that Pope wouldn't play for England because Burnley prefer him to play the ball long, and he's not practiced in the subtle art of playing it out from the back, which is presumably obligatory if you're playing for England. After seeing several recent disasters caused by trying to play it out from the back, I reckon Gareth would be well advised to get Pope into the team and play it out from the back a lot less often.

[Supersub6]

I heard a comment a few weeks ago that Pope wouldn't play for England because Burnley prefer him to play the ball long, and he's not practiced in the subtle art of playing it out from the back, which is presumably obligatory if you're playing for England. After seeing several recent disasters caused by trying to play it out from the back, I reckon Gareth would be well advised to get Pope into the team and play it out from the back a lot less often.

I couldn't agree more, sinkov. The problem is that almost every team in the PL and also a few in the Championship seem to favour this way of playing and, thankfully, we have not fallen into that trap.
Fans, including a lot of our own, moan about the way that we play, however, in some recent matches I have seen Liverpool, Man City etc. play 20 passes before they get to the halfway line and, on some occasions, they have then gone back to the keeper!
Passes --plenty: excitement ----zilchossession stats ----brilliant: chances created ---zilch: and yet some fans want to watch this sort of football and the keeper is now being looked upon as a big part of this!

[Balanbam00]

I an one for being more creative and mixing your style of play. Lets look at a few things.
Football has not changed really much over 60 -100 years? The idea being we have to score goals in the opponents net,so get the ball into their goal.When we have a goal kick,we kick the ball as far as possible hoping we can score. Knowing the ball will be kicked into your opponents half, all players crowd into that area of the field.All we have to do is get it into their goal!
But the manager is asking his players to work in a dense area,a crowded football area . His team is not Messi ,Ronaldo or Maradonna! Footballers with many skills.He has mostly players of whose name I have never heard of sometimes.

Pitches back then,were sometimes muddy,waterlogged and very uneven. When the ball was passed to you,then you had a few seconds to control it and make your play.When playing as a schoolboy you often passed the ball to the wing as that was the most suitable place not waterlogged etc. The English game developed in that way and still today, So football players have grown up in this way ,but if you ask them to change to a different style ,it will be hard for them,they are not used to it, and will not have the confidence to do it.
Look! make a terrible mistake and your not good enough ,sit on the bench,your out of it, nobody enjoys that. Logic says ''don't make a mistake!'' ! But schoolboys could have heard ,''don't start passing the ball about in your defence! Get it up field!''

Zilch ,zilch! I will not be bound to a life of boredom. Keeping the ball well back almost on the goal line is dangerous. BUT if not practised to perfection, mate, your in trouble, that's the reality and the negative aspect of it .But on a positive side,the ball is in your control,you are controlling the game, the ball is in your possession and you are ready for attack.Your players then have more time to control and do what they want with the ball,the area is not as crowded,you have stretched so to say,the playing area But you have to know the style of play and perfect it. It takes time ,and is not done overnight!

[outwoodclaret]

You are joking - right?

I kid you not BT! As Attila confirmed that was exactly what Danny Mills had to say. I think the gist was that Burnley don’t challenge for honours or compete in Europe on a regular basis so Pope does not have the necessary experience. Make of that what you will! I personally think it was laughable. You could make the same point about both Henderson and Ramsdale but these two along with Pope have strong cases backed by stats to be selected ahead of Pickford. However I can’t see Southgate handing the gloves to anyone other than Pickford at present.

[Attilla]

I think the gist was that Burnley don’t challenge for honours or compete in Europe on a regular basis so Pope does not have the necessary experience. Make of that what you will! I personally think it was laughable. You could make the same point about both Henderson and Ramsdale but these two along with Pope have strong cases backed by stats to be selected ahead of Pickford. .

You could also make the same point about Pickford , Everton have not been chasing honours or playing more europian games than us in Pickfords time at Goodison Park.