Euros

[swaledale]

I thought the keeper and defence did a decent job, it was the shower in front of them that was dreadful.
I'm not quite sure what the tactics were, he picked attacking players, and the subs were attacking, but the football was a half dire and half negative.
There were some poor individual performances, regardless of the tactics:
Rice was bad, his short passes were putting us in trouble every time. I don't think he should be playing so deep, but that doesn't excuse the poor passing.
Trent A-A is not a midfielder, we should not be trying to accommodate him.
Saka and Trippier were useless again. Trippier wasn't defending well, and again offered nothing up front. Saka continues to deceive, he should be coming on with 15 to go against tired legs, never a starter.
Kane was poor, particuarly in leadership, he should have been demanding the ball and pulling players up the pitch.
How Palmer isn't getting a game is beyond me.
Gallagher is a red card in waiting.

I'm glad it's happened now, hopefully it will be the rocket everyone needs.

I think your a tad optimist to think Southgate can or will change anything, history suggests he is convinced of his own tactical genius and its just bad luck that has stopped him winning tournaments! but we shall see.

[swaledale]

Surely, Swale, not even you would be as far out of the box as to suggest something as radical as playing a 6, Rice, as a 6, an 8, Bellingham, as an 8 and a 10, Foden as a 10, would you?

Also, what's GS's thinking in taking an injured left footed left back, just the one, who hasn't played since February? I'm obviously far too dumb to understand that level of tactical genius.

Why oh why do we try to hold on to 1 goal leads? It doesn't work. I mean, there can only be 3 possible explanations of why we do it.

1. The players choose to do so. In which case, GS needs to ******* them up hill and down dale and get rid of the perpetrators, even if that means playing lesser players.

2. It's GS's chosen tactic and, once ahead, the players do as they've been told. In which case, get rid of GS.

3. The opposition go after us, once we are ahead and we aren't good enough to stop them. In which case just resign from the tournament.

Of the 3 possibilities I think #2 is what's happening as a decent manager/tactician would have done the first possibility, long ago.

Kane up top. Palmer, Foden, Saka behind him. Bellingham beind them. Rice in front of the back 4. Walker Stones Guehi Trippier at the back. Pickford in goal. Play on the front foot. None of this dropping back once ahead and we have a chance. Keep on "keepin' on" and we have as much chance of success as a chocolate fireguard.

That would be rather radical! Its clear that either the players ahve been up all night downing steins of German beer, OR they are struggling to play differently to their normal club positions and find Southgate's tactics baffling and frustrating.

The negativity is Southgate's tactic, he is Mr cautious, negative judging by how England have performed under his regime, we are doomed to continue in this fashion until Mr Waistcoat leaves.

[MadAmster]

... yet, despite the universal criticism, he has managed a World Cup semi final and a Euros final. Caution seems to work until you get to the vinegar stroke it would seem.

[Geoff Parkstone]

Yeah, sweaties out. One off target shot all game and none on target. Really threw everything at the win 😄😄😄

[MadAmster]

Yeah, sweaties out. One off target shot all game and none on target. Really threw everything at the win ������

V Germany zero shots on target
V Switzerland three on target
V Romania zero... worse still just 4 shots (3 blocked. 1 off target) in a game they had to win to reach the knock out stages of a tournament for the first time ever...

Simply not good enough.

[Geoff Parkstone]

Mind you, it's not surprising they played so badly against Romania given that they were playing Hungary at the same time 😄😄😄

[macstheman]

[QUOTE=Geoff Parkstone, Mind you, it's not surprising they played so badly against Romania given that they were playing Hungary at the same time[/QUOTE]

That's cheered me up a bit😁

Having said that we were utter s***e, end of!

[Ramshank72]

I'm not laughing just yet, England could still be on a plane home early!

[Geoff Parkstone]

If we carry on playing TAA in midfield I wouldnt rate our chances in the round of 16 even, but he has to drop bellingham back alongside Rice, playing Foden in the #10 slot and bring in a proper left sided attacker in Gordon? This is where the squad misses Grealish.

Other option of Mainoo or Wharton for TAA doesnt solve the problem at #10 and Foden's lame performances out left. Could drop the undroppable and bench Foden for a real left sided attacker if he persists with Bellingham at 10.

Then there is the front line pklaying in their own half problem, but thats more tactics than individuals

[Ramshank72]

Indeed, we have zero attacking threat on the left at the moment, at least Grealish causes problems and wins fouls there, even if he isn't an out-and-out winger.
I'd be tempted to drop one of Bellingham or Foden, sometimes the hype can get to a players head and they need grounding, I'm more concerned with Bellingham than Foden in this respect, even though he's been the better of the 2 so far.