England v Scotland

[animallittle3]

I think I'm making the point about the magnitude of the game poorly .

What I'm saying is the England v Scotland game at a major tournament is a game no other country has to play .

It's just totally different , the Scots were totally different to the team who faced the Czech Republic on monday and so were we from the Croatia game .

So last nights game does not define either nations chances at the tournament going forward .

A little like Wednesday turning us over at Oakwell recently , we finished fifth , they were relegated .

The game didn't define each teams seasons because it was a derby encounter , we were desperate to give them a good hiding and send them towards league one .

It didn't happen .

At least England didn't lose , one point on Tuesday night and it's job done .

That's not so I haven't got reservations about England at this tournament , I most certainly have .

However I ain't judging it on an England v Scotland encounter .

That's my point .

[Doggydo]

I totally understand where you’re coming from animal, what frustrates me is players inability to rise to the occasion.

A local derby is probably the most important game to most fans and to any Scottish team but it sadly doesn’t transmit to English players?
Anybody in an England shirt shouldn’t need any motivation for this fixture the Scots certainly didn’t they worked their butts off but I thought we had too many who went missing on the night and that’s not good enough.

[animallittle3]

Well the all singing all dancing world champions were held to a draw this afternoon by Hungary .

Which just goes to show there isn't a country at this tournament who are ticking every box .

The Belgium's whilst full of talented players look particularly vulnerable at the back .

The Italians are playing impressive football but can those two old lads at the back keep out pacey forwards further in to the tournament .

The Germans look pretty ordinary .

For England to get anywhere near the final Southgate has to find the right formula from within the squad he's chosen .

You could argue he's had three years to find it but that doesn't seem fair given the emergence of several young talented players over the last 12 months .

In my opinion the squad contains the players for us to go all the way , the downside is that Southgate doesn't know who they are or what system to implement to bring that to fruition .

He may drop on his feet as Bobby Robson did at Italia 90 or he may bomb spectacularly as a number of England managers have .

We will find out over the next couple of weeks and then the inquest can begin .

[Romared]

Fair enough Animal , fact is , he has been in the job 3 yrs , emerging young talent doesn't come into it for me , numerous friendlies , only recently has he been picking player's for these games who are not included in the squad for the Euros,in what does that say about the Manager ? He is a useless yes man , The F A are equally useless in stating " no matter how the euros go , we will stick by Gareth"
I'm certain I could pick a better squad if I'd been in charge as long as him , yourself and many more on this forum would at least give it a real go, Maybe not being over dressed ! Last night was the reason , he looked what he is a beaten man In his M&S rain coat , step darn Gareth , your not good enough ,

[Romared]

And many seem to think taking a point against the Czechs will be good enough ?
Hopefully it is , I wouldn't want to bet on it though , it's not a given.yet.

[animallittle3]

Fair enough Animal , fact is , he has been in the job 3 yrs , emerging young talent doesn't come into it for me , numerous friendlies , only recently has he been picking player's for these games who are not included in the squad for the Euros,in what does that say about the Manager ? He is a useless yes man , The F A are equally useless in stating " no matter how the euros go , we will stick by Gareth"
I'm certain I could pick a better squad if I'd been in charge as long as him , yourself and many more on this forum would at least give it a real go, Maybe not being over dressed ! Last night was the reason , he looked what he is a beaten man In his M&S rain coat , step darn Gareth , your not good enough ,

For me Roma the players themselves have to take responsibility .

I know it's the manager who is accountable but last night , Kane , Foden , Sterling , Mount and Rice were all anonymous , Grealish and Rashford did nowt when they came on either .

To be honest the much maligned defence and goalkeeper have been the strong performer's so far with Mings the standout .

If the defence remains solid and the front lads start performing as they should then who knows .

Definitely got to come up with something or we aren't getting much past the next round .

Personally I'd leave Kane out against the Czech Republic and play Calvert Lewin .

Kane's head ain't right in my opinion with this wanting to leave Spurs thing .

Jimmy Greaves never got back in the 66 world cup team .

Didn't stop us winning it with squad man Geoff Hurst .

[Arblasterfromthepast]

Well the all singing all dancing world champions were held to a draw this afternoon by Hungary .

Which just goes to show there isn't a country at this tournament who are ticking every box .

The Belgium's whilst full of talented players look particularly vulnerable at the back .

The Italians are playing impressive football but can those two old lads at the back keep out pacey forwards further in to the tournament .

The Germans look pretty ordinary .

For England to get anywhere near the final Southgate has to find the right formula from within the squad he's chosen .

You could argue he's had three years to find it but that doesn't seem fair given the emergence of several young talented players over the last 12 months .

In my opinion the squad contains the players for us to go all the way , the downside is that Southgate doesn't know who they are or what system to implement to bring that to fruition .

He may drop on his feet as Bobby Robson did at Italia 90 or he may bomb spectacularly as a number of England managers have .

We will find out over the next couple of weeks and then the inquest can begin .

Fair comment Animal. However, regarding the emerging talent; in my view he hasn't had a settled squad or more importantly team for the period he's been in charge. Too much chopping and changing. Any new talent that has emerged over the last 12 months has to be there introduced gradually, no matter how good people think they are, and should have been blended into what should have been an already settled team. It hasn't happened. Usual story for me and that's one of the reasons I decided not to bother watching the euros before they started. I don't think we'll get anywhere; could always be proved wrong but it's certainly not looking promising. Same old story......

[animallittle3]

Fair comment Animal. However, regarding the emerging talent; in my view he hasn't had a settled squad or more importantly team for the period he's been in charge. Too much chopping and changing. Any new talent that has emerged over the last 12 months has to be there introduced gradually, no matter how good people think they are, and should have been blended into what should have been an already settled team. It hasn't happened. Usual story for me and that's one of the reasons I decided not to bother watching the euros before they started. I don't think we'll get anywhere; could always be proved wrong but it's certainly not looking promising. Same old story......

The problem with not having a settled side in my opinion comes from having to work with the PL clubs when players are called up .

You generally get two games in any given international week .

He dare not play a good number of players in both games for fear of upsetting the PL clubs , if he does there's every chance the PL clubs will make up an injury and keep their players at home .

How many times did Fergie pull that stunt over the years .

Almost an impossible job the England managers position .

[Arblasterfromthepast]

The problem with not having a settled side in my opinion comes from having to work with the PL clubs when players are called up .

You generally get two games in any given international week .

He dare not play a good number of players in both games for fear of upsetting the PL clubs , if he does there's every chance the PL clubs will make up an injury and keep their players at home .

How many times did Fergie pull that stunt over the years .

Almost an impossible job the England managers position .

Yes unfortunately none of us know the restrictions placed on the coach I suppose. What really bugs me is when the coach plays a friendly with 11 players for the first half and then a completely different set of players second half. How does he expect to get a settled team from that. And as for play it my the likes of Lingard in the recent friendly, when he's not even in the euro squad, well I just despair. Lingard by the way had a good second half of the season and I've absolutely nothing against him as a player, but the point is, the coach should have made his decision on Lingard months ago and decided whether he was going to use him or not. He shouldn't be flip flopping a few weeks before a tournament in a match that's effectively a warm up. Just stop the faffing around and make a decision on your team and squad early. Give them time to gel and learn to play as a team.

[Acido]

And many seem to think taking a point against the Czechs will be good enough ?
Hopefully it is , I wouldn't want to bet on it though , it's not a given.yet.

Depends on what you mean there Roma.
If we get it, a draw WILL be good enough to take us through as runners-up, and a 2nd round match against Slovakia/Spain/Sweden.
But for me we shouldn't actively be looking for that result to take us through, we should be wanting to win games.
However, if we beat the Czech's and win the group, we then face France/Germany/Portugal, so what is the best result after all ?.