We've been fortunate this season that there haven't been many games where the opposition have sat back and let us have the ball, so it's not what MGW or CHO are used to playing against and they certainly haven't shown that they can thrive in those games. (Fixtures have helped with that.)
Will be interesting to see whether Everton and Brentford try to disrupt us in that way and how we cope if they do.
Agree re Rashford and, to a larger extent, Bowen. Very little productivity despite plenty of ball. It didn’t help with Lewis-Skelley in that inverted role. Just clogged up the midfield, made for additional passes which slowed things down and he offered no overlapping runs.
Eze did really well and I really don’t begrudge him ahead of CHO. Foden probably had his best 20 minutes all season. Disappointed we didn’t see MGW but think he would be better in a different game.
This qualifying group is going to be stultifying. Meanwhile, in the Nations League, teams are getting proper games.
Totally agree with that.....MGW needs a number nine taking the defenders away from him, and stretching the play. (I would also argue that Bellingham, making what are currently first phase runs into the box, would be second phase runs - but at the same time - into the space created by a forwards near post runs, can be more effective). I would also argue that England need that to beat the better sides, rather than continuing to rely on the habitually deadlegged summer kane, whose legs are only going to get deader.
I get extremely frustrated watching football where passes are missed, or are a couple of touches too late, are behind the player, or are not on because the right run is not made...
....To then toss the ball in short and too flat, as well as late, does my nut. If you are knocking rubbish into the box, wang it in earlier at least. Which is a problem if the centre forward doesn't make the run.
Kane is a tremendous striker of the ball in positions where he has a chance, which makes him a great finisher. His movement, in terms of leading the line, is garbage though. There was talk about what a great world class finish he made, because he waited for the defender to curl the ball around him....not sure I agree with that. He had a poor first touch, had to wait for the ball to drop, and then made the best possible curled strike he could have done...more serendipity on the timing, than 'world class' for me. Great strike though. Was noticeable that there were a couple of very good balls into the poacher zone, that he was nowhere near, allowing the defender to clear unchallenged.
Went to see Dear England at National Theatre last night. Definitely better than being at Wembley, it's really good. Touring later in the year, Nottingham in September I think.
Was sat next to the press benches last night and near to a bunch of Wembley staffers including Francis Benali's daughter, who is the pitchside stadium announcer.
She is absolutely stunning.
Exactly that. Very impressive...
That's my issue - he took it well, but it was from a defensive error, while Kane did his usual trick of hiding at the back post (or "always in the right place").
Better teams clear it, which is why Kane (and England) repeatedly come up short against the stronger sides. Lurking at the back-post and hoping to fall down under a defender's touch to win a penalty just doesn't cut it at elite level.
We have a wealth of attacking ability, but just don't utilise it properly, because we can't look past brand Kane and his (admittedly very impressive) stats.
Admittedly Tuchel tried something different with getting his wingers to hug the touchlines, but, he didn't choose natural wingers and they had nothing to aim for in the box, so either they turned backwards/inside or the crosses were wasted.
Do we really have many such things these days, given the way most teams set out? Gordon and Saka are probably the two closest I can think of, and neither was available. And before anyone makes an argument for CHO, I suspect Tuchel has preconceptions from his Chelsea days that will be hard to shift.
I quite like the evolution to a front three, and the two 'wingers' coming inside and threatening the box (with full backs or a midfielder providing the width/delivery). It brings the defence narrower, and leaves space out wide, and from the edge of the box, and makes it easier to get bodies in the box to threaten the goal earlier.
It's just a shame hardly anyone plays it that way. But it's got legs when football iterates away from spanish dancing keep ball, as it is just starting to do.
If you play 'out and out' wingers, what are they going to hit? Kane's movement in the box? Good luck with that. Bellingham can come from forty yards away and make an earlier run than our man 'leading the line'.
I thought triceratops were for film ratings not theatre?
Figures. Nothing like a coach who picks on form rather than preconceptions - & Tommy Tactics is nothing like that coach. I am pretty convinced he only called up MGW when his PR people said that Palmer’s withdrawal gave him an easy win (without actually having to play him) - and Tuchel then did maximum buggering about: not called up; then called up; then omitted from match-day squad; then praised highly when the Journos pressed him on it; called up again; not brought on.
At present I’d say the Forest player with the best chance of an England cap is Elliot Anderson.
MGW is doing & saying all the right things, but I very much doubt Tuchel will play him in any game that actually matters (stand by for cynical call-up when they play at the CG).
Good for Forest in the short term. Also good for me, since it means I can safely not give a fuck about England again
Any coach who primarily picks on form is an idiot. Form is transitory. Today's in form player, is out of form by the time the next international fixture comes around.
You should pick on attributes and class, and get them in form when they need to play. That's your job right there.
There is an argument that MGW doesn't fit how the coach might want to play, or how international football works. Although that it's not born out by his experience art representative levels, and attributes, class, and form, suggest he should have an opportunity.
I'm a big fan of Foden (and there are ways to shape the team to get the best out of him), but I have no doubt that MGW would have played that right role better in the last two games.... And would have been a fill in squad option there. Now we, and he, will never know. All we know is that Foden didn't work well wide. Again.
Bellingham at 8 is the correct answer. The problem with that is that he's now even further away to make Kane's runs for him.
So it has to come with a player at nine, who actually makes striker runs.
If Kane is playing false nine, as he does anyway, then i'd out Foden ahead of him in that role. Because he's can run, and his passing is better, and he doesn't get overrun on the ball, and wouldn't be prone to playing a Hollywood ball across his goal from left back, to prove how amazing he is, when he can't move, and costing us with shit giveaways. That mazy dribble he made at glacial speed, missing passes as he went, to retain possession, just, before ending up on the right pivot position and turning the ball back to a centre half, while being savaged by a Latvian, is emblematic of everything that is wrong with having him get on the ball.
I didn’t say Tuchel should pick only/primarily on form. But it has to be taken into account at some point. Foden has, what, 50-odd caps for his country; how many of those would you say he’s really matched his stellar billing? Three? Four? That’s an awful lot of “attributes & class” eclipsing lack of performance. Foden undeniably has talent, but eventually he has to produce consistently at international level, or he’s just another in a very long line of over-hyped England under-achievers.
What exactly did Tuchel learn by giving Foden 20 minutes off the bench vs Latvia that he didn’t already know after seeing him play vs Albania? That was a perfect opportunity to see what MGW (or one if his other midfield options) could do, but Tuchel opted not to take it. If he doesn’t trust MGW vs Latvia, he’s probably not going to pick him for any important game. That’s Tuchel’s decision; just don’t expect people to like it. It’s not as though only Forest fans are pissed off either MGW’s non-selection; there was close to universal astonishment
