Poland v England

[tiger76]

For anyone still worrying about England qualifying. their last 4 games are as follows.

October:

Andorra (a)

Hungary (h)

November:

Albania (h)

San Marino (a)

Now if England can't easily brush aside that quartet of fixtures I'll eat my hat.

[yTib]

glad i eventually turned over to watch masterchef.

watching england these days is like watching turd dehydrate.

[yTib]

For anyone still worrying about England qualifying. their last 4 games are as follows.


Now if England can't easily brush aside that quartet of fixtures I'll eat my hat.

one of the reasons it's so depressing. i wouldn't even classify some of those as real places, let alone countries.

more like tolkien inventions.

[bobinho]

As much as I like Kane (and I do) I have to agree with you there thickneck.

Kane’s coming deep because of the instructions he’s been given. It’s taking away from his own game to bring something else to the team game…. I get that when we are talking about the limitations Burnley operate under, but not this lot. I doubt we will ever see an England team with more attacking prowess and flair than this one, yet still the primary function is straight from the turf…. Don’t concede. I think that’s doing a disservice to this generation of players. I think with an offensive biased manager, someone with a little more adventure about them, we would’ve won the euros.

I have my own criteria for deciding how good players are. I make an imaginary world 16. 11 players and five subs. If a player makes the squad, he’s world class. If he doesn’t, he isn’t. Kane doesn’t make it I’m afraid. Great player, but he’s not world class.

[Froobs]

As much as I like Kane (and I do) I have to agree with you there thickneck.

Kane’s coming deep because of the instructions he’s been given. It’s taking away from his own game to bring something else to the team game…. I get that when we are talking about the limitations Burnley operate under, but not this lot. I doubt we will ever see an England team with more attacking prowess and flair than this one, yet still the primary function is straight from the turf…. Don’t concede. I think that’s doing a disservice to this generation of players. I think with an offensive biased manager, someone with a little more adventure about them, we would’ve won the euros.

I have my own criteria for deciding how good players are. I make an imaginary world 16. 11 players and five subs. If a player makes the squad, he’s world class. If he doesn’t, he isn’t. Kane doesn’t make it I’m afraid. Great player, but he’s not world class.

Kanes never been the best striker in the prem since he started playing and scoring for spurs.
Still isnt

[AfloatinClaret]

Kane nor indeed anyone else can score whilst Sterling is playing around with the ball out on the touchline rather than crossing it; some pretty footwork but no 'product' whatsoever from him.

[dougcollins]

Sterling's worst England game for some considerable time. I'd have hooked him at HT.

[bf2k]

one of the reasons it's so depressing. i wouldn't even classify some of those as real places, let alone countries.

more like tolkien inventions.

What the hell are you on about?

[yTib]

What the hell are you on about?

glibness about the minor nations wasting the time of you and me with nonsense games.

i'll use emojis next time.

[bfcjg]

I think Southgate is to cautious, as with the Italy game not going for the win and making subs at the right time cost us. As has been said before he would not get a top 10 let alone top 4 Premier league job.
Great goal by Kane and some reasonable performances especially in the middle of the pitch were the highlights.

[bf2k]

glibness about the minor nations wasting the time of you and me with nonsense games.

i'll use emojis next time.

Would help

On a serious note these nations deserve the opportunity to qualify as well. Look how well Wales have done recently

[yTib]

i just don't see the value in playing andorra etc. we could be getting on with it.

andorra, gibralter, faroe et al can have a league where they really compete, where they don't have nine outfields behind the ball.

i think it would actually benefit them.

[bf2k]

There was a plan years ago to have a 2 tier qualification process. Personally I think it works as it is.

[yTib]

There was a plan years ago to have a 2 tier qualification process. Personally I think it works as it is.

well personally i think it favours the bigger teams and is a purely a commercial issue.

the game against andorra the the other night was not football as i know it. perhaps you enjoy that crud.

[diamondpocket]

i just don't see the value in playing andorra etc. we could be getting on with it.

andorra, gibralter, faroe et al can have a league where they really compete, where they don't have nine outfields behind the ball.

i think it would actually benefit them.

They do. It's called The Nations League!

[yTib]

They do. It's called The Nations League!

i meant as a cursor to qualification to the main competitions.

all those small 'countries' play and one or two get to the main qualifiers.

but they are allowed to dilute the pool so that the big money draws inevitably get through.

those minnows aren't there on merit or magnanimousness. they are there so that uefa and fifa can sniff even greater amounts of cocaine off the backs of prostitutes.

[diamondpocket]

i meant as a cursor to qualification to the main competitions.

all those small 'countries' play and one or two get to the main qualifiers.

but they are allowed to dilute the pool so that the big money draws inevitably get through.

those minnows aren't there on merit or magnanimousness. they are there so that uefa and fifa can sniff even greater amounts of cocaine off the backs of prostitutes.

but by beating each other they wouldn't be there on merit. They'd just be less of them still wasting everyone's time! They are part of UEFA & therefore should be there IMO. Clearly, the real minnows like San Marino & Andorra aren't ever going anywhere but even when you think of the next grade up of smallish countries, in footballing terms, like Albania this time or Iceland or Finland in the past these comps have helped them develop.

[Vegas Claret]

One or two of the claptrappers have said the same but I thought it would have been very difficult to save, more so given the defender was blocking his view.

Joe Neenan would have had it..........on the way back out of the net

[Spiral]

Andorra's population is only slightly bigger than that of Burnley, which at first glance makes competing against them for a WC qualifying spot seem like a bit of a joke, but it gives the sport of football more integrity, I think. I thought that match tonight felt like a proper competitive international game, which is something you don't get too often in international breaks.

[Spiral]

* should add to the above post that mere population of a country alone shouldn't be taken as a metric of competitiveness, and that official ranking also matters. No country is more populous than China, and they're awful at football.

[Sheedyclaret]

Reminds me of dyche that performance reluctant to use subs

[Woodleyclaret]

Foa Sheedyclaret
We said exactly the same and the tactic of dropping back ,holding onto a 1-0 has cost us points in the past too

[superdimitri]

Well played Poland. They dug in deep and never gave up. All the talk is about England not performing but you have to give them credit.

[dansch]

As much as I like Kane (and I do) I have to agree with you there thickneck.

Kane’s coming deep because of the instructions he’s been given. It’s taking away from his own game to bring something else to the team game…. I get that when we are talking about the limitations Burnley operate under, but not this lot. I doubt we will ever see an England team with more attacking prowess and flair than this one, yet still the primary function is straight from the turf…. Don’t concede. I think that’s doing a disservice to this generation of players. I think with an offensive biased manager, someone with a little more adventure about them, we would’ve won the euros.

I have my own criteria for deciding how good players are. I make an imaginary world 16. 11 players and five subs. If a player makes the squad, he’s world class. If he doesn’t, he isn’t. Kane doesn’t make it I’m afraid. Great player, but he’s not world class.

I don't mind Kane coming deep like he does for Spurs because his link up play is world class, just look at his stats from last season in prem. We need the rest of the team to commit forward though when he does do that.

I think Southgate has done a great job but like others is a bit cautious. We have such an array of attacking talent, would like to see it used at it's full potential. Interesting how Grealish only becomes a starter once he's signed for City...

Also Rice and Phillips are great but we don't always need to play both. Desperately need a ball carrying midfielder to link it all together. Maybe Bellingham is the future for that.

[RVclaret]

I don't mind Kane coming deep like he does for Spurs because his link up play is world class, just look at his stats from last season in prem. We need the rest of the team to commit forward though when he does do that.

I think Southgate has done a great job but like others is a bit cautious. We have such an array of attacking talent, would like to see it used at it's full potential. Interesting how Grealish only becomes a starter once he's signed for City...

Also Rice and Phillips are great but we don't always need to play both. Desperately need a ball carrying midfielder to link it all together. Maybe Bellingham is the future for that.

Agree with this. It’s harsh to drop either Rice or Phillips as both have arguably been very strong performers on occasions lately and bring a lot to the team. However to progress more as an attacking unit which we should be doing with the talent we have, a more progressive midfielder should be player and to me, Bellingham looks exactly that.

A starting 11 with a more attacking mentality would be:

Pickford
TAA Stones Maguire Shaw
Bellingham Phillips/Rice
Sterling Mount/Foden Grealish
Kane

Again, harsh on Walker to miss out but Trent’s ball playing ability from that position is world class.

[bfcjg]

For anyone still worrying about England qualifying. their last 4 games are as follows.

October:

Andorra (a)

Hungary (h)

November:

Albania (h)

San Marino (a)

Now if England can't easily brush aside that quartet of fixtures I'll eat my hat.

Cover all bases tiger 76, buy one of these just in case.

Screenshot_20210909-073310_Samsung Internet.jpg (377.37 KiB) Viewed 2144 times

[Hipper]

Lewandowski

I prefer the 'where did it all go wrong' picture Harry Redknapp gave of George Best - this article says a waiter:

http://www.dalesway.org/where/Where-May-17.pdf

[Wokingclaret]

For anyone still worrying about England qualifying. their last 4 games are as follows.

October:

Andorra (a)

Hungary (h)

November:

Albania (h)

San Marino (a)

Now if England can't easily brush aside that quartet of fixtures I'll eat my hat.

Wow what a bore, really looking forward to the next two international breaks.

[Silkyskills1]

Ireland and Netherlands used to be minnows and whipping boys in previous times but they've both had good times since. Ireland struggling currently but that's not to say they won't do it again.

[IanMcL]

It was good to see Pickford do his ridiculous kick straight into the opponent, almost causing an equaliser.

[kazza]

To be fair, other than that error, Pickford hasn't done a lot wrong since the start of the Euros, and some of his quick throws have got England back on the attack quickly. He does have a mistake in him, evidently, but so does Pope.

[bfcjg]

If Pope had of done that he would have been called out mercilessly by Southgate.

[Rileybobs]

If Pope had of done that he would have been called out mercilessly by Southgate.

Really? Has Southgate ever mercilessly called any of his players out?

[bfcjg]

Really? Has Southgate ever mercilessly called any of his players out?

When Pppe passed to Stone who failed to control it in the recent game who was blamed live on tele by Southgate ?

[Spijed]

Really? Has Southgate ever mercilessly called any of his players out?

Well he hung Pope out to dry when it was clearly John Stones cock up that led to the goal in one of the previous matches (can't remember which one it was)

[Rileybobs]

When Pppe passed to Stone who failed to control it in the recent game who was blamed live on tele by Southgate ?

He acknowledged the error by Stones, which it was, whilst also saying that the pass to him didn’t help, which it didn’t. That’s not mercilessly calling Pope out, it’s dealing in facts. Also, that combination of mistakes led to England conceding a goal, which Pickford’s didn’t. That’s why he hasn’t to my knowledge commented on it.

[bfcjg]

He shifted the blame to Pope on live tv ok perhaps mercilessly is to strong but it was uncalled for especially as Stones accepted full responsibility .