Random football thoughts thread.

[imp566]

Oct 10, 2024 20:05:37 GMT flouncingarburyboy said:

Anyone watching England-Greece?

For my sins, yes.

This smacks of I have got so many creative players available, how do I squeeze them all in! Defensively we are all at sea.

[habbinboy]

Greece deserve it.

[Andrewlang]

This has been an abysmal performance. Maybe Greece are fired up for George Baldock but f*ck me we could have lost by four or five.

Bring back Southgate.

Andrew

[flouncingarburyboy]

Oct 10, 2024 20:38:29 GMT imp566 said:

Oct 10, 2024 20:05:37 GMT flouncingarburyboy said:

Anyone watching England-Greece?

For my sins, yes.

This smacks of I have got so many creative players available, how do I squeeze them all in! Defensively we are all at sea.

Mind you, with my divided loyalties the Republic of Ireland (now of course under Icelandic management) might be a nation to keep an eye on.....(I'm joking of course!)

[imp566]

Oct 10, 2024 20:41:07 GMT Andrewlang said:

This has been an abysmal performance. Maybe Greece are fired up for George Baldock but f*ck me we could have lost by four or five.

Bring back Southgate.

Andrew

Selections like tonight suggest Carsley is out of his depth. I wonder what he would have done if Kane had been available - no doubt he would have played, so why not play Watkins in his place. Odd thinking for me.

[cufctheparrot]

Oct 10, 2024 20:05:37 GMT flouncingarburyboy said:

Anyone watching England-Greece?

Well I thought it was quite entertaining. England so vulnerable in defence, with Pickford having his worse ever game for England.

Just goes to show you can’t just pick you ‘best’ players and think they can play as a team.

International football is played infrequently by comparison to club matches so you have to make it simple so that everyone knows there role, and if that means having to leave some of your most well know players out for a better balanced team so be it.

I’m sure Carsley should have learnt a lot from that, so hopefully it benefits the team for the future.

[danielcufc]

Oct 10, 2024 20:44:24 GMT imp566 said:

Oct 10, 2024 20:41:07 GMT Andrewlang said:

This has been an abysmal performance. Maybe Greece are fired up for George Baldock but f*ck me we could have lost by four or five.

Bring back Southgate.

Andrew

Selections like tonight suggest Carsley is out of his depth. I wonder what he would have done if Kane had been available - no doubt he would have played, so why not play Watkins in his place. Odd thinking for me.

These players need a tough, confident individual to manage them not another FA yes man. Some very good individual players but we were beaten by the better, hungrier more organised team. Carsley trying to be too clever and found out. The FA probably have more money than most other nations so go out and find the best manager available.
Christ watching football has become difficult in 24 😟

[danboyb]

Think all tonight does is highlight the lack of top quality English managers. No offence to Carsley but he really shouldn’t be anywhere near the top job in the country. The trouble is if we want to stay “English” then the options are very limited.

[lionel]

At least it shuts anyone up who just thinks picking a team is about including your 'best' players instead of finding the 'best' balance.

[cufctheparrot]

It was a strange comment after the match where Carsley said they worked on the change of formation for 20 minutes in training before the match.

I realise they didn’t have much time as a squad before the match, especially for Thursday matches, but to acknowledge they only works on the plan for 20 minutes was a stupid thing to say, and do.

[El Goodo]

Yeah it was a mess of a formation & performance, & Greece played well and exploited it mercilessly.

Hopefully it puts an end to the boring drivel of releasing the handbrake, having all these great attacking players so picking them & letting them play etc. It was all shapeless and guileless, so if we want it as a plan B (plan A is obviously and correctly a more "normal" line-up with Kane up top and not 5 attacking midfielders) we need to work on it properly. Carsley played it with the U21s and used Gordon as the false 9 so it's not like it came out of nowhere.

I think our main problem remains our midfield (well, and our defence, but 2 of what you'd expect to be the first choice defenders weren't there in Maguire & Shaw). Palmer simply can't play that deeper role alongside Rice. We missed a player like Gomes in there to knit it together properly while being defensively disciplined. Really we ought to stop pandering to Bellingham's ego & play him there because, regardless of where he's been played or what he's done at Real, he's the best choice for it in the squad and the position England need him in most. Either do that, make Gomes first choice there or call up Wharton or Cook.

Anyway, it was an annoying watch but presumably lessons will be learned from it, so I'm not too bothered.

[imp566]

Oct 11, 2024 7:58:55 GMT cufctheparrot said:

It was a strange comment after the match where Carsley said they worked on the change of formation for 20 minutes in training before the match.

I realise they didn’t have much time as a squad before the match, especially for Thursday matches, but to acknowledge they only work on the plan for 20 minutes was a stupid thing to say, and do.

He has almost resigned himself to going back to the U21s. Sometimes a job is too big for the man; deep inside he may already be acknowledging that.

[imp566]

Oct 11, 2024 8:17:23 GMT El Goodo said:

Yeah it was a mess of a formation & performance, & Greece played well and exploited it mercilessly.

Hopefully it puts an end to the boring drivel of releasing the handbrake, having all these great attacking players so picking them & letting them play etc. It was all shapeless and guileless, so if we want it as a plan B (plan A is obviously and correctly a more "normal" line-up with Kane up top and not 5 attacking midfielders) we need to work on it properly. Carsley played it with the U21s and used Gordon as the false 9 so it's not like it came out of nowhere.

I think our main problem remains our midfield (well, and our defence, but 2 of what you'd expect to be the first choice defenders weren't there in Maguire & Shaw). Palmer simply can't play that deeper role alongside Rice. We missed a player like Gomes in there to knit it together properly while being defensively disciplined. Really we ought to stop pandering to Bellingham's ego & play him there because, regardless of where he's been played or what he's done at Real, he's the best choice for it in the squad and the position England need him in most. Either do that, make Gomes first choice there or call up Wharton or Cook.

Anyway, it was an annoying watch but presumably lessons will be learned from it, so I'm not too bothered.

It strikes me that Bellingham is getting a bit 'Billy Big Bollocks' now, strutting around the pitch, showing an air of arrogance about him, especially with the opposition. I wonder what he is like in camp with the squad? The young man is a fantastic talent, but has he had too much, too soon?

All you hear in the press is that he is well-grounded, and had a good upbringing, but something about him doesn't sit well with me. Having said that, he is our best asset and if losing some of that takes away from his performance, then carry on son. He didn't have a great Euros though, after the first game, so he is far from the finished article.

[El Goodo]

Oct 10, 2024 20:25:16 GMT flouncingarburyboy said:

It's awful. So much football but with so little purpose. At least it might mean the FA have to actually make a decision about the permanent appointment.

I'd argue we didn't actually play much football.

[Mike Osbourn]

Yeah, the Bellingham thing is something I was pondering back during the Euros. He seems to be playing where he wants, not necessarily where he's best for the team. He's still scored some goals, but just doesn't seem to be influencing the games in the way I'd expected/hoped. He's much more peripheral than he really should be - I see him as setting the tempo of the game from deep, but he's generally been at the end phase of moves more often than not recently, and I'm not sure that's his strength.