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Reply | England v Slovakia last 16 Match Thread
at 17:25 1 Jul 2024
I get that, and arguably Capello in particular and Hodgson had decent CV's, but Southgate has done nothing in management to justify that wage,
How the FA justify this with price of tickets for Wembley internationals etc is beyond me, but as you say, sanity does'nt come into it. |
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Reply | England v Slovakia last 16 Match Thread
at 15:15 1 Jul 2024
Agree thought Eze played well but was wrong side of his man for that gilt-edged chance which was a really poor miss.
If you're not up to the task, taking £5m quid is criminal, especially when you look at his CV, he's no Carlo Ancelotti and would be unlikely to be offered a job by the Top 20 teams in the country, so who agreed £5m was reflective of his value in the market?
I would have thought the influx of money & foreign coaches & players is the reason why the technical levels of our players has improved, but we are still below other European nations, as seen last night with a team who have barely a left foot between them. |
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Reply | England v Slovakia last 16 Match Thread
at 12:26 1 Jul 2024
Lack of changes made no sense at all and he got away with it as you say,
One of many examples of his ineptness was moving Eze into LWB position when I think he still had 2 if not 3 Subs available (including Konsa) during that 1st Half in Extra-Time,
Ian Wright picked up on this weakness and I'm a big Eze fan but know he just cannot concentrate & defend that space and nearly got caught out twice, particularly when his man put it over the bar from 6 yards or so, then its penalties and its not looking so good,
Just another example of Southgate being caught in the headlights & just look at the pedigree of his coaching team, those boys are stealing a living,
Alright being Mr Do The Right Thing but actions speak louder than words and how Southgate can accept a salary of £ 4.9m beggars belief (and I like the bloke).
An already wealthy man from football and somehow thinks he's worth 10 times the salary of Sabrina Weigman or 20 times the salary of the PM? Just reminds me of a Trevor Brooking FA type who ticks all the boxes except one, being able to do the job. |
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Reply | England v Switzerland Quarter Final match thread
at 09:42 1 Jul 2024
Those may be fair observations but he was the only player in that 2nd Half who stood up, others (including Bellingham) just disappeared and hid,
Nearly got the equaliser through showing desire and this desire and belief has been on show all season with Arsenal,
In a team lacking characters he's a must start. |
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Reply | England v Slovakia last 16 Match Thread
at 00:18 1 Jul 2024
Slaughtering the Manager, no shot on target for 90 minutes and he made 1 forced substitution on 65mins and a tactical substitution on 86mins, blokes on £5m quid a year and he's clueless. |
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Reply | England v Slovakia last 16 Match Thread
at 22:50 30 Jun 2024
Decent if basic headed assist but I thought looked a level below any other player technique wise and made zero effort out of possession compared to other Subs like Gallagher,
Given the team has no structure or tactics and resorted to aimless crosses, if they don't up their game soon he'll likely be their best option, which is a damning indictment of Southgate and his laughably inept backroom team. |
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Reply | Denmark 🇩🇰 v England 🏴 Match Thread
at 22:49 20 Jun 2024
I actually thought in the 25 minutes he was on Eze showed 2 or 3 moments of real progressive play which I hadn't seen in first 45mins, a little unfortunate the excellent dribble towards the end didn't open up a shot on goal. |
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Reply | Armstrong extended
at 21:21 13 Jun 2024
I have you right there Anti,
If Cifuentes had read this forum everything could have worked out better sooner and we would'nt have been relying on those last two games,
One average fan advised him having seen a lot of these players (not as much as some mind) that:
1) We did'nt have the midfielders to play 4-3-3 & needed to change to a 4-2-3-1 (he eventually did)
2) We were playing with 10 men with Dozzell, he needed to drop him (he did asap)
3) We needed a strong spine & to get Dunne, Field & Dykes back in Starting XI (he did, after the Stoke non-performance)
4) We needed to start Dykes in the run-in as Armstrong & Frey were'nt starters (he eventually did, whether by fortune or judgment)
You don't need too many coaching badges to have worked out the above mind |
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Reply | Armstrong extended
at 17:12 13 Jun 2024
Cheers cobber!
Looking forward to seeing some more of your 7's & 8's next year mate! |
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Reply | Richards.
at 17:07 13 Jun 2024
Played a full season for Doncaster Rovers in League 1 so had desire at some point,
Relocated from Shepherds Bush to Manchester (City) for his teenage years so has some fibre,
Just think coming back to Shepherds Bush with a lot of money and hooking up with Central Cee and your old mates is just too big a distraction and really something the Recruitment Dept is'nt going to factor into their spreadsheets. |
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Reply | Armstrong extended
at 17:02 13 Jun 2024
Attributes wise....
Positives - he has strength, pace and desire.
Negatives - he has poor control, poor technical ability (ie does'nt have a trick to beat a player), is very one-footed, not a threat in the air but most worryingly for me he has that lack of flexibility in his hips which results in a heavy touch all too often.
I like the lad but reckon the R Block and Twitter see something I'm missing. |
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Reply | Armstrong extended
at 16:57 13 Jun 2024
Apologies in advance for labouring the point, but thought that was another of the 'must not lose' games where we got it tactically all wrong,
I get there is a possibility the players may have ignored the game-plan but if you're starting Armstrong as a lone striker what are you expecting you're players to do?
I think it was the stark reality of this game and the Birmingham City home game that brought home to Cifuentes what most of us knew, that if you start Frey or Armstrong as you're lone striker you're not going to win many games or pick up enough points to stay up. |
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Reply | Eze for England!
at 18:58 6 Jun 2024
Absolutely delighted for Eze, good things do come to good people!
Likewise Wharton, what a meteoric last few months that lad has had, indirectly sorted him out tickets for the Blackburn 0-4 home game at ours, if I'd known then I'd have negotiated a return favour!
Good to see Southgate being so bold too. |
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Reply | Bush Hall Fundraiser
at 16:25 5 Jun 2024
Unfortunately Chels had a much bigger profile in the early 60's when those boys would have been picking their teams. |
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Reply | Dykes injured?
at 12:09 5 Jun 2024
Fortunately, whether by choice or good fortune,
Cifuentes also realised Dykes was irreplaceable in the run in. |
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Reply | End of Term 23/24 – Attack
at 13:13 27 May 2024
Ferdinand was very athletic (sure he played in goal for Christoper Wren as could'nt get in school football team otherwise for first few years) as opposed to just being a fast runner, a very and significant difference. |
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Reply | End of Term 23/24 – Attack
at 16:19 26 May 2024
C'mon Northern, whats that saying, if you can't say some something nice best...... 
Does'nt surprise as never bought into Dykes being slow, likewise Dunne, but would'nt say either are quickest off a standing start, which is more important the higher the level you play. |
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Reply | End of Term 23/24 – Attack
at 11:37 26 May 2024
Attack wise I'm still not sure I can see a discernible plan in our attacking play and believe like our defence, out attack has to be considered and marked as an attacking unit as a whole,
I have held a different viewpoint throughout this season to many (post Ainsworth's sacking) as always thought these players were more than good enough to stay up, just needed to be played in a formation than best suited them and to start your best XI as often as possible and have a clear plan for your substitutions,
Examples being Willock & Chair always play better when played closer together (rather than 50 metres apart on opposite flanks), unfortunately both are more effective playing on the left but the signing of Andersen offered the opportunity to allow them to play closer together in a 3 and interchange on the left and centre, to good effect,
Armstrong - If there are any sports physiotherapists amongst us they can better explain why I just don't see Sinclair Armstrong being a consistent and effective forward (or winger) in a starting XI at this level. Armstrong's physiology (seems to lack flexibility as too much muscle) is likely reason he gasses so quickly but more so why he has'nt the skill or technique to beat a player and likely why his final touch is always too heavy. A winger he is not, a lone striker he is not, but can be effective as a 2nd striker against tiring defences if played on the last man's shoulder,
Frey - We seemed to be on a decent run when for whatever reason Cifuentes brought Frey back in as a starter and like Stoke away, we yet again nearly gifted 3 points to a fellow relegation candidate in starting Frey versus Birmingham, until Jimmy Dunne stepped up and likely changed course of our season, getting his Manager off the hook. Too many went overboard on Frey after a decent flicked finish most of us do weekly in over 40's 5 aside games. I gave up on Washington after 5 games but will give Frey the benefit of a pre-season, but that's looks a very odd and poorly researched signing so far.
Dykes - In the same way our defensive displays improved immeasurably when we played a settled defence, the same can be said of our attacking play. Dykes strikes me as a lad with imposter syndrome having not grown up coming through academy football. Dykes scoring streaks (short) and barren spells (long) would also suggest he's a confidence player. Starting Frey and Armstrong ahead of me, let alone Dykes, would shatter most players confidence (Jimmy Dunne aside).
I'm hoping Cifuentes learnt from this mistake and the settled attack in the run-in was'nt down to Frey just fortunately being unavailable. Also saw signs that Cifuentes was adopting a similar approach to Warburton in our run-in with Dykes being used to pull centre-halves out of position to create space for the 10's (Chair's goal at Coventry being a good example) and the game Anderson ran to Dykes to congratulate him for his near-post run to create space behind for Chair to finish when attacking the penalty spot,
Going into the season with Dykes, Armstrong and Kelman was a massive risk, especially without a fully fit Willock, and fortunately we got away with it. Most obvious area that needs investment in the close season is our attack. |
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Site Scores| Forum Votes: | 1927 | | Comment Votes: | 7 | | Prediction League: | 0 | | TOTAL: | 1934 |
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