Kosovo v England

[RoyMac5]

Hope they do well in the 'other way to qualify' games. #secondteam

[Brammie Steve]

I didn't see the build-up but felt that there was a friendly atmosphere tonight.

I also found myself admiring the Kosovan style of play and even hoping they might equalise when we were one up.

I could not fathom why we kept sending lone attackers without support for most of the second half.

We only seemed to wake up after Harry scored number two.

The only sour note seemed to be their bad tempered manager who vanished at a rate of knots at the final whistle.

Both sets of supporters seemed to be enjoying themselves win or lose too!

[uttoxram75]

5 hours ago, Millenniumram said:

First goal for Mount!

Can't help but be pleased for him, he works really hard and has enough talent to make it at the top level. 

[Millenniumram]

7 minutes ago, uttoxram75 said:

Can't help but be pleased for him, he works really hard and has enough talent to make it at the top level. 

Yep, seems a thoroughly likeable bloke as well. No hint of ********* about him as there are with a fair few footballers, just a nice bloke working hard to reach the top. Similar to a fair few in the england squad at the moment in fairness, which is partly why we’re doing so well. He deserves that moment.

[cannable]

On 17/11/2019 at 19:03, Wolfie20 said:

Unless Southgate sorts out the defensive side of his team then I don't see England winning at next Summers' final. They desperately need a 'Kante' type player to protect an occasionally fragile back four and I don't see anyone around who fits the bill.

I’d just copy Liverpool’s system to be honest, devastating front three, functional midfield (we have two Liverpool midfielders) and play-making full-backs (TAA). 

Rice when we’re up against it, Winks when we need to break someone down - either of the game’s open, depends how brave we’re feeling. 

[Van der MoodHoover]

It's a refreshing change to have an England set up which looks like we could put up a decent actual squad for a tournament. 

Without any of the "xyz must play if fit" nonsense. 

[Bubbles]

Still don't see why Rice is constantly picked, really not that good... Would rather play a midfield 3 of Winks, Ox, Maddison / Winks, Hendo. Maddison (Or Mount in place of Maddison)

[Dimmu]

1 hour ago, Squid said:

Still don't see why Rice is constantly picked, really not that good... Would rather play a midfield 3 of Winks, Ox, Maddison / Winks, Hendo. Maddison (Or Mount in place of Maddison)

I feel bit malicious when I say this but obviously Rice is being picked as Dier is injured ?

[Bubbles]

9 minutes ago, Dimmu said:

I feel bit malicious when I say this but obviously Rice is being picked as Dier is injured ?

I personally don't rate Dier or Rice to be honest

[Dimmu]

3 minutes ago, Squid said:

I personally don't rate Dier or Rice to be honest

Question is, who does?

[Anon]

19 minutes ago, Squid said:

I personally don't rate Dier or Rice to be honest

One of them has to be around the squad, since we need a genuine defensive option in midfield. Yes, they end up looking utterly pointless against teams that we are vastly superior to, but we can't expect top class teams to simply allow our skillfull but lightweight midfield to dominate possession.

[Bubbles]

4 minutes ago, Anon said:

One of them has to be around the squad, since we need a genuine defensive option in midfield. Yes, they end up looking utterly pointless against teams that we are vastly superior to, but we can't expect top class teams to simply allow our skillfull but lightweight midfield to dominate possession.

Would much rather Henderson personally matey

[Srg]

Just now, Squid said:

Would much rather Henderson personally matey

Henderson has a touch of the Jeff Hendrick about him... not someone you want to get the ball to in a tight space facing his own goal in that position. He's certainly not natural at it. Someone like Winks would do better at it, but not sure on his defensive attributes. Guess it depends on the opposition - we certainly don't look right when playing 2 holding midfielders.

Speaking of players we don't rate though... seen literally nothing at club level or international level which answers why Hudson-Odoi is rated highly.

[Bubbles]

1 minute ago, Srg said:

Henderson has a touch of the Jeff Hendrick about him... not someone you want to get the ball to in a tight space facing his own goal in that position. He's certainly not natural at it. Someone like Winks would do better at it, but not sure on his defensive attributes. Guess it depends on the opposition - we certainly don't look right when playing 2 holding midfielders.

Speaking of players we don't rate though... seen literally nothing at club level or international level which answers why Hudson-Odoi is rated highly.

I think Winks was quality on Sunday, really shone in that position just infront of the DM.

And yes I agree, CHO needs more match time in the league before he should be thrown into the England squad, hardly saw any quality from him on Sun.

Would like to see potentially Harvey Barnes in the England squad

[Ghost of Clough]

7 hours ago, Squid said:

I personally don't rate Dier or Rice to be honest

I like Dier

 

[G STAR RAM]

Does anybody ever like a defensive midfielder who literally sits there doing the dirty work?

Bound to look even worse in a young, energetic, attacking team.

Interesting listening to Bryson interview the other day where he said Eustace was probably the most important player in our 13/14 team.

[Sith Happens]

20 minutes ago, G STAR RAM said:

Does anybody ever like a defensive midfielder who literally sits there doing the dirty work?

Bound to look even worse in a young, energetic, attacking team.

Interesting listening to Bryson interview the other day where he said Eustace was probably the most important player in our 13/14 team.

Eustace well underrated.  Had he stayed fit the following year we may well have gone up

[TigerTedd]

3 hours ago, Paul71 said:

Eustace well underrated.  Had he stayed fit the following year we may well have gone up

In fact it was bringing eustace on at half time in that match against Ipswich that sparked our transformation into the Barcelona of the championship. 

Funny that he was a bench warmer til that point. He was a bit crap on loan.  But clough really had his sights set on him from early on.

[ramsbottom]

10 hours ago, TigerTedd said:

In fact it was bringing eustace on at half time in that match against Ipswich that sparked our transformation into the Barcelona of the championship. 

Funny that he was a bench warmer til that point. He was a bit crap on loan.  But clough really had his sights set on him from early on.

He was crap before that because Nigel played him in a 2 most of the time.  Having Bryson Hughes/hendrick buzzing around him, dictating play allowed him to keep it simple.

As for the Rice/Dier discussion, I prefer Dier, not the prettiest footballer in the world, but I really don't get the hype for Rice.  One bonus of Mourinho going to Spurs is that Dier will play a lot more often, and will improve a lot...

[Van der MoodHoover]

7 hours ago, ramsbottom said:

He was crap before that because Nigel played him in a 2 most of the time.  Having Bryson Hughes/hendrick buzzing around him, dictating play allowed him to keep it simple.

As for the Rice/Dier discussion, I prefer Dier, not the prettiest footballer in the world, but I really don't get the hype for Rice.  One bonus of Mourinho going to Spurs is that Dier will play a lot more often, and will improve a lot...

needs to. was a fan f him early doors but he seems to ave gone backwards a long way in the past couple of seasons ago.

And he doesn't really seem to grasp his opportunities - eg there was logic putting him into the team v belgium in the world cup, when you'd think a genuine DM would be vital, but he just didn't seem to rise  to the occasion.

Great thumping header to seal the 3-2 win in Germany though.............?

ps nobody can take away that he won us our first WC penalty shootout against Colombia either....