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Pre-Match Thread England v Greece (UEFA Nations League)

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That was a bad and a bold/foolish team selection by Carsley may well have cost him the chance of getting the job full time.

Not sure the last time I saw England concede two such defensively poor goals. As for Pickford IMHO in is bordering on a disgrace we have not got a better keeper than him considering this is supposed to be our national sport.
 
Worst performance since the 4-0 against Hungary, but at least then there was a depleted, exhausted squad. Last night was a complete shambles.

I can understand the desire to use these games to experiment, and perhaps there was an element of England (players and manager) underestimating Greece, but I don’t really see how they thought last night’s set up would work.

Colwill and Pickford were all over the place. Pickford’s a concern because it now looks as if his Everton form is bleeding into his international performances, whereas in the past he’s been entirely dependable. Every time Greece broke forward, Colwill looked utterly petrified. The kind of performance that made you long for Maguire. With Guehi and Konsa around, I suspect it’ll be some time before you see Colwill again.

The box midfield of two 8s and two 10s is fine, providing there’s an outlet probing beyond them. Without that it’s just too easy to contain, and neither Foden or Palmer made the runs beyond to make it work.

The biggest concern for me is that Carsley either didn’t see the need for a more metronomic midfielder (Mainoo may have been in there had he not been injured, and Gallagher doesn’t quite fit that bill) in that box. Without it, there was no ball retention between Rice and Bellingham. The number of times we were countered because we couldn’t maintain possession was farcical.

Systems are defunct without the right personnel, and if they’re not available then you have to rethink. That’s more acute at international football. Yes, it’s a meaningless friendly. Yes, England do need to find alternative ways of working. But the overall tone and performance was far from what should be considered acceptable.

On a much more positive note, I thought Rico Lewis accredited himself really well. He’s a phenomenal footballer. If we had a functioning left-back, he should’ve been at the base of that midfield alongside Rice.

I gather the job’s pretty much Carsley’s to lose now, but last night was an enormous blot on his copybook. If Sunday’s equally as messy, then I dare say the FA might activate Plan B.
 
EastStandBlue said:
Worst performance since the 4-0 against Hungary, but at least then there was a depleted, exhausted squad. Last night was a complete shambles.

I can understand the desire to use these games to experiment, and perhaps there was an element of England (players and manager) underestimating Greece, but I don’t really see how they thought last night’s set up would work.

Colwill and Pickford were all over the place. Pickford’s a concern because it now looks as if his Everton form is bleeding into his international performances, whereas in the past he’s been entirely dependable. Every time Greece broke forward, Colwill looked utterly petrified. The kind of performance that made you long for Maguire. With Guehi and Konsa around, I suspect it’ll be some time before you see Colwill again.

The box midfield of two 8s and two 10s is fine, providing there’s an outlet probing beyond them. Without that it’s just too easy to contain, and neither Foden or Palmer made the runs beyond to make it work.

The biggest concern for me is that Carsley either didn’t see the need for a more metronomic midfielder (Mainoo may have been in there had he not been injured, and Gallagher doesn’t quite fit that bill) in that box. Without it, there was no ball retention between Rice and Bellingham. The number of times we were countered because we couldn’t maintain possession was farcical.

Systems are defunct without the right personnel, and if they’re not available then you have to rethink. That’s more acute at international football. Yes, it’s a meaningless friendly. Yes, England do need to find alternative ways of working. But the overall tone and performance was far from what should be considered acceptable.

On a much more positive note, I thought Rico Lewis accredited himself really well. He’s a phenomenal footballer. If we had a functioning left-back, he should’ve been at the base of that midfield alongside Rice.

I gather the job’s pretty much Carsley’s to lose now, but last night was an enormous blot on his copybook. If Sunday’s equally as messy, then I dare say the FA might activate Plan B.
Click to expand...
It was a 2024-25 UEFA Nations League game.
 
The concerns for me was that no player deserved more than a 6 out of 10 rating, not one. And these are International players that are meant to be our best. Some like Pickford, you could give about a 2. Lewis and Alexander-Arnold were meant to be full backs, but were all over the place. If you just switched on late, without seeing the line up and positions, you might have thought Lewis was a midfielder. So when Greece broke, which was quite a lot, one or two of the full backs weren't there. Carsley should have seen that and told them to hold their position. Then we get to the exciting quality forward players. The ones everyone says should be starting every game. Gordon, Foden, Palmer and Saka. Great for their clubs, but absolutely useless last night for England. At least we found out we need a focal point, that being a centre forward, instead of this miss match of forwards.
 
EastStandBlue said:
Worst performance since the 4-0 against Hungary, but at least then there was a depleted, exhausted squad. Last night was a complete shambles.

I can understand the desire to use these games to experiment, and perhaps there was an element of England (players and manager) underestimating Greece, but I don’t really see how they thought last night’s set up would work.

Colwill and Pickford were all over the place. Pickford’s a concern because it now looks as if his Everton form is bleeding into his international performances, whereas in the past he’s been entirely dependable. Every time Greece broke forward, Colwill looked utterly petrified. The kind of performance that made you long for Maguire. With Guehi and Konsa around, I suspect it’ll be some time before you see Colwill again.

The box midfield of two 8s and two 10s is fine, providing there’s an outlet probing beyond them. Without that it’s just too easy to contain, and neither Foden or Palmer made the runs beyond to make it work.

The biggest concern for me is that Carsley either didn’t see the need for a more metronomic midfielder (Mainoo may have been in there had he not been injured, and Gallagher doesn’t quite fit that bill) in that box. Without it, there was no ball retention between Rice and Bellingham. The number of times we were countered because we couldn’t maintain possession was farcical.

Systems are defunct without the right personnel, and if they’re not available then you have to rethink. That’s more acute at international football. Yes, it’s a meaningless friendly. Yes, England do need to find alternative ways of working. But the overall tone and performance was far from what should be considered acceptable.

On a much more positive note, I thought Rico Lewis accredited himself really well. He’s a phenomenal footballer. If we had a functioning left-back, he should’ve been at the base of that midfield alongside Rice.

I gather the job’s pretty much Carsley’s to lose now, but last night was an enormous blot on his copybook. If Sunday’s equally as messy, then I dare say the FA might activate Plan B.
Click to expand...
Wht time's the game Sunday?
 
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