Post-Match Thread and Ratings Serbia v England 20hrs ko - 16th June 2024

[Target man]

Get Bowen on for Saka next

 

[Target man]

As I was saying lol

 

[hlane17]

Turgid. Can only hope they're saving their better football for later.

Get me back down Roots Hall ASAP (SUFC existing permitting, of course)

 

[RHB]

Job done, 3 points and top of the group. Good first half capped by a good goal. Second half Serbia quickened it up and closed us down much earlier, and they gave the defence a stiff work out. On to next Thursday, Denmark and a bit more consistency for the whole game, not just the 1st half.

 

[Bearded Shrimper]

i let my daughter watch the first 40 odd minutes. after that it was rough, so she might have to stay up and watch all our games. really good first 30 to 40, kept the ball well. then same old England, couldn't take the pressure and couldn't keep the ball. Bellingham is unreal at football, so intelligent and composed. wow.

 

[southendkid]

A lot of 6/10 performances. Only Saka and Bellingham deserve more, maybe Guehi as well. TAA and Foden don't even deserve a 6. It feels like Southgate is trying to shoehorn them into the squad because of their club reputations but they're both square pegs in round holes, Foden in particular was awful in that second half and the reason for a lot of our problems.

 

[* ORM *]

Caught the last 5 mins plus injury time. Reading various reports we made hard work of it BUT a win is a win and when I think back to past qualification groups we’ve done a lot worse than that.

 

[Tribal Chief]

**** poor. After 15 minutes I thought we were going to murder them. And we could and should have.

 

[Leeboy]

typical England under Southgate really - start brightly, get an early ish goal, then sit back and defend for 65 minutes.
Good to hang on for the win but hardly going to scare France, Germany etc.
Hopefully Palmer will get on and be allowed to play as he does for Chelsea

 

[EastStandBlue]

A professional, albeit attritional by the end, performance, but really lacking that impetus we’ve seen before.

I thought Fabregas’s analysis summed it up very well - Bellingham thrives in different systems and roles, while Foden appears lost outside of Guardiola’s structure. Part of that rests on Southgate, but it’s also on Foden too.

I understand looking to see if Alexander-Arnold can work in that midfield role as his expansive passing range can be really effective, but his inclusion stifles that midfield. I’m not entirely convinced the solution is to drop Bellingham deeper to accommodate Foden playing centrally either. Unless Bellingham adapts his own game, we’re at risk of being left unbalanced doing that.

Otherwise I thought Saka played well, the defence stood up to what was actually a decent challenge, Vlahovic and Mitrovic being two really savvy forwards.

Work to do, and we’ll really have to improve and get more fluidity if we’re to trouble the bigger teams, but a solid start not too dissimilar to how we started the last Euros against Croatia.

 

[RHB]

A professional, albeit attritional by the end, performance, but really lacking that impetus we’ve seen before.

I thought Fabregas’s analysis summed it up very well - Bellingham thrives in different systems and roles, while Foden appears lost outside of Guardiola’s structure. Part of that rests on Southgate, but it’s also on Foden too.

I understand looking to see if Alexander-Arnold can work in that midfield role as his expansive passing range can be really effective, but his inclusion stifles that midfield. I’m not entirely convinced the solution is to drop Bellingham deeper to accommodate Foden playing centrally either. Unless Bellingham adapts his own game, we’re at risk of being left unbalanced doing that.

Otherwise I thought Saka played well, the defence stood up to what was actually a decent challenge, Vlahovic and Mitrovic being two really savvy forwards.

Work to do, and we’ll really have to improve and get more fluidity if we’re to trouble the bigger teams, but a solid start not too dissimilar to how we started the last Euros against Croatia.

Hooray, at last a sensible assessment of last night.

 

[Target man]

You have to select the best team, not the best players. For me, Trent doesn't work in that middle, and it would be detrimental to the team to drop Bellingham deeper. Foden as suggested looked lost and the left lacked serious balance.

I think you have to give Gordon a shout on the left and take Foden out of the side. What a luxury to have Foden coming on as back up to Bellingham in that central role, when he's in need of a rest. Bellingham is a threat and we have to play him in his best position, building a balanced side around him.

Trippier is costing us, trying to cut in onto his right all the time which slows our forward runs down, and I can't believe with all the talent available, we don’t have a left sided back up to Shaw. We'll get through the group stage, but we'll get exposed by the better sides if Shaw isn't able to return.

Thought Guehi did well and first half, Rice was excellent along with Jude and Saka. IMO, just minor adjustments needed to make us a really good side able to challenge in this tournament. But will stubborn Southgate stick to his guns as Eriksson did with Gerrard and Lampard. Remember when Ramsey dropped the prolific Greaves for Hurst??? Balance of the team .... not accomodation of the biggest names, gets you results.

 

[Clinton Baptiste]

Foden would be more effective with Shaw as a left back thats the problem. If Luke is not going to play a part this tournament then the sensible thing to do in my opinion would be to move Bellingham back alongside Rice and Foden into the middle and Gordon or Bowen on the left. I didnt think Trent was particularly good, he just isnt a good defender but does have a good range of passing. Gallagher is another option.

 

[Up the Shrimpers]

What's the fan mood like buddy?

Sorry only just seen this. Yep fans were good as usual probably 25k plus England and 15k Serbians who were very loud but they only had about 2 chants.
I'm in Köln at the moment and it's not surprisingly full of Scots.

 

[duncan bulgaria]

Watched all of the games thus far and it was the slowest paced game, we keep good possession but without penetrating Serbia's midfield into area's that Foden and Kane like to occupy .
even Romania just now attached with a purpose and got the ball forward and out wide quickly, have been impressed with Germany and Italy and lets hope we grow into the tournament as last night was very predictable for a half decent Serbia side to work us out

6.5/10

 

[RHB]

Watched all of the games thus far and it was the slowest paced game, we keep good possession but without penetrating Serbia's midfield into area's that Foden and Kane like to occupy .
even Romania just now attached with a purpose and got the ball forward and out wide quickly, have been impressed with Germany and Italy and lets hope we grow into the tournament as last night was very predictable for a half decent Serbia side to work us out

6.5/10

The thing is we have never started an International tournament at pace, we grow into the events. It happens every time and we grow as the games progress. This is not a new thing with England, previous managers have experienced exactly the same. The time to look with scrutiny will be if we get out of the group, and how we have done it.

 

[Target man]

The thing is we have never started an International tournament at pace, we grow into the events. It happens every time and we grow as the games progress. This is not a new thing with England, previous managers have experienced exactly the same. The time to look with scrutiny will be if we get out of the group, and how we have done it.

True. I recall Euro 96. We were woeful opening against Switzerland and went onto smash Holland before agonisingly missing out in the semi v Germany. Played some great football as we grew into the tournament. Then again, we made the final last time around and after going 1-0 up, sat back. I hope lessons have been learned, as last night didn't show that.

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

True. I recall Euro 96. We were woeful opening against Switzerland and went onto smash Holland before agonisingly missing out in the semi v Germany. Played some great football as we grew into the tournament. Then again, we made the final last time around and after going 1-0 up, sat back. I hope lessons have been learned, as last night didn't show that.

This is all true, there’s also been worse results we’ve kicked off tournaments with. I’d love to see a bit more attacking flair and send out a statement but that’s not how we play, is it. It’s about getting through, which will be a lot easier now with a win on the board.

Let’s hope we can avoid any late collapses which we’ve seen many of over the years .. and let’s hope we can keep Jude Bellingham fit, what a phenomenal young player and a great example for team mates. Never gives up and always looking to play forward.

 

[Bearded Shrimper]

thought our defence was better than I feared. hadn't realised Serbia have two such good forwards, what we'd give for another that good!
i think the midfield is the problem. TAA didn't work for me. I actually think we might end up with Wharton playing there as we need a deep player who can keep things ticking over in there.

We started superbly and kept the ball so well, but I think we started to feel the pressure coz we always do, then we can't make basic passes. TAA plays some unreal passes, but is too inconsistent and switches off. Foden was poor I thought.