The Three Lions

RealGunner wrote:Hudson really looks special

He's faaarr to good for U-21. I imagine he'll be back for England's senior squad once he's back to match fitness.

Kick wrote:

RealGunner wrote:Why exactly does Barkley gets called every time lol? Willock deserved it more.

I don't know. Honestly think Chelsea will sell him in the summer, he'll be behind RLC and Mount once they are both fit.

But I came to say I am extremely happy to see four Chelsea players called up, last time that happened would be around 10 years ago? Lampard, Terry, Cole and Bridge? maybe? And we could add another in the coming months with CHO getting back to full fitness

And the very next call up, CHO joins the others, so 5 Chelsea players have been called up

I do not know that last time we had that many players in the England squad.

Raheem Sterling has been left out of the England squad for the European Qualifier against Montenegro due to a "disturbance" at their St George’s Park training complex.

"We have taken the decision to not consider Raheem for the match against Montenegro on Thursday," said England manager Gareth Southgate.

"One of the great challenges and strengths for us is that we've been able to separate club rivalries from the national team. Unfortunately the emotions of yesterday's game [between Liverpool and Manchester City] were still raw. "My feeling is that the right thing for the team is the action we have taken. "Now that the decision has been made with the agreement of the entire squad, it's important that we support the players and focus on Thursday night."

sterling still upset about the ass whooping then

Unique wrote:Raheem Sterling has been left out of the England squad for the European Qualifier against Montenegro due to a "disturbance" at their St George’s Park training complex.

"We have taken the decision to not consider Raheem for the match against Montenegro on Thursday," said England manager Gareth Southgate.

"One of the great challenges and strengths for us is that we've been able to separate club rivalries from the national team. Unfortunately the emotions of yesterday's game [between Liverpool and Manchester City] were still raw. "My feeling is that the right thing for the team is the action we have taken. "Now that the decision has been made with the agreement of the entire squad, it's important that we support the players and focus on Thursday night."

sterling still upset about the ass whooping then

Bizarre stuff from Southgate. He leaves Sterling out of the NT because Sterling is mad at referee decisions v NT teamate Trent AA and Liverpool?
That sounds unbelievably stupid to me.

From all reports Sterling went up to Gomez trying to start a fight in the NT training.

Gomez even though he just went to shake hands, and stepped back when Sterling was visibly angry, got a scratch under his right eye.

rincon wrote:From all reports Sterling went up to Gomez trying to start a fight in the NT training.

Yes, photos of a scratch on Gomez' face too, Sterling has since apologized.
Quite apparently Southgate had to act, and judging from what we know now Sterling got off lightly, too

9 of England's last 21 debutant's have spent time in Chelsea's academy

So our England really gunna insist with Gareth Soutgate?
they actually have a new generation of talent coming up in this new age group, pls get a proper tactician in so you guys can compete for Euros and World Cups.

Southgate out, Eddie Howe in?

I've been disappointed with our progress since the World Cup. That whole experience was amazing, but there were problems, mainly the lack of open play chances and over-reliance on set-pieces. That had to be fixed with the introduction of more creative midfield players.

For a time, it looked to be heading that way, especially with the emergence of Sancho. He had a 4-3-3 that was shaping up quite nicely with Kane and Sterling playing their best roles, Sancho coming in, the option of using Mount, Maddison or Grealish in his midfield, plus Alexander-Arnold and Chilwell at full-back.

But I think he's decided his keepers/defence aren't strong enough to play that way and has gone back to the 3-man backline he used at the World Cup, and the football has just been horrid to watch. Maguire sucks right now, Stones has fallen off a cliff with his form, Gomez needs a reliable partner and the rest - Keane, Coady, Mings - are "decent" at best. Pickford is unreliable too.

Meanwhile, he leaves most of his midfielders out to play Rice and Henderson, or Rice and Phillips. Safe midfields that aren't going to go too far forward. He has to weird reluctance to use Grealish in competitive games, first saying he only saw him as a forward (even though he plays as an 8 for Villa a lot), now saying he's not athletic/hard working enough for certain games. I don't quite get it.

His strengths were his management of the players and media. The World Cup was one of the most harmonious England squads I've seen. But recently even that's gone. First Maguire goes and gets arrested in Greece. Then Foden and Greenwood break protocol by bringing models to the hotel on duty. Then Sancho and Chilwell decide to throw a surprise birthday for Abraham when they weren't supposed to. Feels like a lot of ill-discipline has set in.

Joke of a team, on mobile but cba posting it, but whole thing is rigged that Tomori didnt get called up

Shocked that Delle Ali got snubbed, what happened to him?

Dele Ali barely played thi season mate

England's provisional 33-man squad for the Euros. It will be trimmed to 26 after a training camp. Saka included. pic.twitter.com/IhRWOi7cYS

— Charles Watts (@charles_watts) May 25, 2021

Bamford is better than Lewin or Watkins. I understand perhaps they are physically better, can play without the need to link up with others. But why would you choose both, surely one or the other and take a look at Bamford.

Ramsdale, Coady, James, Lingard, Watkins, Ward-Prowse and Saka would be the ones I'd cut from that.

I suspect TAA will get cut though because we don't need four right backs and Southgate isn't his biggest fan when he plays a back four. He trusts Walker and Trippier more.

Don't need both Calvert-Lewin and Watkins. Calvert-Lewin is stronger in the air so the better option of the two imo. Tough on Bamford though.

Saka isn't needed considering there are two left backs in the squad plus plenty of options on the flank. His time will come later.

Lingard is the same. Too many better midfield/flank options for him to be included.

Ward-Prowse is useful from set-pieces so might get in because of that.

My preferred XI:


Swap out Foden/Grealish for Henderson for tougher games.

The final squad:

Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Man Utd), Sam Johnstone (West Brom), Jordan Pickford (Everton)

Defenders: John Stones (Man City), Luke Shaw (Man Utd), Harry Maguire (Man Utd), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Kyle Walker (Man City), Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa), Reece James (Chelsea), Conor Coady (Wolves), Ben Chilwell (Chelsea), Kieran Trippier (Atletico Madrid)

Midfielders: Mason Mount (Chelsea), Declan Rice (West Ham), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Kalvin Phillips (Leeds)

Forwards: Harry Kane (Tottenham), Marcus Rashford (Man Utd), Raheem Sterling (Man City), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton), Phil Foden (Man City), Jack Grealish (Aston Villa), Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)

Players to miss out: Ramsdale, Godfrey, White, Ward-Prowse, Lingard, Greenwood and Watkins. Greenwood is injured, otherwise he would been selected ahead of Saka.

I actually like this squad. The defence is suddenly looking strong with Stones and Shaw back in form and a plethora of right back options. The attack has quality and variety, with plenty of bench options. The midfield looks okay with a couple of bright young talents but there's a lot of pressure on Henderson given his lack of football recently.

That all said, our group is harder than it looks. Croatia are good, Czech Republic beat us in qualifying and Scotland are a tough team these days. Certainly a much tougher group than the one we had in the World Cup. I still expect to reach the quarter-finals, though.

Want to see us playing with all the 3 RBs at some point.

I like the squad too. Can't see anyone objecting to anything. Hoping for a great Euros from Grealish as he will be the key to break the deadlock against Czech and Scotland.

What formation are we going with?

Most talented and loaded squad for England in a long time, hence joint favourites according to the bookies. But as always, they just tend to underperform, and probably due to mental block, too much pressure, etc. In the past the club rivalries was a factor, wonder if it still exist today between the players.

BarcaLearning wrote:In the past the club rivalries was a factor, wonder if it still exist today between the players.

No, I dont think so today. Different mentality, the players are generally closer.

But as always, I think England will struggle because they still dont know who they are.

Against smaller teams, they struggle to create chances in open play. But they do have individual quality so can find a goal.

The problem is against other really strong nations. Are they going to try and control the game with possession, or play defensively and use quick transitions?

Often it seems to me they dont really know and end up with no clear direction.

TAA out with injury.

Can see Lingard coming back in

These two warm-ups so far aren't inspiring much confidence in this team. We're missing players still but Romania have been able to drive a truck through the middle because of England's messy high press. England with the ball lack any real plan as well, other than give it to Grealish so he can be fouled.

1 goal in 120 minutes so far is a bit concerning

Feels like we stocked up on so many defenders that we ended up lacking on goals lol

We were the set-piece kings at the World Cup and right now that remains the only way this team scores goals lol.

Jay29 wrote:We were the set-piece kings at the World Cup and right now that remains the only way this team scores goals lol.

Makes you wonder why James Ward-Prowse wasn't selected to take further advantage of that.

I honestly think that the system is far too rigid. With the type of players we have, they should be playing with a lot more freedom than they are now. Southgate always has this mentality where the formation absolutely has to stay static whether in attack or defence. It works great when we are trying not to concede but it makes it quite a difficult watch. Most of the time you bank on scoring in the first 20 minutes for the game to go our way. Playing not to lose has rarely ever worked for any team going for the top accolades.

Should have hired Wenger

Grealish is amazing man. Our best player arguably.

Players who can work the ball in tight spaces >>>

Grealish and Foden are going to be so crucial for England to progress play.