England World Cup 2018 qualifying campaign

The F.A were very confident of us making the finals so they booked the Aeroplanes well in advance..... Pity It Was With Monarch Airlines

i know we often hear that experience is important etc... but surely current form needs to come into it a bit! The team in the week, numbers not as shown on shirts.

1) Hart .. nobody can say he is playing better than Butland
2)Walker... Spurs reject and the clincher, Spurs replaced him with an englishman who is playing well
3)Bertrand... In form
4) Stones... In form for city, but mainly in a back 3
5) Cahill... Plays in a back 3... is he playing better than Maguire?
6) Dier... In Form
7) Henderson... In form
8) Oxlade-Chamberlain... never starts, no impact for liverpool thus far
9) Sterling... In form but wide no as a 10
10) Rashford.. in form
11) Kane .. in form

we never pick on form, only reputation

Another uninspiring performance by England but a 1-0 win away to Lithuania. As in the last match Kane scored the only goal.


Group F - final table.

England 26 pts
Slovakia 18
Scotland 18
Slovenia 15
Lithuania 6
Malta 1

I'm beginning to wonder if it is the fact that players can't separate playing for their respective clubs and playing for the national team it is a mental thing more than anything with us.
I reckon if we can unlock that block we could be world beaters. another 1- 0 win (against a team we should easily beaten maybe 3 - 0) is hardly making other teams worry about us is it?
But I don't think Southgate is inspiring the team himself either.

(06-10-2017 21:45 )Whynot Wrote:  i know we often hear that experience is important etc... but surely current form needs to come into it a bit! The team in the week, numbers not as shown on shirts.

1) Hart .. nobody can say he is playing better than Butland
2)Walker... Spurs reject and the clincher, Spurs replaced him with an englishman who is playing well
3)Bertrand... In form
4) Stones... In form for city, but mainly in a back 3
5) Cahill... Plays in a back 3... is he playing better than Maguire?
6) Dier... In Form
7) Henderson... In form
8) Oxlade-Chamberlain... never starts, no impact for liverpool thus far
9) Sterling... In form but wide no as a 10
10) Rashford.. in form
11) Kane .. in form

we never pick on form, only reputation

And I would agree why for once throw open the door to player from below the Premier League and give them a chance to show what they can do at international level I bet you would find more passion and pride in those players than those in the current squad to me picking a squad for national squad should encompass players from all league not just the PL and we should be picking players on form too and not their reputations

There's a total lack of any quality in England's midfield. They've never managed to find suitable replacement for Gerrard and Lampard.

(09-10-2017 08:48 )Charlemagne Wrote:  There's a total lack of any quality in England's midfield. They've never managed to find suitable replacement for Gerrard and Lampard.

That golden generation was just that. Never won anything but we might not see players of that quality again for 10+ years.

Fact is we are an average side full stop. If we get a group with Italy and Uraguay like last world cup it's highly unlikely we will get out of it.

Everyone is having a go at the central midfielders which IMO is a bit harsh. Players like Kane, Alli and Rashford have ex-players and journalists wanking over them so much that when we play dull football and get a scratchy win it can't be their fault so someone else has to get the blame.

I've read that Harry Kane says that his recent goalscoring form is down to not drinking alcohol before games. For the amount of money they get they are still not the most professional of sportsman. He shouldn't be drinking alcohol or eating the wrong foods at all.

Did see a report the other day that quoted Southgate as saying that if he tried the Chelsea blueprint he'd have to "sacrifice" a few players I bet he'd swap out half the team for the English players playing for Chelsea
TBH it doesn't matter what system Southgate uses the players aren't likely to stick to it for very long. To me it's all about the mental attitude of the players when they pull on that England shirt They have got be passionate and proud to be playing for England especially singing the national anthem. When you hear the Welsh crowd & Welsh national team whether it be for football or rugby they sing that anthem with a passion!! I Heard it was sung brilliantly on Monday night.

(11-10-2017 03:32 )babelover48 Wrote:  Did see a report the other day that quoted Southgate as saying that if he tried the Chelsea blueprint he'd have to "sacrifice" a few players I bet he'd swap out half the team for the English players playing for Chelsea
TBH it doesn't matter what system Southgate uses the players aren't likely to stick to it for very long. To me it's all about the mental attitude of the players when they pull on that England shirt They have got be passionate and proud to be playing for England especially singing the national anthem. When you hear the Welsh crowd & Welsh national team whether it be for football or rugby they sing that anthem with a passion!! I Heard it was sung brilliantly on Monday night.

IMO it's more about ability and skill. The Welsh lost and ain't going to the world cup. The england teams I grow up watching in the mid to late eighties even though they didn't win anything either, had alot more skillful players then we have now. Why is that? Why are we producing players now who have no natural position on the field? We seem to have alot of inbetweeners, neither strikers, winger or midfielders but something in between.

Looking at the World cup draw that Tunisia game is likely to be our banana skin and the Belgium game our toughest if they Hazard & is very strange not to see the Dutch or Italians in that draw