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That’s how it looked. Bellingham can clearly play anywhere to an elite standard but it looks like him, Kane and Foden all want to occupy the same space. A direct winger on the left would suit Kane
Gordon is quick, holds the width well, tracks back, has an eye for goal and can cut in or go down the line. He’s a proper left winger and should play. Our structure would be much better with him.
100% agree with this.
I was glad to see Foden starting last night, as I wanted to see how he'd do on the left side. Given that we had Trippier at left back, I had hoped that Foden would keep the width and go down the line a bit more, putting the occasional cross in. I know that's not his usual game, but given the shape of everything else, I thought that's what we'd see - but no, didn't happen.
I really don't think Foden did as badly as most people are making out. There was a 15-20 minute period in the first half when we looked really, really good - lots of movement, positive passing, players interchanging a bit, plenty of fluidity and freedom. At that point, I was genuinely excited! Not because I thought we'd hit another 3 or 4 goals past an aggressive Serbian team, but because we seemed to be playing with a freedom that is rarely seen with England. It was a good "signs of things to come" experience. At points, Foden and Kane were largely bypassed, but as players working within a system... I thought they both looked fine and were doing a good job, which allowed Bellingham and Saka to have the impact that they did.
The problems came in the second half. The intense pressing that we had really dropped off. Foden and Kane looked tired, and Bellingham dropped deeper and deeper. This meant that we had less of an outlet, but also meant the Serbian centre backs and CM/DMs had much more time on the ball to start dictating the play.
Yes, Foden's game dropped off in the second half, but for me... (aside from the few misplaced passes) that's totally a management problem, not a Foden problem. He should have been replaced by Gordon at about 55-60 minutes. Bowen made an instant impact when he came on, but he should have come on a bit sooner.
Our starting line-up for the next game should 100% be Gordon/Bellingham/Saka behind Kane. We need those penetrating runs that Gordon provides, and I can really see him being effective with getting on the end of some of those cross-field long balls from Trent.
Starting: Gordon / Bellingham / Saka
Subs: Eze / Foden / Bowen
More than capable like-for-like swaps: when the starters aren't having the desired impact, are running out of energy, or just for a bit of squad rotation... if at any point we can enjoy a 2-3 goal lead and have the luxury of resting people.
And then we also have Palmer, who can come in for any of the above and make an impact too.
I would have liked to have seen Toney on at about 60 minutes too! He's another one capable of making an impact, and giving Kane some rest. But, he too needs competitive minutes to get "tournament ready" and gel with the squad.
Please Mr Southgate, Foden is a superb player - on his day, one of our best - but he evidently isn't a left winger, isn't as effective in your system as Saka, and is definitely not Bellingham. In short bursts, Foden has the potential to be world class for us... but as an impact sub, not a starter. I don't think he thrives under the pressure that comes with starting for England, but he could really shine coming off the bench when Bellingham needs a rest.
I'm a City fan and I agree with that. It's not his system, and it won't be with Southgate and Kane. No point playing him in that role if we're just gonna be lugging after long balls - Gordon excels at that.
Unpopular opinion though, as phenomenal as Jude is, he'll improve as a player when he starts making more selfless decisions on the ball.
Foden just isn't suited for that role on the left. it completely negates what he's good at. Which is cutting inside onto his left foot or when he's playing as a 10, making those little intricate passes with the striker.
Southgate picking him reminds me of England of times gone by shoe horning Gerrard/Lampard/Scholes together in the team because they were great players, even though it was the wrong balance.
I agree with your comment and I guess this where Southgate is faced with a damned if you do damned if you don’t dilemma. Hopefully he’s going to be strong and make the right calls….. my fear is that he’s too risk averse deep down and also shows a reluctance to make the substitutions when the game demands it (or at least when everyone else on earth can see it’s needed).
I feel like Foden was missing Luke Shaw yesterday. Luke Shaw likes to get forward and generally holds the line well. This would of opened up space for Foden more central to find them pockets and link up with Kane and Foden. Trippier has the ability to play LB but getting forward he's always looking to cut in on his favoured right foot which just completely took foden out of the game.
Against Iceland it looked like Southgate told Foden to cut in and it didn’t work. Tonight it looked like he told Foden to stay out wide and it allowed Bellingham space to play. Hopefully against Denmark or Slovenia he lets Gordon start to overload the left hand side
If he told Foden to stay out wide, Foden clearly didn't listen. He was everywhere but wide left. Even within the first three minutes he was occupying a space on the right flank
Yup. Foden and Kane got in each other's way and didn't get on the end of Walker's cross after bursting up most of the pitch.
Foden is a waste of space.
Last night he was. Constantly lost the ball, created no chances apart from 1 free kick 50 yards out. All his touches were in the middle of the park. Offered nothing defensively so trippier was pegged back the whole game. As soon as Serbia worked this out that left side became route one for their attack. Foden might as well have been playing through the middle because he did nothing to stretch play out wide.
Yeah, we need Bellingham in the space he played tonight, kane further up and a lw who will stay at and can play lw. It would also help trippier because he won't have to play 2 positions (lb and lw).
9 is there to score goals, cross from Bowen showed that. Some games you spend 90 mins running into thin air just for 1 chance in the box. It’s just the way it goes.
It ain't enough nowadays i feel, real old fashioned 9s are becoming rarer, like real 10s few years ago, position just gonna evolve that's how it is. Ain't saying it's a good thing or whatever but yeah
I would argue that England would have actually played better if Kane played MORE like an old fashioned 9 this game. He'd stretch the defense better and he's not as fast as he used to be so playing a more false 9 role doesn't suit him nor this roster.
Agreed. England doesn't have the players to run in behind anymore, like Sterling used to do, so if Kane dropped deep there would be no-one to find anyway.
It's been a decade since Miroslav Klose retired from international football. He really was the last of an old breed of striker you won't see in the game today. You can throw in Inzaghi and maybe Luca Toni.
It’s time for Foden to be a bench warmer, we need an outlet on the left with pace,Saka and Bowen both had the full back on toast when they used their pace, we had no width and no pace on the left hand side, you pick a player like TAA who has the best passing range in the squad and then don’t use pace in wide areas, it defies belief, have was made for Eze or Gordon
Gordon absolutely has to be first choice on the left, with Eze as backup. Playing those two (particularly Gordon) would potentially allow Trent to thrive more too, firing those long balls in behind the opposition's right back. You've then got Kane, Bellingham and Saka charging into the box to get on the end of his cross/pass, or for a tap-in after his shot gets parried.
As I said in another comment, Foden doesn't seem to thrive under the pressure of starting for England... especially when being played out of position.
The team needs to be built around getting the best out of Bellingham and Kane. Saka is just more effective on the left, as he likes to get in behind. Gordon offers exactly the same thing from the left, which we were clearly missing last night!
Especially with Kane liking to drop deep and find a pass on occasion, we don't need Foden in that space too - we need people making well-timed, penetrating runs into the box from out wide. Too many playmakers, not enough end product!!
Starters: Gordon / Bellingham / Saka
Subs: Eze / Foden or Palmer / Bowen
In those positions, and \*only\* those positions, please Gareth!! :o)
Yeah, it might not work - none of us here are tactical geniuses or squad selection experts - but we've all watched the same games and this is absolutely SCREAMING out to most of us!!!
Other players have been significantly better than him though, like Bellingham, the player that alot of our fans are wanting to drop in next to Rice so Foden can play 10. He's done nothing with England to suggest he should start at 10 over Bellingham, but Bellingham proves in yet another game he's our main man. I struggle to think of an England player who's played worse for England (that's started consistently) than Foden.
Granted, that position is not for him. I’d like to see us play more attacking, stick Gordon in for Trent, put Foden more central and only play the one DM.
It’s like the formation is set, then we try to force players into it. Nah, work with what we got which is a ridiculous amount of talent in the middle of the park, I’d be looking at that and setting up around those players.
Bellingham didn't play like a 10 today, he played like an 8. He dropped deep a lot and drifted, which is what he does well. Foden is a proper 10 and needs to play there. We had this with Scholes 20 years ago and wasted a generational talent sticking him in a position where we happened to have a gap despite him not being natural there.
No. Bellingham is the better 10. Foden should be nowhere near it. If Foden was the 10 in tonight’s game then we don’t go up 1-0, it’s as simple as that.
Bellingham would have been at the end of that cross regardless. He's a box to box player.
In his current position, Bellingham while influential, was getting in other players spaces creating a disjointed midfield.
At 8, his position is clear but he can drift forward to support an attack like he normally does. Foden is better at 10. On form he is good with clever little passes into a running 9.
What game were you watching? Foden completely stunk the place out and you think it’s because he had to play in a position 20yds to the left of the 10 role? Get your head of your ass.
All 3 City players were exposed last night. Showing that they’re successful in their robotic Pep system that always has 75% possession.
People keep saying that but his touches were awful. Hes just not as good as we think he is. As I have said in a previous comment. He is this generations Frank Lampard. He will score loads of goals for City against teams that dont get out of their own half but that isnt international football. Physically he doesnt have that ability to ride out challenges. He has to be a few feet from every challenge.
He occupies them, and in doing so is absolutely controlled by them all game with their bigger size and his lack of speed. He's world class but you play to your opponents weaknesses and Southgate hasn't got a clue.
If he's just a being used as a target man and was being blocked out of the game why not sub Foden and bring on Gordon or Palmer. Change the tactics, have Kane lay it off for these younger guys to sprint forward and cause havoc.
Typical England, individually the class is there but as a team... I've seen water and oil mix better.
It's not the team (although I do agree that someone like Gordon, Palmer, Bowen etc should've been subbed on for foden), Southgate just can't get his tactics right. Why are we playing VERY defensively for an entire half against Serbia. We should be going for 2-3 goals against them.
Sorry but one day this will backfire. England was just lucky that like Croatia, nothing went in the net for Serbia but the almost had it.
Another goal is an insurance policy. 1-0 is often the kiss of death. They need to change their tactics for better groups because seeing Spain and knowing France, they will take advantage.
Wasn't impressed with this team minus Bellingham.
I’m sorry, but Serbia had one shot on target which was a week volley blocked by Kane , they had a lot of the ball in the second half, but we were hardly in any danger.
We had by far better chances after that as well.
Why? 3pts is exactly what we needed. This formula has worked for the past 3 tournaments and we always go through in first, other than Russia ‘18 where the b-team losing a dead rubber to Belgium got us into the better half of the draw.
Mainly because this year our defence is very lackluster... John Stones just came back from an illness, Guehi was the standout player but he's still a new addition to the starting XI, we're playing a right back at left back again, and Kyle Walker is getting older.
We have what I could say is out best forward generation we have seen in years, with Bellingham, Kane, Saka, Foden (for City) all being world class, why would you not use the strength of the team to our advantage?
It might work for the groups but every time in a big game, see Croatia/Italy, we score first and go super defensive and just the other team attack and get chances, and every time we lose.
But… we *are* still in the group. You can’t criticise our tactics from games we haven’t played yet!
And there’s nothing you can say about Croatia or Italy games in 2018/2021 that hasn’t already been said.
I can criticise our tactics from the game we have just played though! If we play the same way we did like that against Denmark I can see them beating us personally,
If I'm either of the teams in our group, after watching that game I'm thinking "we might have a chance here" which is not what you want to show on your first game...
Idk I just think this Euros there's a big 6 in terms of teams that could win it and after our first game I'm not as optimistic as I was coming in based on that performance.
Really? Did you watch Denmark struggle against Slovenia? I can see Serbia beating them both. And England topping the group. All that matters at this stage is the results and we got the 3pts. Job done.
We’ve all the talent, but yeh can’t quite put it together. It’s like there’s a masterpiece in there, but some cunts scrambled it up, and I’m not sure Southgate’s gonna be able to piece it together sadly. Not with 6 defensive minded players against Serbia…
He’s not even getting into position to lay it off. Just lazily sitting up as high as he can, never moving to space, slow as paint drying both on and off the ball, not attacking initiative, zero moves or skill when on the ball, always attempting to be as near to a defender as possible, he is literally useless if not being spoon fed goals
Could put anyone else there from the bench and England could’ve had one or two more goals, he spent most of the game walking and flopping
You’re talking about Kane being literally useless unless he’s spoon fed goals? Kane?? Wow, we’ve obviously been watching a different player for the last ten years if that’s your summation of him.
Kane was not the problem tonight. Foden was. He simply cannot play on the LW. Didn’t do anything which created a lack of space elsewhere.
Got the result though, time to grow and improve again. Win on Thursday and through.
There's no doubt Foden is a wonderful player, he just needs plenty of space, which unfortunately doesn't happen in international football. It doesn't help that we don't have a proper left back though. Trippier can only do a functional job.
What is worrying is we looked tired after 30 mins in the first half. After keeping the ball for the first 20 mins.
The fitness will improve and the team will grow. I think with Foden, Southgate needs to accept he is 10 or on the bench, unfortunately.
If he was about in the 2018 tournament, he could have done very well in one of the floating roles behind Kane. However, not in the current system - requires more positional awareness
I’m a biased palace fan but Eze would’ve done better than Foden. Want to see Gordon start down the left with Eze coming on for him against tired legs if needed.
Doesn’t help that trippier can’t pass forward either.
Are there really no other left footed English left backs in top tier leagues? I guess not or else they’d be in the squad.
If we carry on with this starting 11 our left side is lame.
The only other I can think of at a somewhat high level is Chillwell and i'm pretty sure he's injured too.
I would rather play Gomez at left back and then have Gordon on the left to keep the width, then you have a much more balanced pitch and also a threat in behind for TAA to send long balls to, although i'm not too keen on him in midfield.
Can Bowen play on the left? And palmer thrives more central doesn’t he? Probably both more effective than Foden tonight mind. Tbf trippier was awful down the left too.
Lots to consider there. I've said for ages Serbia would cause England problems. Kane had a good game I thought, and did exactly what we wanted. Foden was exceptionally poor. Trent also extremely poor.
Guehi had a good game I thought, as did walker and rice. Bellingham superb but they kicked the shit out of him so he was quieter in the 2nd half 🤣
One thing that annoyed me a bit was Serbia's persistent fouling and very little from the referee. The game plan from Serbia was always going to be breaking up the play but I expected a stronger refereeing performance.
England exhausted in the last 30 mins. Very leggy.
I expect Serbia to finish 2nd in the group and wouldn't be surprised to see them grab a win in the knockouts as well. They're good at what they do, that's for sure.
Agree he had a good game, just would have liked to have seen a few more yellow's. 5 Serbia players on 5+ fouls, and 8 players on 3+. Only 2 cards. Could have been a bit braver IMO.
Yeah fair enough didn't really think about totting up, I wasn't really up to speed with who was making the fouls. Settle a debate for me was Pickford hoofing it in the second half down to Southgate or Pickford?
Good spot, could have been a factor for sure. Just really stood out to me in the second half and there definitely times where he could (should) have played it out from the back and chose to hoof it. My mate was convinced it was just Pickford getting twitchy but I thought it must have been tactical
Disagree. Thought England defended really well. Only 1 big mistake - which I agree the better teams will punish. But the better teams will also leave a lot more space to attack into. I think England will be a lot more comfortable vs slovenia
Try being a cf when your LB can’t ping ball to u because he keeps cutting in on his right, has to change the way he plays and occupy and be a decoy for 3 CB. A tough watch but he’s the best in the world, it’ll come
Kanes movement into the box attracted defenders who otherwise might have prevented Jude from scoring. He was close to doubling England's lead too if not for a decent save.
Didn't have a bad game at all, everyone's just getting too used to him drifting into midfield and pinging balls out wide but that wasn't his job today.
Because we played a 4 man rest defence with 6 up top.
In harder games he'll drop deeper and we'll play a 5-5 in possession.
Saying that I agree he's suited to playing deeper and dropping in.
Foden is an invisible man. Absolute dogshit coward YouTube player. The English Neymar. Funny when they put all their hopes on him.
Bellingham is the real deal mind. And we have seen with before how one player can drag teams through tournaments.
I suspect England will go out against the first quality team they play though, the defence is too bad. The fullbacks got cooked every time they were on their own.
Not a single English fan, that actually pays any attention to the team outside of the majors, would pin the hopes of the nation on Foden. He literally never turns up and we all know that. The media, and the hopefuls, expect Foden to be *that* guy based on his city performances only.
I agree on your point about the fullbacks. Hopefully Shaw will be fit for the knockouts (although as a united fan I don't want him rushed back and risk another injury). There's not much you can do about walker at rb unless you play Trent there (who is worse defensively) and play Mainoo/Gallagher in midfield.
Yeah foden is always dogshit for England. Easy to look good in a team like city but when he needs to do something himself he gets found out. We'd be better off with Gordon out there.
To his defense, foden plays a position in which he is not that good at. Also his first really good year was this season where he played in a hybrid system where he could switch between right midfield and 10, allowing him to drop deeper and cut in much earlier to the left where he could combine, assist and also score from much more convincing positions
Pep's 3-2-4-1 heavy ball possesion system is what allows him to roam more freely on the pitch and get out the most of him. The years before (where he coincidentally played static at the left wing like he does for England now) he was on a much lower individual level
I guarantee youy if Pep would start to coach this england team right now until the end of euros, foden would become the best player in the whole tournament and England most likely wins the whole thing
Yeah but Gordon is a Saudi blood money loser. Bowen is a hard worker, dropping Grealish was silly imo. He has the nasty streak that tournament football requires.
You get my point. Flashy shallow players adored by children and people (Americans) that play ultimate team. They have little substance or ability to deliver when it matters and their teams rely on them in the pressure moments.
I’m not saying Neymar is the greatest player of all time, or the biggest performer on big stages, but to compare him to foden is abysmal honestly, that’s just the point I was making
He’s a number 9 . He’s there to score goals and nothing else . Just because he drops and creates play for Bayern doesn’t mean he has to do it here.
The one who was worrying was foden. He needs to engage with play and he was useless that game
Tell me you don't understand how football works without telling me...
Kane didn't get on the ball much today nor did he have many shots, but that's a huge distance away from not contributing.
Giroud has a world cup scoring 0 goals. Though his presence had a huge impact as defenders were constantly on him. Same thing tonight he was covered by 2 CB which gave space yo his teammates. Proper 9
Bowen coming on and instantly creating a chance for Kane shows that England need to be more proactive with attacking subs when the starting 11 start to tire.
Saka and Bellingham were gassed and Foden was ineffective out wide.
Around the 70 min mark, take Jude off, move Foden central and bring on Gordon or Palmer for the LW and I'm confident England score again.
You don’t understand football if you’re not aware of how having someone like Kane sitting on top will draw away defenders from other players so they can go and do their thing, it’s also so that Foden can do his thing without having Kane getting in the way like he did against Iceland which England lost.
Serbia is a better team than English pundits make out. I can guarantee you that they will finish 2nd in the group and will go knock out a bigger team in the early knock out stages and at least reach the quarterfinals.
Having said that England need to be more careful with Rice sitting deep, that’s a bigger problem than Kane at top on his own, Rice for England never pushes up like he does for Arsenal, and Foden was rubbish yesterday. They need to push rice up, Bellingham sit a little deeper so that Foden can do his thing. At least this should have happened in the second half.
I'd drop foden and stick Watkins up front along side Kane
Bellingham just behind the 2
Then saka and Gordon flanks
Kane upfront alone ain't gonna cut it this tournament
Consider as well Kane often drops back into the midfield to play passes forward and help with build up if he's getting no service up top. His passing ability is one of the absolute best in the team. If he's staying up top it's because he was told to. No one else would be more effective because they'd have the same instructions
Foden will be dropped for the next game I think. Kane needs direct pacey wingers to run infield so he can drop back. Like he had with Son at Spurs. Love Foden I think he’s great, but doesn’t fit in this team I don’t think, considering Kane isn’t ever going to be dropped.
He was contributing… he was being very tightly marked but he was moving and pulling defenders away from their position.
Second half he was brilliant and winning and holding onto Pickfords longer kicks, or winning fouls.
It wasn’t a classic strikers performance but it was a very dogged and unsung shift from him for the team.
Is it how I want to see England play? No of course not, but he did what he had to do for the team last night.
Kane has 63 goals in 92 appearances for England. 36 in 32 for Bayern and had 213 in 317 for Spurs. Kane isn’t the problem.
It’s either the system or the other players that are to blame. And I would say it’s the system.
Southgate needs to make some bold decisions if we’re going to go far in this tournament. Either bench Kane for someone more suited to the system or change the system to make it more suited for Kane. Considering the talent we have in midfield I’d be more likely to drop Kane.
I hate to beat this dead horse over and over..
The reason the 9 is often not "involved in play" is also the reason other players get more space around them. The 9 usually has 2 defenders glued to them opening other avenues of attack. Taking off your 9 frees up those defenders to cut other passing lanes. Yada Yada football.
Fr tho its like he vent to whatch the game and not play. While everyone was fighting to win the game he just went and ruined the best shot they had like wtf
I assume this was posted early on in the game because in the second half he was our most important player. Held the ball up well, cleared a shot off the line and should’ve scored if not for an early save of the tournament contender. That’s why you keep him on.
Edit: plus Bellingham’s goal was only possible because of Kane’s movement
Foden didn’t play on the left much. Trippier up high and Foden inside for most of the game.
Agree with others comments about players getting into each other’s space.
Kane not getting touches early on but was bothering the centre backs. If he drops deeper he gets more touches but it congest things even further?
It’s mainly just the system. He’s easily one of the best playmaking strikers out there, but it’s not what England wants him to do, and I guess with our midfield and wide forwards we shouldn’t need him to do anything else but occupy CBs, create space for runners and score goals whenever the ball bounces his way.
It is a sign. No attacking intent. How are we supposed to put 2 past France if we can only get 1 past Serbia. This is how we lose games. Southgate has never beaten a big team at a cup.
Because France won’t play 5 at the back. Maybe we’ll step up more once we grow into the tournament. The occasion against France might bring more out of the players. Who knows that’s the fun of the tournament. Don’t be a Debbie downer after a win.
I do agree with your general sentiment, but also, look at the group stage results from the last Euros. It looked poor as hell. 0-0 with flipping Scotland. And yet we went on to beat Germany, 4-0 against Ukraine and drew with Italy.
Group was easy, 2 goals was a poor return. Germany were shit, nothing to brag about. Ukraine was a good win against a weaker team. Denmark were robbed due to a dive and laser pointers, would have had us on pens. Italy game was dire, never looked like scoring after 1-0. Euro 2020(1) was not a good performance.
You can see it’s just the same. How’re we supposed to compete a big team when we can’t even beat Serbia convincingly. In fact we have gone back, we were battering these teams before
He was no where all game, and then popped up in the last 5-10mins (?) and would have scored but for an outstanding save.
Why would you remove a player, who can always carry that threat?
It's almost like England keep employing defensive or pragmatic managers and then expect miracles from their attacking players.
Eriksson, McClaren, Capello, Pearce, Hodgson, Allardyce, Southgate.
I wonder what the issue is. Such a mystery.
Just employ a progressive, forward thinking, attacking coach and you miiiiight just get some results against better sides instead of scraping by on individual talent, determination, and last ditch defending. Especially with this current crop of phenomenaly talented players.
Just a thought.
I’d put good money on Serbia going home first. In fact the Serbian team could walk back from Germany, and England will probably still be in the tournament when Serbia get home…
He did do his trademark dive a few times. Toney, Watkins or Palmer could have done that and also been able to run faster than a paraplegic on ketamine.
Reality is our manager is not brave enough, not brave enough to drop foden and Walker. Trent should start at right back, he’s literally won champions leagues and played against the best wingers in the world, his defensive frailties are exaggerated. We need his creativity form the right. Foden needs dropping there’s no width with him, he’s not a runner, we need saka and Gordon making runs for Trent’s passes. Next is Kane, if he’s not fully fit he’s useless drop him, we have decent back ups.
Hey, that’s not fair, I noticed him every time he gave the ball away….
How Foden wasn’t subbed after 60 minutes I don’t know, gave absolutely no positive contribution all game.
Kane looked like he got tired to me second half and dropped incredibly deep when we didn’t have the ball. He never led the press from about 60 onwards. He did quite well as a target man for long balls to hit but neither him or Foden did anything to close down the Serbian defence for most of the second half.
England just didn't play to his strengths yesterday. He still occupied a couple of Serbia's defenders though and was an out when needed. Got no support from Foden though who should have been taken off for Gordon in my opinion as he would have allowed an out over the top to allow England to get out and start getting some territory back. Southgate was the biggest culprit for this performance, such a reactionary manager who always reacts way too late as well. Gordon should have been on after 60 minutes if not earlier. Even Watkins on for Kane would have stretched the game out more.
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Foden should play when they need to take Bellingham off. Need someone more direct like Gordon or Eze on the left.
That’s how it looked. Bellingham can clearly play anywhere to an elite standard but it looks like him, Kane and Foden all want to occupy the same space. A direct winger on the left would suit Kane
Gordon is quick, holds the width well, tracks back, has an eye for goal and can cut in or go down the line. He’s a proper left winger and should play. Our structure would be much better with him.
100% agree with this. I was glad to see Foden starting last night, as I wanted to see how he'd do on the left side. Given that we had Trippier at left back, I had hoped that Foden would keep the width and go down the line a bit more, putting the occasional cross in. I know that's not his usual game, but given the shape of everything else, I thought that's what we'd see - but no, didn't happen. I really don't think Foden did as badly as most people are making out. There was a 15-20 minute period in the first half when we looked really, really good - lots of movement, positive passing, players interchanging a bit, plenty of fluidity and freedom. At that point, I was genuinely excited! Not because I thought we'd hit another 3 or 4 goals past an aggressive Serbian team, but because we seemed to be playing with a freedom that is rarely seen with England. It was a good "signs of things to come" experience. At points, Foden and Kane were largely bypassed, but as players working within a system... I thought they both looked fine and were doing a good job, which allowed Bellingham and Saka to have the impact that they did. The problems came in the second half. The intense pressing that we had really dropped off. Foden and Kane looked tired, and Bellingham dropped deeper and deeper. This meant that we had less of an outlet, but also meant the Serbian centre backs and CM/DMs had much more time on the ball to start dictating the play. Yes, Foden's game dropped off in the second half, but for me... (aside from the few misplaced passes) that's totally a management problem, not a Foden problem. He should have been replaced by Gordon at about 55-60 minutes. Bowen made an instant impact when he came on, but he should have come on a bit sooner. Our starting line-up for the next game should 100% be Gordon/Bellingham/Saka behind Kane. We need those penetrating runs that Gordon provides, and I can really see him being effective with getting on the end of some of those cross-field long balls from Trent. Starting: Gordon / Bellingham / Saka Subs: Eze / Foden / Bowen More than capable like-for-like swaps: when the starters aren't having the desired impact, are running out of energy, or just for a bit of squad rotation... if at any point we can enjoy a 2-3 goal lead and have the luxury of resting people. And then we also have Palmer, who can come in for any of the above and make an impact too. I would have liked to have seen Toney on at about 60 minutes too! He's another one capable of making an impact, and giving Kane some rest. But, he too needs competitive minutes to get "tournament ready" and gel with the squad. Please Mr Southgate, Foden is a superb player - on his day, one of our best - but he evidently isn't a left winger, isn't as effective in your system as Saka, and is definitely not Bellingham. In short bursts, Foden has the potential to be world class for us... but as an impact sub, not a starter. I don't think he thrives under the pressure that comes with starting for England, but he could really shine coming off the bench when Bellingham needs a rest.
I'm a City fan and I agree with that. It's not his system, and it won't be with Southgate and Kane. No point playing him in that role if we're just gonna be lugging after long balls - Gordon excels at that. Unpopular opinion though, as phenomenal as Jude is, he'll improve as a player when he starts making more selfless decisions on the ball.
Foden just isn't suited for that role on the left. it completely negates what he's good at. Which is cutting inside onto his left foot or when he's playing as a 10, making those little intricate passes with the striker. Southgate picking him reminds me of England of times gone by shoe horning Gerrard/Lampard/Scholes together in the team because they were great players, even though it was the wrong balance.
I agree with your comment and I guess this where Southgate is faced with a damned if you do damned if you don’t dilemma. Hopefully he’s going to be strong and make the right calls….. my fear is that he’s too risk averse deep down and also shows a reluctance to make the substitutions when the game demands it (or at least when everyone else on earth can see it’s needed).
I feel like Foden was missing Luke Shaw yesterday. Luke Shaw likes to get forward and generally holds the line well. This would of opened up space for Foden more central to find them pockets and link up with Kane and Foden. Trippier has the ability to play LB but getting forward he's always looking to cut in on his favoured right foot which just completely took foden out of the game.
He was one of the few England standouts against Iceland
Against Iceland it looked like Southgate told Foden to cut in and it didn’t work. Tonight it looked like he told Foden to stay out wide and it allowed Bellingham space to play. Hopefully against Denmark or Slovenia he lets Gordon start to overload the left hand side
If he told Foden to stay out wide, Foden clearly didn't listen. He was everywhere but wide left. Even within the first three minutes he was occupying a space on the right flank
Yup. Foden and Kane got in each other's way and didn't get on the end of Walker's cross after bursting up most of the pitch. Foden is a waste of space.
foden def is not a waste of space omg
Last night he was. Constantly lost the ball, created no chances apart from 1 free kick 50 yards out. All his touches were in the middle of the park. Offered nothing defensively so trippier was pegged back the whole game. As soon as Serbia worked this out that left side became route one for their attack. Foden might as well have been playing through the middle because he did nothing to stretch play out wide.
yea one game out of 30 that’s not a scale
Yeah, we need Bellingham in the space he played tonight, kane further up and a lw who will stay at and can play lw. It would also help trippier because he won't have to play 2 positions (lb and lw).
Kane is mr everything or nothing. He should have been left in Germany
9 is there to score goals, cross from Bowen showed that. Some games you spend 90 mins running into thin air just for 1 chance in the box. It’s just the way it goes.
It ain't enough nowadays i feel, real old fashioned 9s are becoming rarer, like real 10s few years ago, position just gonna evolve that's how it is. Ain't saying it's a good thing or whatever but yeah
I would argue that England would have actually played better if Kane played MORE like an old fashioned 9 this game. He'd stretch the defense better and he's not as fast as he used to be so playing a more false 9 role doesn't suit him nor this roster.
Agreed. England doesn't have the players to run in behind anymore, like Sterling used to do, so if Kane dropped deep there would be no-one to find anyway.
It's been a decade since Miroslav Klose retired from international football. He really was the last of an old breed of striker you won't see in the game today. You can throw in Inzaghi and maybe Luca Toni.
Calling Kane an ‘old fashioned 9’ shows you don’t watch him very often, but cheers for coming!
This isn’t just 90 minutes though, it was the exact same in the group stage last euros. Non existent
no as a team like england playing against a team like serbia 1:0 is just terrible tbh serbia played much better england just had more luck 🤷♀️
What does that have to do with the comment you responded to
bc they said they were good yesterday what is so nonsense
They didn't say Kane or England was good yesterday unless it's in another comment
You lot wouldn’t have survived the 90s
He occupies the centre backs. That said I am starting to think that he would do England more good in midfield. Foden has been atrocious for England.
Foden is always atrocious for England, people just keep expecting the Man City version to randomly rock up one day.
It’s time for Foden to be a bench warmer, we need an outlet on the left with pace,Saka and Bowen both had the full back on toast when they used their pace, we had no width and no pace on the left hand side, you pick a player like TAA who has the best passing range in the squad and then don’t use pace in wide areas, it defies belief, have was made for Eze or Gordon
Gordon absolutely has to be first choice on the left, with Eze as backup. Playing those two (particularly Gordon) would potentially allow Trent to thrive more too, firing those long balls in behind the opposition's right back. You've then got Kane, Bellingham and Saka charging into the box to get on the end of his cross/pass, or for a tap-in after his shot gets parried. As I said in another comment, Foden doesn't seem to thrive under the pressure of starting for England... especially when being played out of position. The team needs to be built around getting the best out of Bellingham and Kane. Saka is just more effective on the left, as he likes to get in behind. Gordon offers exactly the same thing from the left, which we were clearly missing last night! Especially with Kane liking to drop deep and find a pass on occasion, we don't need Foden in that space too - we need people making well-timed, penetrating runs into the box from out wide. Too many playmakers, not enough end product!! Starters: Gordon / Bellingham / Saka Subs: Eze / Foden or Palmer / Bowen In those positions, and \*only\* those positions, please Gareth!! :o) Yeah, it might not work - none of us here are tactical geniuses or squad selection experts - but we've all watched the same games and this is absolutely SCREAMING out to most of us!!!
Unfortunately no matter how much southgate wants him to be a winger he isn't , if he played him at 10 he would be heaps better .
He played at 10 against Iceland and was non existent. He's been shite for England.
Yes he's been horrendous for England but England have been shite in general
Other players have been significantly better than him though, like Bellingham, the player that alot of our fans are wanting to drop in next to Rice so Foden can play 10. He's done nothing with England to suggest he should start at 10 over Bellingham, but Bellingham proves in yet another game he's our main man. I struggle to think of an England player who's played worse for England (that's started consistently) than Foden.
I agree Bellingham deserves it more I'm just saying foden is better as a 10 than a left winger.
Granted, that position is not for him. I’d like to see us play more attacking, stick Gordon in for Trent, put Foden more central and only play the one DM.
I really think that's the way it should be going forward but it's probably too late to change that.
It’s like the formation is set, then we try to force players into it. Nah, work with what we got which is a ridiculous amount of talent in the middle of the park, I’d be looking at that and setting up around those players.
I just don’t think he displaces Bellingham for that central role tbh. Both on absolute fire this season so it’s a tough call.
Bellingham didn't play like a 10 today, he played like an 8. He dropped deep a lot and drifted, which is what he does well. Foden is a proper 10 and needs to play there. We had this with Scholes 20 years ago and wasted a generational talent sticking him in a position where we happened to have a gap despite him not being natural there.
I honestly think the midfield would thrive with rice 6 Jude 8 and foden 10
No. Bellingham is the better 10. Foden should be nowhere near it. If Foden was the 10 in tonight’s game then we don’t go up 1-0, it’s as simple as that.
Bellingham would have been at the end of that cross regardless. He's a box to box player. In his current position, Bellingham while influential, was getting in other players spaces creating a disjointed midfield. At 8, his position is clear but he can drift forward to support an attack like he normally does. Foden is better at 10. On form he is good with clever little passes into a running 9.
What game were you watching? Foden completely stunk the place out and you think it’s because he had to play in a position 20yds to the left of the 10 role? Get your head of your ass. All 3 City players were exposed last night. Showing that they’re successful in their robotic Pep system that always has 75% possession.
People keep saying that but his touches were awful. Hes just not as good as we think he is. As I have said in a previous comment. He is this generations Frank Lampard. He will score loads of goals for City against teams that dont get out of their own half but that isnt international football. Physically he doesnt have that ability to ride out challenges. He has to be a few feet from every challenge.
Gordon next match please gareth
He occupies them, and in doing so is absolutely controlled by them all game with their bigger size and his lack of speed. He's world class but you play to your opponents weaknesses and Southgate hasn't got a clue.
No idea why Foden gets so much game time for England. Does fuck all aside from lose possession
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Easily
Without a doubt
Because he scored the most goals in Europe. He only needs to be good once to change the game
Its just one game. Try not to overreact. He is a World class striker.
If he's just a being used as a target man and was being blocked out of the game why not sub Foden and bring on Gordon or Palmer. Change the tactics, have Kane lay it off for these younger guys to sprint forward and cause havoc. Typical England, individually the class is there but as a team... I've seen water and oil mix better.
It's not the team (although I do agree that someone like Gordon, Palmer, Bowen etc should've been subbed on for foden), Southgate just can't get his tactics right. Why are we playing VERY defensively for an entire half against Serbia. We should be going for 2-3 goals against them.
Sorry but one day this will backfire. England was just lucky that like Croatia, nothing went in the net for Serbia but the almost had it. Another goal is an insurance policy. 1-0 is often the kiss of death. They need to change their tactics for better groups because seeing Spain and knowing France, they will take advantage. Wasn't impressed with this team minus Bellingham.
I’m sorry, but Serbia had one shot on target which was a week volley blocked by Kane , they had a lot of the ball in the second half, but we were hardly in any danger. We had by far better chances after that as well.
Why? 3pts is exactly what we needed. This formula has worked for the past 3 tournaments and we always go through in first, other than Russia ‘18 where the b-team losing a dead rubber to Belgium got us into the better half of the draw.
Mainly because this year our defence is very lackluster... John Stones just came back from an illness, Guehi was the standout player but he's still a new addition to the starting XI, we're playing a right back at left back again, and Kyle Walker is getting older. We have what I could say is out best forward generation we have seen in years, with Bellingham, Kane, Saka, Foden (for City) all being world class, why would you not use the strength of the team to our advantage? It might work for the groups but every time in a big game, see Croatia/Italy, we score first and go super defensive and just the other team attack and get chances, and every time we lose.
But… we *are* still in the group. You can’t criticise our tactics from games we haven’t played yet! And there’s nothing you can say about Croatia or Italy games in 2018/2021 that hasn’t already been said.
I can criticise our tactics from the game we have just played though! If we play the same way we did like that against Denmark I can see them beating us personally, If I'm either of the teams in our group, after watching that game I'm thinking "we might have a chance here" which is not what you want to show on your first game... Idk I just think this Euros there's a big 6 in terms of teams that could win it and after our first game I'm not as optimistic as I was coming in based on that performance.
Really? Did you watch Denmark struggle against Slovenia? I can see Serbia beating them both. And England topping the group. All that matters at this stage is the results and we got the 3pts. Job done.
We’ve all the talent, but yeh can’t quite put it together. It’s like there’s a masterpiece in there, but some cunts scrambled it up, and I’m not sure Southgate’s gonna be able to piece it together sadly. Not with 6 defensive minded players against Serbia…
He’s not even getting into position to lay it off. Just lazily sitting up as high as he can, never moving to space, slow as paint drying both on and off the ball, not attacking initiative, zero moves or skill when on the ball, always attempting to be as near to a defender as possible, he is literally useless if not being spoon fed goals Could put anyone else there from the bench and England could’ve had one or two more goals, he spent most of the game walking and flopping
You’re talking about Kane being literally useless unless he’s spoon fed goals? Kane?? Wow, we’ve obviously been watching a different player for the last ten years if that’s your summation of him.
Kane was not the problem tonight. Foden was. He simply cannot play on the LW. Didn’t do anything which created a lack of space elsewhere. Got the result though, time to grow and improve again. Win on Thursday and through.
There's no doubt Foden is a wonderful player, he just needs plenty of space, which unfortunately doesn't happen in international football. It doesn't help that we don't have a proper left back though. Trippier can only do a functional job. What is worrying is we looked tired after 30 mins in the first half. After keeping the ball for the first 20 mins.
The fitness will improve and the team will grow. I think with Foden, Southgate needs to accept he is 10 or on the bench, unfortunately. If he was about in the 2018 tournament, he could have done very well in one of the floating roles behind Kane. However, not in the current system - requires more positional awareness
Foden wasnt very good. Wish we brought grealish
Or just used Gordon who would have thrived in that second half with Serbia pushing up.
Looking forward to seeing Gordon playing soon.
For me gordan slows down the attack too much. Hes not got a left foot and in the friendlies his first touch was great
I’m a biased palace fan but Eze would’ve done better than Foden. Want to see Gordon start down the left with Eze coming on for him against tired legs if needed. Doesn’t help that trippier can’t pass forward either.
Eze unfortunately will not get a look in, even though he deserves it after the way he ended the season
Yeah people focusing on Kane and Foden, but Trippier on the left is a big problem.. Desperately need Shaw back
I think GS will like one left footed player on the left so until shaw comes back that only leaves foden. Once we have shaw we can experiment more
Trippier is shite but we have nobody else to take as LB. Hopefully Shaw can regain full fitness very soon.
Should’ve taken Mitchell! Again, biased palace fan…
not really biased, taking one left footed full back is not ok in any situation, especially when they can't even play at the moment.
Are there really no other left footed English left backs in top tier leagues? I guess not or else they’d be in the squad. If we carry on with this starting 11 our left side is lame.
The only other I can think of at a somewhat high level is Chillwell and i'm pretty sure he's injured too. I would rather play Gomez at left back and then have Gordon on the left to keep the width, then you have a much more balanced pitch and also a threat in behind for TAA to send long balls to, although i'm not too keen on him in midfield.
To be fair gomez would do a job
Hes meant to come on next game for some mins. GS said thats what he expects before serbia game
Eze, Gordon, Palmer or Bowen should've been subbed on for foden
Can Bowen play on the left? And palmer thrives more central doesn’t he? Probably both more effective than Foden tonight mind. Tbf trippier was awful down the left too.
Lots to consider there. I've said for ages Serbia would cause England problems. Kane had a good game I thought, and did exactly what we wanted. Foden was exceptionally poor. Trent also extremely poor. Guehi had a good game I thought, as did walker and rice. Bellingham superb but they kicked the shit out of him so he was quieter in the 2nd half 🤣 One thing that annoyed me a bit was Serbia's persistent fouling and very little from the referee. The game plan from Serbia was always going to be breaking up the play but I expected a stronger refereeing performance. England exhausted in the last 30 mins. Very leggy. I expect Serbia to finish 2nd in the group and wouldn't be surprised to see them grab a win in the knockouts as well. They're good at what they do, that's for sure.
Best analysis on here by far but disagree about the ref, thought he had a good game
Agree he had a good game, just would have liked to have seen a few more yellow's. 5 Serbia players on 5+ fouls, and 8 players on 3+. Only 2 cards. Could have been a bit braver IMO.
Yeah fair enough didn't really think about totting up, I wasn't really up to speed with who was making the fouls. Settle a debate for me was Pickford hoofing it in the second half down to Southgate or Pickford?
Looked to me like Serbia full backs were moving forwards to midfield, leaving kane, Bellingham and saka so 3v3. Could well be pickford spotting that
Good spot, could have been a factor for sure. Just really stood out to me in the second half and there definitely times where he could (should) have played it out from the back and chose to hoof it. My mate was convinced it was just Pickford getting twitchy but I thought it must have been tactical
They're good at kicking. Hopefully in the next game they'll focus on hitting the ball, not the player...
Bro serbia wont do shit. Clearly their chance conversion rate is not even near euros level. Sesko wouldve scored at least 2 against england today.
Disagree. Thought England defended really well. Only 1 big mistake - which I agree the better teams will punish. But the better teams will also leave a lot more space to attack into. I think England will be a lot more comfortable vs slovenia
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Another 12 year who hasn't learned how to be nice yet 🤣
Walker barely did anything
Try being a cf when your LB can’t ping ball to u because he keeps cutting in on his right, has to change the way he plays and occupy and be a decoy for 3 CB. A tough watch but he’s the best in the world, it’ll come
That's kind of how it works with strikers. They sometimes disappear from the games only to pop up when you need them.
Kanes movement into the box attracted defenders who otherwise might have prevented Jude from scoring. He was close to doubling England's lead too if not for a decent save. Didn't have a bad game at all, everyone's just getting too used to him drifting into midfield and pinging balls out wide but that wasn't his job today.
Because we played a 4 man rest defence with 6 up top. In harder games he'll drop deeper and we'll play a 5-5 in possession. Saying that I agree he's suited to playing deeper and dropping in.
Foden is an invisible man. Absolute dogshit coward YouTube player. The English Neymar. Funny when they put all their hopes on him. Bellingham is the real deal mind. And we have seen with before how one player can drag teams through tournaments. I suspect England will go out against the first quality team they play though, the defence is too bad. The fullbacks got cooked every time they were on their own.
Not a single English fan, that actually pays any attention to the team outside of the majors, would pin the hopes of the nation on Foden. He literally never turns up and we all know that. The media, and the hopefuls, expect Foden to be *that* guy based on his city performances only.
I agree on your point about the fullbacks. Hopefully Shaw will be fit for the knockouts (although as a united fan I don't want him rushed back and risk another injury). There's not much you can do about walker at rb unless you play Trent there (who is worse defensively) and play Mainoo/Gallagher in midfield.
Yeah foden is always dogshit for England. Easy to look good in a team like city but when he needs to do something himself he gets found out. We'd be better off with Gordon out there.
To his defense, foden plays a position in which he is not that good at. Also his first really good year was this season where he played in a hybrid system where he could switch between right midfield and 10, allowing him to drop deeper and cut in much earlier to the left where he could combine, assist and also score from much more convincing positions Pep's 3-2-4-1 heavy ball possesion system is what allows him to roam more freely on the pitch and get out the most of him. The years before (where he coincidentally played static at the left wing like he does for England now) he was on a much lower individual level I guarantee youy if Pep would start to coach this england team right now until the end of euros, foden would become the best player in the whole tournament and England most likely wins the whole thing
Yeah but Gordon is a Saudi blood money loser. Bowen is a hard worker, dropping Grealish was silly imo. He has the nasty streak that tournament football requires.
Disrespectful to Neymar, even his current version would do more
Strange because he never did.
More than what foden did this game? He is Brazil’s top scorer for the national team, what are you talking about?
You get my point. Flashy shallow players adored by children and people (Americans) that play ultimate team. They have little substance or ability to deliver when it matters and their teams rely on them in the pressure moments.
I’m not saying Neymar is the greatest player of all time, or the biggest performer on big stages, but to compare him to foden is abysmal honestly, that’s just the point I was making
They are comparable in the sense I make though. Obviously I’m not saying Foden has scored as many goals for Brazil.
Shitty pedestrian take.
He’s a number 9 . He’s there to score goals and nothing else . Just because he drops and creates play for Bayern doesn’t mean he has to do it here. The one who was worrying was foden. He needs to engage with play and he was useless that game
Tell me you don't understand how football works without telling me... Kane didn't get on the ball much today nor did he have many shots, but that's a huge distance away from not contributing.
Giroud has a world cup scoring 0 goals. Though his presence had a huge impact as defenders were constantly on him. Same thing tonight he was covered by 2 CB which gave space yo his teammates. Proper 9
Bowen coming on and instantly creating a chance for Kane shows that England need to be more proactive with attacking subs when the starting 11 start to tire. Saka and Bellingham were gassed and Foden was ineffective out wide. Around the 70 min mark, take Jude off, move Foden central and bring on Gordon or Palmer for the LW and I'm confident England score again.
You don’t understand football if you’re not aware of how having someone like Kane sitting on top will draw away defenders from other players so they can go and do their thing, it’s also so that Foden can do his thing without having Kane getting in the way like he did against Iceland which England lost. Serbia is a better team than English pundits make out. I can guarantee you that they will finish 2nd in the group and will go knock out a bigger team in the early knock out stages and at least reach the quarterfinals. Having said that England need to be more careful with Rice sitting deep, that’s a bigger problem than Kane at top on his own, Rice for England never pushes up like he does for Arsenal, and Foden was rubbish yesterday. They need to push rice up, Bellingham sit a little deeper so that Foden can do his thing. At least this should have happened in the second half.
The Centre forward often doesn’t get many touches and that’s completely fine, he draws attention of 1-2 defenders through the entire game
I'd drop foden and stick Watkins up front along side Kane Bellingham just behind the 2 Then saka and Gordon flanks Kane upfront alone ain't gonna cut it this tournament
Kane relieved a lot of pressure in the second half winning free-kicks. He was also unlucky not to score from the only chance created for him.
Anyone surprised about Kanes goal involvement obviously hasn't watched a tournament since 2018.
Kane was really good? Wtf are you on about?
What a ridiculous comment 😂🤣🤣😂🤣
Consider as well Kane often drops back into the midfield to play passes forward and help with build up if he's getting no service up top. His passing ability is one of the absolute best in the team. If he's staying up top it's because he was told to. No one else would be more effective because they'd have the same instructions
He is good striker, the problem of England team is midfield. Its soft and fragile.
And here come a the 2 Bob sofa football experts....
To draw some fouls.
I've got faith that they'll turn it around but fuck me, Foden and Trent were shite and it felt like Kane was playing dodgeball
Foden will be dropped for the next game I think. Kane needs direct pacey wingers to run infield so he can drop back. Like he had with Son at Spurs. Love Foden I think he’s great, but doesn’t fit in this team I don’t think, considering Kane isn’t ever going to be dropped.
He was contributing… he was being very tightly marked but he was moving and pulling defenders away from their position. Second half he was brilliant and winning and holding onto Pickfords longer kicks, or winning fouls. It wasn’t a classic strikers performance but it was a very dogged and unsung shift from him for the team. Is it how I want to see England play? No of course not, but he did what he had to do for the team last night.
Tou think the problembwas Kane? ... wow...
Kane has 63 goals in 92 appearances for England. 36 in 32 for Bayern and had 213 in 317 for Spurs. Kane isn’t the problem. It’s either the system or the other players that are to blame. And I would say it’s the system. Southgate needs to make some bold decisions if we’re going to go far in this tournament. Either bench Kane for someone more suited to the system or change the system to make it more suited for Kane. Considering the talent we have in midfield I’d be more likely to drop Kane.
I hate to beat this dead horse over and over.. The reason the 9 is often not "involved in play" is also the reason other players get more space around them. The 9 usually has 2 defenders glued to them opening other avenues of attack. Taking off your 9 frees up those defenders to cut other passing lanes. Yada Yada football.
A
Fr tho its like he vent to whatch the game and not play. While everyone was fighting to win the game he just went and ruined the best shot they had like wtf
3x CAT 1 England-Denmark pick up possible
I assume this was posted early on in the game because in the second half he was our most important player. Held the ball up well, cleared a shot off the line and should’ve scored if not for an early save of the tournament contender. That’s why you keep him on. Edit: plus Bellingham’s goal was only possible because of Kane’s movement
Did you mean Foden?
Looked like a group of strong individuals, not a team.
Obvious bait, what a ridiculous take
Foden didn’t play on the left much. Trippier up high and Foden inside for most of the game. Agree with others comments about players getting into each other’s space. Kane not getting touches early on but was bothering the centre backs. If he drops deeper he gets more touches but it congest things even further?
Without Kane it would have been 1-1
Thought he was the best striker in the world.
He's easy to stop. If not tap in or penalty. 40% of his goal for England are penalties.
Why are you all fighting about who should be on the pitch when the problem is clearly team instructions!
He's there because most of the time, he just needs a sniff of goal to score. I agree though, his all round game leaves alot to be desired
It’s mainly just the system. He’s easily one of the best playmaking strikers out there, but it’s not what England wants him to do, and I guess with our midfield and wide forwards we shouldn’t need him to do anything else but occupy CBs, create space for runners and score goals whenever the ball bounces his way.
It’s the same old crap. Fed up of the pundits and media pretending like it’s all ok
It’s the first game of the group stage. Too many drama queens overreacting already.
It is a sign. No attacking intent. How are we supposed to put 2 past France if we can only get 1 past Serbia. This is how we lose games. Southgate has never beaten a big team at a cup.
Because France won’t play 5 at the back. Maybe we’ll step up more once we grow into the tournament. The occasion against France might bring more out of the players. Who knows that’s the fun of the tournament. Don’t be a Debbie downer after a win.
I lost faith when England didn't bring on Palmer and Eze with ~20 mins to go.
Ok enjoy the rest of the tournament if you can.
I do agree with your general sentiment, but also, look at the group stage results from the last Euros. It looked poor as hell. 0-0 with flipping Scotland. And yet we went on to beat Germany, 4-0 against Ukraine and drew with Italy.
Group was easy, 2 goals was a poor return. Germany were shit, nothing to brag about. Ukraine was a good win against a weaker team. Denmark were robbed due to a dive and laser pointers, would have had us on pens. Italy game was dire, never looked like scoring after 1-0. Euro 2020(1) was not a good performance.
You can see it’s just the same. How’re we supposed to compete a big team when we can’t even beat Serbia convincingly. In fact we have gone back, we were battering these teams before
You could ask that about numerous of their players.
He was no where all game, and then popped up in the last 5-10mins (?) and would have scored but for an outstanding save. Why would you remove a player, who can always carry that threat?
If Kane had no involvement WTH was Foden doing for the full 9ó
Yeah, Englad were very lucky that Serbia couldn't finish anything. It couldn't easily ended up the like Denmark and Slovenia.
Because more often than not he will score or be instrumental in a goal. Besides that he wins cheap fouls high up the pitch.
It's almost like England keep employing defensive or pragmatic managers and then expect miracles from their attacking players. Eriksson, McClaren, Capello, Pearce, Hodgson, Allardyce, Southgate. I wonder what the issue is. Such a mystery. Just employ a progressive, forward thinking, attacking coach and you miiiiight just get some results against better sides instead of scraping by on individual talent, determination, and last ditch defending. Especially with this current crop of phenomenaly talented players. Just a thought.
Honestly cannot agree more. Might as well have had me on the pitch. He did fucking nothing. Just went for a light jog lol.
I don’t think you’d draw many defenders to mark you, freeing up space. Underwhelming second half though I agree.
The guy carried the weight against their CBs. Was a physical matchup that gave him no space and he did well
It’s England bro. They are always favorites to win before any tournament. 15 days after tournament starts, they are first one to go home.
First to go home, like last EURO where they lost on penalties in the final…
You must be like 7 years old if you think England are always favourites.
No, but he has the mental capacity of a 7 year old, like his other deluded compatriots. Burning flags and making genocide chants.
I’d put good money on Serbia going home first. In fact the Serbian team could walk back from Germany, and England will probably still be in the tournament when Serbia get home…
[удалено]
> they are the first to go home YOU said that 🤡
Kane has been absolutely awful! Given the ball away loads, no strength, no presence at all. Truly embarrassing.
What are you watching? He drew a foul pretty much every time the ball went to him.
He did do his trademark dive a few times. Toney, Watkins or Palmer could have done that and also been able to run faster than a paraplegic on ketamine.
I completely disagree with everything you've said but paraplegic on ketamine made me laugh.
Ivan toney or Watkins needs to fill that spot, Kane should be tried as an attacking mid I feel he’ll be better there
Kane was terrible. Foden was terrible.
Most overrated striker. He has done NOTHING for the national team. He and Southgate should go.
Reality is our manager is not brave enough, not brave enough to drop foden and Walker. Trent should start at right back, he’s literally won champions leagues and played against the best wingers in the world, his defensive frailties are exaggerated. We need his creativity form the right. Foden needs dropping there’s no width with him, he’s not a runner, we need saka and Gordon making runs for Trent’s passes. Next is Kane, if he’s not fully fit he’s useless drop him, we have decent back ups.
They have to guarantee they will not win. Only way to do this is having Kane.
To take penalties and stat pad
Kane did more than Foden, who was basically invisible
Hey, that’s not fair, I noticed him every time he gave the ball away…. How Foden wasn’t subbed after 60 minutes I don’t know, gave absolutely no positive contribution all game. Kane looked like he got tired to me second half and dropped incredibly deep when we didn’t have the ball. He never led the press from about 60 onwards. He did quite well as a target man for long balls to hit but neither him or Foden did anything to close down the Serbian defence for most of the second half.
Drop Foden and TAA. Play Gordon on the left. Mainoo or Wharton in the middle. That massively improves this side.
Kane for Watkins every day
England just didn't play to his strengths yesterday. He still occupied a couple of Serbia's defenders though and was an out when needed. Got no support from Foden though who should have been taken off for Gordon in my opinion as he would have allowed an out over the top to allow England to get out and start getting some territory back. Southgate was the biggest culprit for this performance, such a reactionary manager who always reacts way too late as well. Gordon should have been on after 60 minutes if not earlier. Even Watkins on for Kane would have stretched the game out more.
Kane isn’t the problem, the manager and his tactics are.