What are the problems with the England team and can they be solved? [I Love Real Football]
First of all, well done to Scotland, who played a good game and tested us in lots of ways which Croatia didn't. A test that we failed.
Its hard to see England as genuine tournament contenders based on the evidence so far. Despite a wealth of attacking talent, we have scored one goal in two games against average teams.
There is a lack of midfield fluidity, with slow passing and a lack of opinions. The long ball over the top to Sterling is effective but teams tend to suss it out early in a game.
There is also a lack of energy. England have only plated well in the first ten minutes of each half and fade after that. You can blame it on a congested fixture list: the amount of games played in Europe and the congested domestic schedule, but most of England's rivals have the same issue. Pogba and Mbappe don't play as of they are tired buy Harry Kane does. The latter has played the least games.
Kane has suffered due to lack of service but there is no getting around the fact that he himself has been poor. Rasford is not a central striker and Calvin-Lewis has nothing like the same quality so what do you do?
Maybe Southgate has overcompensated for a for defensive vulnerability by not placing enough emphasis on coaching the attack? We will get through to the next round but are we good enough to go deep in the contest?
Thoughts?
Its hard to see England as genuine tournament contenders based on the evidence so far. Despite a wealth of attacking talent, we have scored one goal in two games against average teams.
There is a lack of midfield fluidity, with slow passing and a lack of opinions. The long ball over the top to Sterling is effective but teams tend to suss it out early in a game.
There is also a lack of energy. England have only plated well in the first ten minutes of each half and fade after that. You can blame it on a congested fixture list: the amount of games played in Europe and the congested domestic schedule, but most of England's rivals have the same issue. Pogba and Mbappe don't play as of they are tired buy Harry Kane does. The latter has played the least games.
Kane has suffered due to lack of service but there is no getting around the fact that he himself has been poor. Rasford is not a central striker and Calvin-Lewis has nothing like the same quality so what do you do?
Maybe Southgate has overcompensated for a for defensive vulnerability by not placing enough emphasis on coaching the attack? We will get through to the next round but are we good enough to go deep in the contest?
Thoughts?
41-45, M
