Reading the press today and it seems Southgate left out the Liverpool lads because he felt they would be suffering fatigue. The Dutch on the other hand just played their best team which included Liverpool players! Simple eh? Today he's in the press blaming Stones suicidal play because of... FATIGUE! This is despite him not starting regularly for Man City since the New Year!
There's also a big debate going on about Englands determination to pass the ball out of defence rather than mix it up a bit.
https://talksport.com/football/554872/netherlands-england-brainwashed-sam-allardyce/
As I keep saying there is no such thing as a long ball or a short ball there are just good passes and bad ones! Big Sam's bang on.........
“Playing it out from the back is fine, when you can do it,” the ex-England boss said “But I think there’s a brainwashing going on in terms of playing out from the back, that it had to be done every single time, and it’s wrong. “The player then believes he has to do it every single time, and every time that happens it creates more and more risk, so if the opposition are squeezing you you’re bound to be under pressure. “That’s when you make mistakes, and that’s exactly what we saw last night. “There were more than two errors in the final third, it could have been three or four goals because of those basic errors made in the final third. “That cannot be what you continue to tell your players, that you must only play it out from the back all the time. There is a time when you must clear your lines, push up the pitch and put pressure on the opposition.”
Perry Groves made great points too in that link. Shearer in the link above and now Pro after Pro are expressing my long held opinion that Stones will never be an international class defender.
He just refuses to bloody learn from his own mistakes!
He's not alone with that either cos Southgate refuses to learn too! Dele Alli is becoming a busted flush and has even stopped flattering to deceive whilst Harry Kane's form and influence has dipped alarmingly. With the Dutch pressing us back who better to have on the last defenders shoulders than Jamie Vardy? Rashford and Lingard are good players without a doubt but Vardy will be the one opponents fear most.
As for the midfield berth. Loftus Cheek would be a cert but for his injury but I don't see Dier, Barclay, Winks nor anybody else as a midfielder who can boss the midfield by taking the ball off his defenders, carry it forward and make all sorts of passes long, short, over the top, down the channels with amazing vision and accuracy and with a howitzer shot... yet Southgate refuses to select Jonjo Shelvey.
He's going to spew the progress he made in the World Cup if he isn't careful.
but it seems overly complex and it starts next year.
