England should play Bellingham AND Rogers to avoid return to 70s | OneFootball

Most fans agree that England cannot win the World Cup, and certainly not with Jude Bellingham as the No. 10.

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The only way England can match France

Having watched the France friendly, I think if we made a few better choices in terms of squad, team development and playing style we would definitely be in with more of a shout.

I think we have players comparable to France, but we do not have anything like a style of play, and we’ve spent the last year or so seeing if we can replace our better players with less good ones so we can say we are not just picking star names. ‘Teams win tournaments’ is almost as bad as brexit means brexit. Yes teams do win tournaments, but only if they are a team of world-class players. I can’t see us dominating possession, history shows we can’t soak up pressure. It blows my mind that we seemingly haven’t played a settled team for over a year. It’s going to boil down to last gasp long throws into the box for big Dan Burn. We’ve gone back to the 70’s!

Desperately hope I am wrong, I think we have the players, but I no faith in Tuchel and I’ve never really seen why he is regarded as an elite manager. He won the Champions League off the back of a solid defence and not much else, yet England look like shipping goals galore.

We suffer badly from a dearth of centre backs, so much so that we are trying to convince ourselves that Guehi is Baresi re-incarnate. I’m not convinced by Rogers but all this number 10 stuff needs to leave the building. You only need a 10 if you play a system that needs a 10, and if you are playing 3 up top with two wide then a 10 doesn’t not fit in.

My team would have been

Pickford

TAA* Guehi Stones Shaw

Rogers Rice Bellingham

Saka Kane Rashford

*but I’ll take Reece James

Rice sits, Bellingham and Rogers drive forward from half way, Kane gets to do his dropping in thing and Saka and Rashford give us pace.

If only I had any coaching badges or relevant experience at any level. Another Tom, Andover

England cannot win and that’s fine

In answer to Badwolf’s question – would my version of the England squad make it to the final, it’s a simple no.

The players are not good enough. Pick your World XI, or even a squad of 26. How many England players have you got? I’ve got Kane. Relax folks, we’re not winning this one, but that’s ok, I’m ready for it.

The heat will be too much anyway. Simon S, NUFC, Cheshire

…To me, England have bridged the ability gap in the last 20 years, to a lesser extent a product of St George’s Park, but more because of the cream of world playing & coaching talent in the modern PL. What we still lack in the crunch moments is the street smarts though IMO.

Bellingham is a case in point here. He’s outrageously talented and obviously a key part of the midfield for the biggest team in the world. Where he and other England players differ from their continental European brethren though is their naivety. He ought to be above engaging with players not fit to lace his boots trying to annoy him in-game. Or be smarter when talking to refs, not flouncing and gobbing off when he doesn’t get calls he thinks he ought to. But it’s not just him by any means – Rooney was an even better player, but we all remember the look of surprise on his face as his club team mate and Portuguese chums helped get him sent off. “Ronnie!?!” indeed.

Compare and contrast with a team who most England fans would have argued we were better than and our last knockout clash with them. Saka is away from Chiellini down the right, does Chiellini valiantly attempt to stop him fairly? No. Does he panic and give the ref zero choice but red? No. Chiellini calmly assesses the situation and takes a yellow (by the skin of his teeth).

Behold the quotes:

So, no, to answer your question Badwolf, unless we wise up a little (a lot) I fully expect us to not win anything ever without several huge chunks of luck. And do you know what, I’m not even remotely arsed, because contrary to what a bunch of amusingly angry folk* who frequent this site think, it’s only a game. I’m more worried about the low group stage points tally that may get teams through resulting in everyone but the big boys playing like Arsenal and boring us all to death. I want to watch teams trying to beat each other, not killing the game. Chuck in the undoubted huge issue that is the weather (particularly the potential for looong breaks if/when it gets stormy).

I’m also hearing unconfirmed reports that Infantino is initiating a galactic football federation & qualifying group next time out, with the WC being played on the Moon, Mars, and Earth. Musk sponsoring from his lair in a bunker deep beneath Olympus Mons. One can only hope for a devastating volcanic eruption interrupting one of his tweets about the UK (seriously Elon, do f**k off). RHT/TS x

(* coo-eee Howard x)

The impossible task of picking 10 World Cup classics

I’ve spent the last few days down a World Cup rabbit hole, bingeing old highlights and reminding myself why this tournament remains football’s greatest stage. Unlike many people who seem to be dreading the bloated 2026 edition, I’m actually looking forward to it. Yes, 48 teams is excessive, and yes, it’s being hosted in a country I’m a little tired of living in, but once the ball starts rolling, none of that will matter.

In the spirit of all things World Cup, I started putting together a list of matches I consider genuine classics. Not necessarily the greatest games ever played, just contests that captured something special about the tournament.

My ten:

1. Scotland 3-2 Netherlands (11 June 1978)

2. Denmark 6-1 Uruguay (8 June 1986)

3. Bulgaria 2-1 Germany (10 July 1994)

4. Croatia 3-0 Germany (4 July 1998)

5. France 3-0 Brazil (12 July 1998)

6. Italy 4-3 West Germany (17 June 1970)

7. France 3-3 West Germany (8 July 1982)

8. Argentina 2-1 England (22 June 1986)

9. Argentina 2-2 England (30 June 1998)

10. Argentina 3-3 France (18 December 2022)

I know there are some glaring omissions. Brazil v Italy in 1982, Brazil v Netherlands in 1994, Uruguay v Ghana in 2010, Germany v Brazil in 2014 and France v Argentina in 2018 were all painfully close to making the cut. But if you’re limiting yourself to ten, some giants inevitably get left behind.

What struck me while revisiting these games wasn’t just the quality. It was how every era seems to produce its own flavour of World Cup drama. The hairstyles change, the tactics evolve, the kits somehow get both better and worse, but the tournament keeps finding new ways to create moments that become football folklore.

That’s why I’m not overly concerned about 2026. People said the World Cup would be ruined when it expanded to 24 teams. Then again, when it went to 32. The format may be cumbersome, each host country might bring its own challenges, and FIFA often has a way of complicating even the simplest aspects. However, history shows that somewhere between the opening ceremony and the final whistle, a few new classics are likely to emerge.

And twenty years from now, we’ll probably be arguing about where they rank on the list. That’s the magic of the World Cup: the tournament changes, but the memories keep winning. Gaptoothfreak, Man Utd, New York (Shoutout to Kentona (BTL commenter) who recommended I watch “Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait”. That Mogwai soundtrack was class.)

It’s gonna be a World Cup disaster

Perhaps it’s my advancing years, but I agree wholeheartedly with Johnny Nic’s latest article about corporate greed ruining the World Cup. Every tournament is marred by controversy and negative press and most of it gets swept under the carpet once the tournament begins. The fans usually have a great time, there are a handful of memorable games and eventually someone is crowned champion.

Logistically, South Africa, Brazil and Russia were spoiled by huge travelling distances for the fans. South Africa was ruined by the incessant noise of the vuvuzela which was the sole source of atmosphere. Qatar was memorable for tens of thousands of Argentina, Colombia and Morocco fans creating an incredible atmosphere and that is exactly what a World Cup boils down to – the fans in the stadium.

I think we can be fairly certain that Infantino is lying about the tournament being a sell out. Other than a handful of travelling fans, how many people are going to be interested in paying upwards of $200 to watch Congo v Uzbekistan, for example? The stadium capacity is over 70,000 and surely there are going to be vast swathes of empty seats. Jordan v Austria or Cape Verde v Saudi Arabia, anyone?

Without atmosphere, football is nothing. I’d like to think that FIFA will recognise this if the tournament is a disaster, but they won’t. The days of affordable top class football are long behind us but I hold out some hope that with small travelling distances and multiple accommodation options the next World Cup in Spain, Portugal and Morocco will be much better for the fans. Jamie Bedwell, Cheltenhamshire

…Back in December 2024 I had a mail published here where I pointed out the hypocrisy of getting upset about the likes of Qatar/Suadi hosting the WC while apparently not noticing that the USA was not exactly the bastion of freedom and fairness it claims to be. As I recall I mentioned things like abortion rights, migrant exploitation, prison population, press freedom, the nutjob in the White House and so on.

18 months on, with the USA engaged in a needless war of aggression against one competing nation and still threatening to invade or annex three others, banning their staff, banning a referee apparently for being African and generally making things difficult for certain nations… is there anyone who still thinks it is still a worthy host? Wade G

Are we the baddies?