England missing specialists that would help Madueke and Rashford | OneFootball

England’s wingers have been poor but it might help if Thomas Tuchel had taken specialists rather than utility players.

Why this England squad cannot win World Cup

I didn’t think last night was as bad as everyone was saying. We dominated possession, chances, and with a bit more luck, would probably have scored four or five. However, I think Tuchel has hamstrung himself with his squad selection, and this is ultimately going to impact any chance we have of winning the tournament.

It seems like maybe four or five players are there for one specific reason – last-minute header (Dan Burn), motivation (Henderson), taking a penalty (Toney), in case someone gets injured (Watkins), or keeping seats warm (Mainoo, Chalobah). So when we need to change the team, there are limited actual subs Tuchel can make – as evidenced by the only subs coming on so far being the same four or five players.

Tuchel has also taken versatility over quality. Your fifth-best center back is never going to be your second-best right back. Surely it would be better to have quality players who can play in one position very well rather than six players who can play in two or three positions.

Dan Burn might be an okay center back and a below-average left back, but you’re struggling if you actually need to bring him on in either position, and is that worth having over someone like Maguire, who is just a very good center back? Same with Quansah and Spence – they may (apparently) be able to play across two positions, but it seems to be completely counterintuitive because when you actually need to use these players in different positions, they look far inferior to someone who can play well in their natural position – for example, a Shaw, a Hall, or a Trent.

It feels very much like England are going to get pulled apart in the game vs Mexico, and just having good players who can play well in their position, or a choice from the bench of players you actually want to bring on, may have helped. Paul Bevan

England gave us another great moment; maybe enjoy it?

So England win another knockout game and everyone sees the sky falling. Why can’t we enjoy it? No, apparently the performance was so bad that it means we can’t win the tournament. And apparently if you don’t win the whole thing then it’s failure. Why can’t we just enjoy the ride, see how far we go and accept that?

I’ve never wanted more from England than a few memorable nights. We got loads of them under Southgate, but it wasnt enough. We overcome a battling DRC side that managed to stifle Portugal to nothing and again, we act like they’re food, like we should just roll over them.

Can we win the whole lot? It was never likely. Can we enjoy the football a bit at least? Can we accept that success is never guaranteed? There have been teams like Bulgaria, Turkey and Romania that have made semi-finals in major tournaments then sink without a trace. Hell, look at where Italy are. You can’t expect the good times to ever last. As a nation we punch about our weight. We’ve been pretty good for a decade, which is insane considering how bad we’d been between 2006 and 2016. There was nothing to cheer during that period. I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts.

However, could Max Dowman please become the best winger in the world so we never have to see Madueke kick it against the first defender the the hundredth time? Cheers Keith, Worthing

…What a miserable pessimistic bunch England fans are.

Jesus

first 20-25mins we were poor, rest of the game we were mainly on top and creating chances.

Keeper had on of those worldies, another day thats 4 -1 England,

Stop whining/

Enjoy the journey and the fact we won, from behind. In a World Cup knockout game

What more do you want – (we want to be Brazil 70) No team has ever been Brazil 1970 apart from Brazil in 1970.. Stop being tw*ts! Al – England / LFC most worried about having 11 players fit

Just play Declan Rice at right-back

I think Rice is massively overrated due to being one of the best midfielders in the Prem. The Prem is nothing like the World Cup. Tuchel rates him highly and he knows a lot more about football than me so what can I say?

But even I, with my Declan Rice allergy, could see how good he was at right back. It reminded me of Dani Alves at Sevilla before he joined Barca. Some people have been pining for Trent, a defender who can’t defend, but is Rice any less effective than Trent going forward from right back? He’s obviously levels above Trent at tackling, shadowing, tracking back and positional awareness.

We can’t keep getting away with playing without a single technical player in midfield. Then again we can’t keep getting away with defending like mosquitos around a bright light either. Ben Teacher

The point of inverted wingers

I thought the whole point of inverted wingers, like Madueke, Rashford, Gordon, Saka, was to have a overlapping full back. This means the inevitable cut-inside and crap shot becomes more slightly more unpredictable.

Having no specialised right-back and O’Reilly running through the centre doesn’t give us this.

Also, why is everyone an expert on altitude all of a sudden? Simon S, NUFC, Cheshire

Some England v DR Congo thoughts

– My first live watch of any England game of this tournament. And they didn’t disappoint. Thoroughly entertained, tense affair brought out the best of this team. There are issues and it will continue to be but England showed resilience and exhibited true grit despite going a goal down and not knowing what to do for the first 30 mins.

– Kane was nowhere to be seen during the first half an hour but ended up being the difference maker, showing his class and scoring 2 beautiful yet different goals. The second one is an absolute corker.

– That Eng were able to achieve this without Jude not contributing much in the second half bodes well for the next game. Tuchel would hope the starting players can influence matches rather than subs coming in and making an impact.

– Both GKs wouldn’t be happy with the way they conceded their respective 1st goals. Mpasi was phenomenal in the first half and to concede in that matter would hurt. As for Pickford, would recommend De Gea’s technique of using his legs to curb such efforts at a close and low range.

– They certainly have to defend well to stop Mexico but I feel the spirit this team demonstrated should help them qualify for the QFs.

– On to DR Congo who were simply outstanding. All the African nations have portrayed determination and physicality of the highest order. For the skills they lack, they seem to counter it with passion and spirit. To concede the 2nd goal after having been out-run for the initial pass will hurt them the most. Wissa trying a Phil Jones like header whilst being on the floor is what one can expect to see of them. Great entertainment and even greater pride in seeing them perform.

– England are not at their best, Tuchel knows this but not all winners have been great. Tuchel knows what is to be done and how it is to be done. They are all in this Together and that’s something previous Eng squads and teams have lacked. Anything can happen. Vasanthan, Coimbatore, TN, India

Where now for England?

Reading the spillage in the press, the post-mortems of a typical England tournament game, there are two roads forward that could appear.

The Italia ‘90 road, where, after some dismal group performances and a hero moment by Platty somehow, probably witchcraft, that England team nearly made the final.

Or the mean of being beaten by the first decent team we come up against.

Are Mexico decent? Well the teams they’ve won against so far aren’t all that but playing at home is a great leveller and the likelihood of England running out of steam due to the altitude looms large.

Putting on our ‘finishers’ will be of the upmost importance again but if we have a team with Spence & Noni , a central defence with little chemistry and a keeper that spreads calm like a cocktail stick spreads partidge paté then Mexico will be deserved winners and we can’t complain. Peter (King Harold must feel he’s back at the Hotspurs), Andalucia

Why you should ignore England ratings

This is a first for me – I cheered when DRC scored. Genuinely no idea why; a wish for African nations to do well at the WC, or maybe a patronising cheer based on a deep-belief that England will smash them ultimately.

Replying to Ben Morton-Harmer, this is the folly of ratings, mate. We inherently think ratings are a dispassionate, unbiased quantitative metric for something qualitative. Bullshit. Nearly every outlet that makes a rating does it with a clear weighting; you’re from a “big dog” team, so your individual rating is multiplied by your mysterious coefficient-of-bigness. Say, 0.8 for ManU.

If you’re a perceived underdog then your coefficient of bigness is 1.2. If Fulham play ManU and draw, Fulham’s average rating will definitely be higher than ManU’s regardless of anything.

Further, a rating out of 10, implies that a player could get anything between 0 and 10. Bullshit again. I seem to remember Andy Robertson once scoring an own goal and getting sent off. Result from multiple outlets: ~4 out 10. Hahaha. ‘Pray tell, sire, what can I do to get a zero?’. Score a hat-trick of own goals, decapitate an opposition player, get sent off and lob the stadium kitty into the stands.

The scale is really 4 – 8.6, I’d say. Upshot is, only look at quantitative ratings with a wry eye. F365 totally gets this, hence, just a qualitative rating here. Hesh (LFC)

Blaming Moyes

Fair play, fessing up to your error, (although it is humorous when a player does that chest touch “yeah my fault guys” as if it was in any doubt), anyway, while it would be easy to blame you, or blame Pickford for poor positioning, or the team in general being pulled apart, you have forgotten about one additional villain of the piece.

Moyes.

Since March he has done a fantastic job at undermining Jordan’s confidence as the Everton season ran aground when seven points from 8 games would have secured European football.

Too many goals conceded, keepers’ confidence down, England let in soft goal. Potentially England lose, who celebrates? Scotland.

Now you might think, that’s a weird tangent, and you’re right, but I’ve got an Agenda!