Fuck you very much, Gary. As a Mag, I’m annoyed Jamie placed St. James’ Park last simply because ‘he’ll go with Gary’. You may be in love, but there’s just no need.
JAMIE, STOP AGREEING, YOU’RE ACTING LIKE A HUSBAND
Do you have any opinions on the England men's team? Always find your takes on teams interesting
it's appropriate that lionesses are the primary hunters and leaders in the wild, this is the same for england so without further ado... an analysis of the shit england team
🏴 THE THREE LIONS 🏴
Okay, so what do England men need to change? Southgate. His tactics and his line-ups and how he tells his players to play are the problem. This generation of England men's players are truly a golden generation with so much talent but a complete inability to lose it on the pitch. John Stones' talent come from his ability to play centre-back like Leah Williamson and drop into the midfield to create an overload that pushes forward an attack, he does this for city but he doesn't do it for England and that's the same across the pitch.
The first thing that I think needs to happen is a change to the line-up. Southgate has identified the problem down the left. He was starting Alexander-Arnold in the left midfield who was playing consistently poorly so brought in Gallagher to replace him but he did equally as poorly. However, the problem down the left is Foden, he's playing well, but his role is a left-winger and he's not playing that role.
He drops into the central attack (to cover for Kane's drop into the midfield that covers for stones' insistence to stay back instead of dropping into the midfield) and creates chances, but this cuts off the more positive chance creation along the wide areas. Foden shouldn't come off the pitch but there needs to be a shift down the left and this should come from the line-up switching from the 4-3-3 that Southgate has been playing every match to a 4-4-2 diamond like this:
Gordon would solve the problem down the left, playing as a natural left-winger that regularly links up with Trippier at club, exploiting that link would allow for a more positive chance creation on the wings and stretch the play into both wide areas. Gordon plays classically like Lauren Hemp whereas Foden prefers to play with the freedom that is normally afforded to a player such as Lauren James because of the ability that they both have to create magical moments out of nowhere.
Furthermore, Saka has been one of the most consistent players for England down the right wing and having effective wingers creates an incredibly wide pitch to play on and gives England so much more goal-scoring potential. He plays like Beth Mead if anyone wants a Lioness reference.
Moreover, two forwards in Foden and Kane allows for more players in the box, which England has been lacking, and gives Foden and Kane the freedom that they have been craving because they can compensate for each other leaving their natural positioning. Kane has the freedom to move into a midfield role with the assurance that Foden can remain as a central target in the box. This is an issue that similarly crops up in the Lionesses with Russo's drops into the midfield however Toone can cover for her but that's not a role that Bellingham plays especially with no cover in the midfield with Stones refusing to create an overload so he can't drop forward to play it without leaving Rice isolated.
Furthermore, this allows for Gordon to be brought onto the pitch without Foden's essential creativity and magical moments being sacrificed, something that's crucial to England.
Additionally, a tactical shift needs to occur with Pickford being given the space to play his natural role as a sweeper-keeper and good on his feet much like Hannah Hampton. He needs to drop into the backline to give Stones the ability to push into the midfield and break down the low block that most opposition uses against England and create chances centrally.
Ultimately, England needs to make a lot of changes tactically and in terms of the line-ups and I think that showed in the last five minutes of the game against Slovenia, Gordon was on the five minutes and was the key players in two chances being created. He's crucial to this side and they NEED to use him, the pundits, the commentators, my mum over 100 times before, during and after the match are all begging for it. Southgate needs to use him. They also need to change their tactical instruction to the players because Pickford and Stones are being told to play how they are playing, that is not of their own volition.
The difference between England and the England men's team is a decent fucking manager. The FA needs to pull their heads out of their asses and accept the men's team can be managed by a foreigner because they aren't taking Eddie Howe from my club and the fans can't be trusted with a woman yet (the best England option is Emma Hayes fight me). English managers are shit, honestly, they should just say 'fuck it' and hire José Mourinho at this point. At least, he'd make them play like a team, ANYTHING, ANYONE would be better than Southgate at this point. It also needs to be a tournament manager so not Pep, saw someone saying Pep should be England manager and fuck off he'd be shit at it.
in honour of today's game i feel the urge to bring these back. again.
stones was out injured during the last city v newcastle game but still watched it from the stands and then walker posted these on his story right after the game. nothing will ever be more important to me.