Yes, but getting a pair of fresh legs out there in the form of one of your most talented offensive players offers a lot of upside.
I donât think Reyna is a better F in a 4-4-2 than Weah, who is also really good
Bit of a crossover here:
https://twitter.com/ewwwing/status/1596258372516720640?s=20&t=fnxLQOS6QMzUEpdW0WNp6Q
Reference:
https://twitter.com/ahmadinejad1956/status/1052178368072945668?lang=en
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Any more backstory on this? Do we have any idea why he is apparently a Michigan fan?
Greg said earlier today everyone was fit.
USA deserves credit for the result, but it was on how poor England were.
The passing from the back was so, so slow and ponderous. They wouldnât have beaten a league one team today.
The announcers were going on about how Southgate does this by design. At least that is what it sounded like they were saying. If there was reasoning behind it, it was lost on me.
Heâs had the option of starting or bringing on Foden who as I said before is able to raise the tempo of a game and has been in electrifying form for City, but for some reason (loyalty? conservatism?) chose not to.
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There wasnât much surprise in the result or how it came about, which is why laying Eng against solid opponents after a good result is usually a good bet.
Plenty of contenders (France, Portugal, England, Belgium) play like this. Someone coined the term âstruggle ballâ because itâs so slow relative to their talent and you try to shade a close 1-0 when you have talent that should be dominating.
It infuriates the fans of these teams, but in the last decade France has 1 trophy another final, England has a final, Belgium a semi, Portugal a trophy. It works at this level sadly.
The basic âlogicâ is you keep the game tight and basically take no risks and your superior talent will shade the few chances that come.
Itâs also that international managers only have one tournament every two years so the onus is totally on not fucking up by getting eliminated too early because you lost a game by trying too hard to win it and on top of that have to go home to face a hostile and abusive media.
Club management is so different for the elite managers.
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Also true. The format does not favor bravery.
https://twitter.com/MenInBlazers/status/1595530413182705665?s=20&t=DB6n74dQ6Ht28Jgwwd0mgA
I love this man
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Im sure only having two group games next time will make them brave
Iâm sure England is happy with the tie too. All they have to do is not get murder fucked by wales to advance.
Yes and no. People donât really remember France only played well for ~120 minutes last world cup or that Portugal didnât win a single game in regulation when they won the Euros.
If you win or exceed expectations like Croatia, the how doesnât matter.
If you underperform, it is why you get fired as a manager though.
I still think England is a factor to win it all.
I think they barely tried today. They wonât win the tournament playing like this. But, if this was third gear and they can get back to first it doesnât matter.
If England win the group they will be a favorite in every match until the final in all likelihood. They have generally been underwhelming for performances, but they still have to be beaten. In a game that actually matters no one has done that in 90 minutes in a very long time.
I just assumed that was because there is no shortage of delusional English fans who will bet on them no matter what.
Itâs definitely part of it.
This English team is tantalizing. You had Foden and Grealish on the bench. A ÂŁ100m transfer and another player who would cost well over that. Bellingham might be ÂŁ150m next year to someone. Itâs either him or Pedri for best teenager in world football.
The talent is genuinely nuts. Itâs really not far behind Brazil/France. But itâs a bit like having a 250k sports car and never going above 50 MPH. Thatâs how England plays.