RugbyRebels

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Manchester City), Fraser Forster (Southampton), Tom Heaton (Burnley).

Defenders: Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Chris Smalling (Manchester United), John Stones (Everton), Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur), Ryan Bertrand (Southampton), Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur), Nathaniel Clyne (Liverpool).

Midfielders: Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur), Ross Barkley (Everton), Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Adam Lallana (Liverpool), James Milner (Liverpool), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal).

Strikers: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Jamie Vardy (Leicester City), Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United).

Well done to Rashford for making the cut. Sturridge too.

That said, 3 'key' players extremely short on match fitness is a worry but it's a decent enough squad with plenty of attacking ability.

Looking a little dubious at the back still. Think it was a mistake to leave Jagielka out but time will tell.

The squad has few unknown quantities so won't be relying on a few big names..looks quite squaddy as squads go.
Good for The Rash - not so good for Drinkwater but he's had a good year.

Wilshere shouldn't be there, he's made 3 starts all season & 2 of them were the
last 2 internationals!!. England looked more comfortable with Drinkwater as the anchor amn
in front of the back four against Aus when Wilshere went off. Drinkwater should be on the plane
instead. Can see why Sturridge has gone as at least he's played a reasonable amount but is still a risk

Why on earth has Woy put Alli wide out on the left?

Falling asleep watching this...embarrassing. I may not like him, but Mourinho is very tough on transitions. This England team are abysmal at them. Just rubbish. Absolute rubbish.

Euro 16 optimism fading.

Wilshere looks knackered already.

Woy isn't keen on Barkley at all.

All we've got in our locker is a chip over the top down the wing.

That'll probably seal the win but it's not been a great performance. Played most of the match against 10 men but have look bereft of attacking ideas.

Good goal tbf.

Some of Woy's tactics tonight have left me scratching my head.

Alli started on the left. Kane taking all set pieces.

Woy's starting team against Russia will probably look a little something like this.....

Hart
Walker
Cahill
Smalling
Rose
Dier
Milner
Sterling
Alli
Rooney
Kane

WaspInWales wrote:Some of Woy's tactics tonight have left me scratching my head.

Alli started on the left. Kane taking all set pieces.

It has echoes of Gerrard, Lampard, Scholes...which was a mess. It's insane that you pick the players first and the tactics second. We should really be going into a tournament with a good grasp of how we're going to play, and the personnel we pick are to fit into that system. Instead, we have Rooney, Kane, Vardy, Sturridge, Sterling and Alli all vying for 3-4 places, and the coach doesn't want to drop them.

This tournament has to be the end of Roy. It should also be the end of Rooney, too, unless he can reinvent himself as a midfielder.

WaspInWales wrote:Why on earth has Woy put Alli wide out on the left?

Almost every player with a bit of attacking talent; the young guys who genuinely started to make England look a threat earlier this year, has been pushed onto the periphery to get Rooney in the side.

49 goals between Kane and Vardy, one every 132 minutes - pushed wide so a player who scored 8 goals, one every 300 minutes, and was shunted to midfield for his club can play through the middle.

The 4-3-3 just doesn't make sense. And even if its a diamond, Kane and Vardy need to stay central and Alli needs to sit in behind. Rooney would at best be a wide player in a diamond.

Not too fussed about journo opinions but the BBC agrees
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36441260

jared_7 wrote:

WaspInWales wrote:Why on earth has Woy put Alli wide out on the left?

Almost every player with a bit of attacking talent; the young guys who genuinely started to make England look a threat earlier this year, has been pushed onto the periphery to get Rooney in the side.

49 goals between Kane and Vardy, one every 132 minutes - pushed wide so a player who scored 8 goals, one every 300 minutes, and was shunted to midfield for his club can play through the middle.

The 4-3-3 just doesn't make sense. And even if its a diamond, Kane and Vardy need to stay central and Alli needs to sit in behind. Rooney would at best be a wide player in a diamond.

Not too fussed about journo opinions but the BBC agrees
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36441260

I, however, do think the 4-3-3 could (have) be(en) a good bet. I think having Sterling and Vardy running off Kane would work very well. However, I noticed that Vardy may not be suited to that role in international football. He harries and hurries, and therefore many refs from Spain, Portugal, South America, etc., will blow up against him.

I also think there could be a case for Rooney in a midfield role, so long as you tell him not to spray those long diagonals.

However, that system Roy used was abysmal, and mainly because there was no press, the transitions took forever, and there was no movement up front. Too rigid. The best teams either have lightning fast transitions or the patience to wait for the gap and the technique to create one through snappy passing and moving. We don't have patience or technique, so we MUST play with super speed transitions.

jared_7 wrote:

WaspInWales wrote:Why on earth has Woy put Alli wide out on the left?

Almost every player with a bit of attacking talent; the young guys who genuinely started to make England look a threat earlier this year, has been pushed onto the periphery to get Rooney in the side.

49 goals between Kane and Vardy, one every 132 minutes - pushed wide so a player who scored 8 goals, one every 300 minutes, and was shunted to midfield for his club can play through the middle.

The 4-3-3 just doesn't make sense. And even if its a diamond, Kane and Vardy need to stay central and Alli needs to sit in behind. Rooney would at best be a wide player in a diamond.

Not too fussed about journo opinions but the BBC agrees
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36441260

Decent article. Trouble is, it's unlikely to make Hodgson suddenly come to his senses. If anything, the criticism will drive Woy to defend Rooney as being world class and a great leader.

Woy has bought a number of young players into the fold but has an over-reliance on the trusted old guard such as Rooney, Milner and a lessor extent in terms of old, Wilshere and Henderson.

What on earth was the point on bring on Henderson in the 90th minute last night?

I'm not overly fussed about the result last night but the performance was dreadful. We showed nothing in attack and I appreciate that the final friendly before a major championships is unlikely to be full bloodied but it would've been nice to see the teams string some moves together. Movement off the ball is a constant issue. Portugal showed at the start of the second half that they could easily keep hold of the ball with 9 outfield players whereas we struggled with 10.

If we play like that in the next 3 games, we'll be lucky to get out of the group.

Judging on recent England and Wales performances, perhaps Russia and Slovakia are favourites to get out of the group!

WaspInWales wrote:Woy's starting team against Russia will probably look a little something like this.....

Hart
Walker
Cahill
Smalling
Rose
Dier
Milner
Sterling
Alli
Rooney
Kane

Well it was close and Milner did come on.

WaspInWales wrote:Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Manchester City), Fraser Forster (Southampton), Tom Heaton (Burnley).

Defenders: Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Chris Smalling (Manchester United), John Stones (Everton), Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur), Ryan Bertrand (Southampton), Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur), Nathaniel Clyne (Liverpool).

Midfielders: Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur), Ross Barkley (Everton), Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Adam Lallana (Liverpool), James Milner (Liverpool), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal).

Strikers: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Jamie Vardy (Leicester City), Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United).

Taking a huge gamble with only three centre halves....and one not 100% (Cahill)

I just don't see what Henderson and Milner offer - neither are good enough at this level. Better to have had Drinkwater and Townsend.