How many of the current team can form the nucleus of a team that can win it? I'd say Pickford, Trippier, Stones, Maguire and Kane. I never watch the Premier League so I may be being harsh on the rest. Four of those are defenders but they all surprised me. All need work and more experience though. And who's going to come through and fill the gaps?
Angus Gunn Joe Gomez Ryan Sessegnon Reuben Loftus-Cheek Nathan Redmond Phil Foden James Ward-Prowse Lewis Cook Dominic Solanke Players I believe could be involved at some point in the next euros tournament.
Lingard had a half decent tournament dele Ali was poor but undoubtedly talented and young no reason why those two can't shine at the next tournament. I think ryan sessegnon will be a England regular if not by the euros by 2022 he will.
In theory the others should be better as well. You’d expect Alli, Lingard, Sterling, Rashford & Loftus-Cheek to only improve. Rose, Bertrand & Shaw can fight for the left back spot as Young probably won’t be around much longer, not at the top level anyway. We desperately need some central midfielders to come through. Henderson’s had a great tournament but he can’t do it alone. I know they get their knickers but Jones & Smalling aren’t bad players they can be back up to our centre backs & who knows maybe Mawson as well. You’d expect him to fit in well with a back 3 & he’s great at set pieces
Club form depending, I'd say the majority of the squad will be at Euro 2020, the ones I can see missing out are the older end and those who are struggling at club level; Young, Cahill, Vardy, Welbeck. As redrum said Sessegnon will probably be there.
There’s aparantly some really top talent coming through. A lad playing in Germany. Can’t think of his name. And the lads who have won the junior world cups. Key for me is they get exposure to first team football. Not be kept for top 4 clubs U23s until they are 22/23 and then drop back through the leagues as they missed the key development years. If the FA really want us to be world beaters they need to stand up to the Premierleague. Talent hoarding, average foreign journey men filling up squads, and bloated squads meaning players only getting handfuls of games and also the inflated salaries for players like Solanke and Sturridge when they were kids and done sweet FA in the game.
Saving grace to last night's defeat is that the younger players coming up behind this team are very good and what is more they are used to playing and winning finals at international level. That's priceless experience. One of the papers quoted a couple of German coaches who compared the current England situation with Germany in 2010 when they made the semis with a young team in South Africa, but also had new talent coming to the fore. It's time this nation punched its weight in world football and I'm probably more confident now that I've been since 1970.
I don't see us suddenly becoming a world force. The squad has some great assets - we can break with pace and skill - and Southgate astutely fashioned a system that exploited the resources he had. Playing against a certain standard of opposition and we're better than the sum of our parts - we look a great team. But the frailties of that system came into sharp focus last night - the defence have little cover from the midfield and the wing backs get overrun. And although Croatia are a good side, they're not a great side, but they were too much for us. England remind me of Barnsley 96-98. Similar system, can look imperious against many sides playing fantastic football, but come up against a good, tough side and our weaknesses are more prominent than our strengths. Much was made about the camaraderie in the squad and it has been a contributing factor. But sometimes you need a leader, a Paul Ince or a Terry Butcher to pump their fist and pick up their teammates, but we haven't got one. Last night was a tough game, heads went down and there was no one there to bring the confidence back up. It was a great effort by England, they're a good unit with a good manager, but I don't think we've got the individuals required to beat the best sides. The really good teams break the collective down to the individuals and we're a little bit short.
Think you could tell at some points last night especially in the areas between Midfield and Defence that there was no one to organise anything and some times a lack of communication nearly cost us, it's the problem with having a captain up front or in net.
Just realised, perhaps belatedly that the Euro 2020 competition will be hosted by 12 countries.... 12 cities in 12 countries going to be some really unnecessary travel for all the teams isn't it?
Not really in this day and age with how easy it is to travel around Europe. Its being hosted differently in 2020 as celebration of 50 years of the competition I think.
We had a bunch of players who had an off day yesterday. Alli & Kane & even Stones was at fault for one goal. I can't see how you can be anything but proud of what Southgate has achieved at this WC. Yes, we fell short, so did Germany, Belgium, Brazil, Argentina, Italy, Holland, etc (Last 2 didn't even qualify). There is work to be done & we do need better quality in the middle of the park. I think come 2020 we'll improve. Not sure we'll be world beaters, but we've come close this time, so it could happen. Croatia will give France a hard game. I think France are a class apart at the moment though & expect them to shade it.
Am I right in thinking the final is at Wembley for 2020? Really don't think the present team is the one that will make the difference - it's what's coming behind. The U 20 and 17 have been exceptional, with pace, poise, skill and fight. Proving those lads don't hang around, but get their first team football where they can find it in Europe I think it's only a matter of time before we win something. The days of being at best plucky but average are hopefully coming to a end.
According to Wiki, a round of 16 game, both semis plus final are all in London plus the Group D games which are shared with Hampden
Could be a massive advantage that should we manage to hit the semi s again . I just hope the weight of expectation in 2020 ( they ll be loads) don't hamper the team .