Seriously why the hell was he brought on? Another one of these players lauded for passing it sideways and backwards, was woeful against a Belgium 2nd 11. Think Southgate went too negative with that change.
It did take a cool head to score that one but I don't see what he brings to the team. Then again I feel the same way about Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling but these two seem to be permanent fixtures. We got away with it last night. After dominating much of the game we almost threw it away. If their keeper had got more than finger tips to Dier's penalty the outcome could have been quite different. He didn't though and it's on to a difficult match on Saturday. I think we will beat them this time though.
I though Henderson was absolutely superb in the battle of attrition last night. Nothing fancy, but the main reason in my opinion why Columbia never, ever looked like scoring until they got a set piece. As for Sterling, he almost looks like he's trying too hard most of the time. His pace as an outlet isba huge asset to the team, even if most of the time he treads on the ball, slips over or gives it away. There's definitely a player in there somewhere, hopefully Saturday will be the day he shows it in an England shirt. I like this England side a lot. They're not remotely the most talented I've ever seen, but they're all extremely comfortable on the ball, well organised, and extremely difficult to beat. And they're mostly very young which shouldn't be forgotten. They just seem to be a bit lacking in creative spark, which is a massive pity. Imagine if they had Scholes or Gerrard in central midfield. I think they'd be favourites to win the whole thing by a country mile.
Fair enough - we all see different things in a match, at whatever level they are playing at. Henderson is probably the bass guitar of the team - if he wasn't there you would miss him, but no one notices what he actually does! Sterling is the most infuriating player in the team and has been for some time. I cannot recall him doing something good for England but you can't help thinking it's just around the corner. Maybe he will tear Sweden to shreds. Or maybe not
When you take the two Harry's out of the side it's very mediocre. Pickford, Trippier, and Stones are worth their place but the midfielders are woeful, neither Sterling, Ali, or Lingard are international class and Henderson and Dier are both walking footballers, the reason Henderson missed his penalty is because he's not used to playing the ball towards the opposition goal. The best English midfield player in the Premier League last season Jonjo Shelvey was not even included in the squad and he's got more in his locker than the rest of the midfield put together.
SSN reporting Vardy was due to take 5th pen but had a groin or thigh strain near end, Dier stepped in unplanned. Fair play to him!
When Henderson stepped up I said "Here's a man who will miss his penalty". He did. I KNOW the keeper saved it, but he didn't score and that's all that matters. When Dier stepped up I feared a repeat of Henderson's effort. The keeper got his finger tips to it and the country went wild
I did get a bit concerned when he was doing keepy uppy. It was like he was trying to prove he wasnt bricking it. Was a good penalty kick and keeper did well to save it to be fair. Perhaps Henderson showed his hand a bit too early.
Dier looks like a centre half playing in midfield and although we won the game it sent out a negative vibe to the rest of the team that were holding on to what we’ve got. Loftus Cheek surely was the man to come on and would have given us more opportunities to grab a second goal. Anyway no harm done thankfully so cmon England.
I agree with you about shelvey but you and i aren’t the current England manager in the middle of trying to introduce a certain successful way of playing. Up to now it’s working well but I’ll always pay to see something a little bit different from the norm and I reckon shelvey would have added that, especially as there seems something up with alli.
Henderson’s had an outstanding season, improved loads & by far the best English central midfielder right now. He isn’t in the team to be creative, not in the system we’re playing anyway.
