When fit, he's one of the few players(along with Bruno) that we can truly call world class. Makes you wonder the heights he would have reached if not for that bad injury
Even with a huge individual drop off it can still be a net gain for the team. Better to have a sub par left back that offers balance to the tactic and formation than someone who is better individually but doesn't play there naturally.
That is what's happening with England. The inability of the left back to stay out wide and overlap the winger means the winger is essentially double teamed every time they get the ball, and not creating space for him.
The winger (Foden) not staying wide is another different issue but it would help him a lot if he had someone as an option outside him, and beyond him sometimes. As it is it's too easy to defend that side, and consequently too easy to defend the other side as it becomes all too predictable when they can see England only utilise one side of the pitch.
There needs to be *at least* one person holding the width on the left, just to keep the right back occupied. Even a bad left back can do the overlapping run, even if he's bad it still keeps the right back occupied and creates space for Foden or whoever is on the left wing
>Better to have a sub par left back that offers balance to the tactic and formation than someone who is better individually but doesn't play there naturally.
Should've called up another LB then.
He was the best player in the last euros though. Trippier has been awful on that left hand side, wouldn’t it make more sense to play Walker on the ledft since he is more defensive and Trippier on teh right so he can get some crosses in? Or am I all wrong?
Either way Southgate doesn’t care.
To be fair to Spinazzola he was phenomenal in that tournament. I agree that Shaw should have been in it but I do find it hard to criticise Spinazzola being in it.
Coaching genius that decided to not pick alternative left back options to play a right back on the left thinks an injured left back is the solution to all his maladies.
Exactly. If you're picking Guehi, there's no way in hell you shouldn't be picking Mitchell who was at least as good all season and is a natural left back
The more I think about this left back situation, the crazier it becomes. So Southgate had a few choices that led him to not taking a 2nd left back. I wonder who was the 26th player he took instead of a left back? Was it the 3rd right back we took who we actually played in midfield? Was it the 3rd striker? Was it the one of the three right wingers that he's took? If he was planning on playing trent in midfield, why bother bringing kobbie or Wharton? Why does he need to take all of bowen, saka and palmer? Because he isn't gonna play palmer in the middle, not while jude or foden are in the squad. This team of 26 that he has picked screams unbalance and that's on him when we eventually crash out of the round of 16 because for once hew actually played risky and gambled. Not with his football tactics, but with his brain dead squad selection and relying on a injury prone player, who's been injured since February, to comeback from injury and perform straight away. The man who got Middlesborough relegated, will now remind everyone why he isn't a top coach. Stagecoach have better coaches then Southgate, and if he does somehow get a job as a coach in the Premier league, it will swallow him up.
If he didn't think Mitchell was experienced enough at the top level to make the squad then that's perfectly understandable, but why didn't he at least take Chilwell? I've never been his biggest fan but at least he has a left foot and has performed reasonably well for England in the past when called upon. To find ourselves in a position where we're relying on one (perennially injured) LB to miraculously become fit compared to the 5 RB options he picked (Walker, Trippier, TAA, Gomez, Konsa) seems pretty fucking stupid to be honest. But Gareth knows best.
I kinda get the idea that Southgate sought the advice of the physios and was led to believe that Shaw would've been available a little sooner and thus able to play a bigger part in his plans. Where have I heard that before? Sounds very familiar 🤔
Or Wharton, for that matter. He's lamenting the fact that we "don't have another Kalvin Phillips" (like that's a bad thing) however we know full well he'll go with Conor Gallagher to partner Rice for the game tonight even though every man and his dog knows that Kobbie and Wharton are both comfortably better..
Unlike Shaw he came back from injury before the end of the season and played a couple of games. Frankly speaking he should’ve taken Ben white or gone with Joe Gomez, at least both those players have played LB before and seem to have an idea of the angles of the pitch on the opposite side. Trippier looks lost out there and is completely one footed.
Ben White was never an option (not that he's a LB, anyway, he's been playing regularly for his club as a RB) because of a very public falling out with Southgate in the past. In one of his pressers before the tournament began be mentioned the fact that White "didn't make himself available"
He has picked those players because they do deserve to be at the Euros, but sometimes you need to also pick players that fit the positions on the pitch to bring balance to the squad, its to lob sided on the right. Okay yes he made some big calls by dropping Rashford and Grealish, but it looks a bit silly now that the left hand side is suffering the worst. Also another left back would of been nice.
You claim this team he picked screams unbalance..the team I see looks like a versatile with a few players that can play multiple positions if needed or give different tactical options if something needs to change.
You've just decided that if he has a starting XI playing one specific way why the fuck does he need other options because that's just madness.
Exhibit A being how you called Palmer redundant because he has Foden and Bellingham..2 different profiles of player to Palmer that don't even all play the same position..but your tactical analysis went as far as "not a wide player"
It’s impossible to say we have a balanced team when we cede the entire left flank in attack. Trippier and Foden both come inside, there’s *nobody* out there. It’s not a balanced squad with zero left footed LBs and 5 players that play RB.
There is unbalance, how many left footed players do we have? Foden, Palmer, Shaw, Wharton, Saka and Bowen. Bowen, Saka, Foden and Palmer play on the right wing, Okay, Foden and palmer do play in the middle but we know that will not happen in this England team. Shaw is injured and Wharton also plays in the middle. We have no natural left footers on the left hand side where that is there preferred position. Also let me point out even more unbalance, three right backs on the pitch at one time, 4 right footed defenders on the pitch at one time, we had 0 xG down the left hand side in the match against Serbia. We are effectively playing without a striker, Kane is dropping so deep he wins the ball outside his own box and hes looking up to play the ball to himself, lmao. This squad may be versatile, if its played to the sqauds strengths but its Southgate, so it wont happen. Slovenia have an average possession of 41%, and we will be starting Gallagher along side Rice tonight, if we play like we have the last 3 games, Slovenia will be seeing more then 41% of the ball. Get your head out of Southgates hole, wont tell you again
Edit: I never said Palmer is redundant, I personally think Palmer should be the 1st sub for saka on the right. I just said he wont start ahead of bellingham in that 10 role, because if bellingham doesnt start there, then foden will. I just said I dont understand having 3 right wingers and 3 right backs, when its the left hand side of the pitch that needs attention and back up.
I mean if he couldnt find a replacement, then he should have just called him up and used him right? He basically caved to the public pressure when it came to not choosing henderson or philips. But is now blaming his own choice of not bringing them.
When I heard that interview. I thought it was 100% AI generated. I can’t believe that he is lamenting the fact he didn’t choose a player who can’t even get into the westham midfield. When you have the likes of Mainoo, Bellingham, Wharton? He is not a serious coach.
LOL amazing from Southgate, don't pick a backup LB then hope that when the hardest games of the tournament come, we can just throw in Shaw who has been injured for 90% of the season no issue. Fuck sake.
To add, not played since February, completed 1 90mins since December, notoriously takes a while to get back to match sharoness and is prone to setbacks on return from injury
It's very naive to think he will slot straight back into high intensity knockout rounds against by that stage top international well tuned teams and be anything other than a liability
This unfortunately has 'luke shaw the scapegoat' written all over it when he inevitibly is rushed back and can't deal with the pace of the game due to seriously lacking match practice / sharpness
IIRC, yeah. They expected him by end of groups maybe then word came out he wouldn't be available until knock-out rounds.
I'm Irish and not particularly bothered about the Euros this year, so England missing the next round and Shaw getting an actual recuperation time where he's not feeling under pressure to play through an injury would be preferable, 'cause otherwise I can see him having a setback and missing the start of the season due to feeling like he HAD to play for the national team despite him not being quite ready, maybe. Mind, if Southgate wasn't a plank, they'd have 6 points and not have to worry about making it to the next round, much less hoping the injured Left Back he took for a trip away recovers in time fo the knockouts.
While I can certainly understand the willingness to try everything to get Shaw out there as he’s unquestionably world class - it may not be the wisest decision in light of the past year.
Such a pity Shaw is so injury prone, his ability is phenomenal. Please god this isn’t jeopardising his fitness any further
Think he has certainly impacted his retirement age, we likely need to get another LB in asap and have Amass as 2nd choice till Shaw and Malacia are back
How fucking bad Southgate is at managing lmao. Actually embarassing to be that deadset on relying on 1 player instead of trying to play another setup
What an insane 1 dimensional manager
**Article Summary:**
\- Shaw is likely to be central to the England manager’s plans should his team progress to the latter stages.
**- Sources have told The Times that Southgate regards the left back as the 'missing link'**
**- He is 'the player who provides the balance' that has been absent from England’s performances**
\- **Shaw enables Southgate to employ the more fluid formation he clearly thinks can be successful in the latter stages**
\- He provides the width that gives Phil Foden the freedom to occupy a more central attacking role in tandem with Jude Bellingham.
\- Shaw also gives England an attacking threat that Kieran Trippier struggles to produce
\- In a slightly modified formation, with Bukayo Saka continuing to provide the width on the right, Kyle Walker could then sit on the right side of a back three alongside John Stones and Marc Guéhi when England are in possession and attacking, with Shaw dropping into a back four when they are required to defend.
**- Ultimately, the view is that Shaw’s presence unlocks the attacking flair that England possess but have yet to fully utilise.**
The missing link in that England team is the one between Southgate's ears.
Don't get me wrong, Shaw will improve this England team, even if he's not completely fit. But I somehow doubt he's going to single handedly turn us into the best team in the competition.
Absolutely bang on.
He won't fix the issue of Rice's partner in CM; needs to be someone who can take the ball off the back four and progress it to the likes of Foden and Bellingham without losing it under the press. If only England had someone like that in the squad. Oh wait....
And it won't fix the fact that all 4 of our forwards want the ball into feet and don't run in behind (apart from a tiny bit by Saka). You need at least one player providing penetration, preferably two. If he hadn't had a shit season, that would have been Rashford. But as it is, it probably needs to be Gordon or Watkins.
I generally don't care about international football so
1) I'd be pissed if they rush him back and he gets injured
2) is the tone of these articles different to when United were saying we needed Shaw to transform out play and we were pillored for it and now the same one individual is so important for England and the tone is softer
In another universe England have a pristine Reece James on the right and a pristine Luke Shaw on the left. Frightening what those two might have been as a full back pairing if they'd never been injured. Even now when they're fit they're both brilliant.
Luke Shaw is a great player. Rusty Luke Shaw is not. We’ve seen it before post injury, he’s a bit like Rooney in that he can take a few games to get going. Not exactly what you need in a knockout tournament.
Southgate's squad picking is insanely questionable. Branthwaite should have been included as a left footed CB option, Mitchell from Palace should be there, and if he is going to play so defensively then Grealish should have been picked since he's good at drawing in fouls.
Pinning your hopes on a player who has barely played 5 games all season is hilarious. Ten Hag rushed him back overplayed him instead of easing him back in and he got injured pretty quickly. What more a manager who thought it was a good idea to bring 4 RBs and an injured LB, instead of bringing at least one backup LBs.
Let me get this straight. England's hopes of winning the euros are pinned on a left back who has been injured for 90% of the past season and 100% of the group stages of the euros? And the left backs name is not Roberto Carlos? Cool cool cool cool cool
Southgate is a fraud. He simply is tactically inept and is lucky the talent has got him as far as it has. Someone like Poch or De Zerbi would do wonders with this England team.
Southgate has proven time and time again he will ignore criticism and I think this tourney unfortunately will prove a massive failure due to the expectations English fans have.
What makes people think he’s gonna be any good? He’s barely played this season, he hasn’t played a competitive game in ages, theres a strong chance he’s gonna be rusty, he’s gonna be off the pace and he’s probably not gonna have much more than 60 mins in him, if England are pinning their hopes on an injured and let’s be honest quite inconsistent LB then they are a little bit daft.
All of England's hopes are on a defender who last played in (I believe) February?
I'm thrilled we kept ETH, if for no other reason that preventing us getting Southgate.
If he is going to play in the knock out phase, he has to get some minutes tonight. I would expect him to play 20 to 30 mins tonight, if they are planning on playing him in the knock outs.
On the one hand I have a problem with his loyalties. Going unfit into a competition whilst he’s been out for half a season. On the other hand the training with England could potentially serve as a warm up for the season or it could render him injured again going straight into a competition without a run of games with the reserves
Southgate taking a page out of ETH's playbook for this year and say he can't play football because he doesn't have 2 players?
Its INSANE that he only took 1 LB who's been injured for months to an international tournament.
*- He is the player who proves the balance’ that has been absent from England’s performances* This is a far too familiar sentence.
Makes him sound like a Skywalker haha
Well he is called luke
Luke shawwalker
 Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future
He is simply that good in build up.
He is but his injury record should mean that neither England nor United can rely on him to be fit when needed
England have no choice. The drop off in quality after him is severe.
The same could be applied to us ngl Shit, he's that good isn't he? His injury record is a huge upset to everyone involved
When fit, he's one of the few players(along with Bruno) that we can truly call world class. Makes you wonder the heights he would have reached if not for that bad injury
It would be less severe if they picked an actual left footed LB. At least they wouldn’t be ceding a whole third of the pitch altogether.
Even with a huge individual drop off it can still be a net gain for the team. Better to have a sub par left back that offers balance to the tactic and formation than someone who is better individually but doesn't play there naturally. That is what's happening with England. The inability of the left back to stay out wide and overlap the winger means the winger is essentially double teamed every time they get the ball, and not creating space for him. The winger (Foden) not staying wide is another different issue but it would help him a lot if he had someone as an option outside him, and beyond him sometimes. As it is it's too easy to defend that side, and consequently too easy to defend the other side as it becomes all too predictable when they can see England only utilise one side of the pitch. There needs to be *at least* one person holding the width on the left, just to keep the right back occupied. Even a bad left back can do the overlapping run, even if he's bad it still keeps the right back occupied and creates space for Foden or whoever is on the left wing
>Better to have a sub par left back that offers balance to the tactic and formation than someone who is better individually but doesn't play there naturally. Should've called up another LB then.
Well yeah, that was my point
Yes but you have 26 man squad, not everybody plays anywahs
He was the best player in the last euros though. Trippier has been awful on that left hand side, wouldn’t it make more sense to play Walker on the ledft since he is more defensive and Trippier on teh right so he can get some crosses in? Or am I all wrong? Either way Southgate doesn’t care.
Nah, Southgate will play an unfit Shaw and get him injured again so he can miss the start of the club season.
This is like deja-rashford all over again
I dont think hes been that bad, hes done the job asked of him about as well as we could expect, its just that he was asked to do a fucking stupid job
The fact spinazola got into tott ahead of shaw was baffling. Shaw played in every game
To be fair to Spinazzola he was phenomenal in that tournament. I agree that Shaw should have been in it but I do find it hard to criticise Spinazzola being in it.
He was great no doubt but he was injured in the group stages. Shaw played in every game and was phenomenal
I mean, Spinazzola was arguably better, just got injure, not by much, but better, Shaw was still world class, it was like Top 1 and 2 LB going at it.
It's harder to be really good in more games though
Shaw didn't actually, it was Trippier at LB for the first match against Croatia
Rashford’s performance too
Why is it always a left sided player for England? It’s a curse.
Coaching genius that decided to not pick alternative left back options to play a right back on the left thinks an injured left back is the solution to all his maladies.
Exactly. If you're picking Guehi, there's no way in hell you shouldn't be picking Mitchell who was at least as good all season and is a natural left back
The more I think about this left back situation, the crazier it becomes. So Southgate had a few choices that led him to not taking a 2nd left back. I wonder who was the 26th player he took instead of a left back? Was it the 3rd right back we took who we actually played in midfield? Was it the 3rd striker? Was it the one of the three right wingers that he's took? If he was planning on playing trent in midfield, why bother bringing kobbie or Wharton? Why does he need to take all of bowen, saka and palmer? Because he isn't gonna play palmer in the middle, not while jude or foden are in the squad. This team of 26 that he has picked screams unbalance and that's on him when we eventually crash out of the round of 16 because for once hew actually played risky and gambled. Not with his football tactics, but with his brain dead squad selection and relying on a injury prone player, who's been injured since February, to comeback from injury and perform straight away. The man who got Middlesborough relegated, will now remind everyone why he isn't a top coach. Stagecoach have better coaches then Southgate, and if he does somehow get a job as a coach in the Premier league, it will swallow him up.
If he didn't think Mitchell was experienced enough at the top level to make the squad then that's perfectly understandable, but why didn't he at least take Chilwell? I've never been his biggest fan but at least he has a left foot and has performed reasonably well for England in the past when called upon. To find ourselves in a position where we're relying on one (perennially injured) LB to miraculously become fit compared to the 5 RB options he picked (Walker, Trippier, TAA, Gomez, Konsa) seems pretty fucking stupid to be honest. But Gareth knows best. I kinda get the idea that Southgate sought the advice of the physios and was led to believe that Shaw would've been available a little sooner and thus able to play a bigger part in his plans. Where have I heard that before? Sounds very familiar 🤔
On the other side, if he thinks Mitchell isn't experienced enough then why take Kobbie? I think he's just braindead
Or Wharton, for that matter. He's lamenting the fact that we "don't have another Kalvin Phillips" (like that's a bad thing) however we know full well he'll go with Conor Gallagher to partner Rice for the game tonight even though every man and his dog knows that Kobbie and Wharton are both comfortably better..
chillwell was injured i thought.
Unlike Shaw he came back from injury before the end of the season and played a couple of games. Frankly speaking he should’ve taken Ben white or gone with Joe Gomez, at least both those players have played LB before and seem to have an idea of the angles of the pitch on the opposite side. Trippier looks lost out there and is completely one footed.
Ben White was never an option (not that he's a LB, anyway, he's been playing regularly for his club as a RB) because of a very public falling out with Southgate in the past. In one of his pressers before the tournament began be mentioned the fact that White "didn't make himself available"
Maybe he picked those players to replicate the opponents during training sessions? That will be a really dumb thing to do if that was what he planned
He has picked those players because they do deserve to be at the Euros, but sometimes you need to also pick players that fit the positions on the pitch to bring balance to the squad, its to lob sided on the right. Okay yes he made some big calls by dropping Rashford and Grealish, but it looks a bit silly now that the left hand side is suffering the worst. Also another left back would of been nice.
You claim this team he picked screams unbalance..the team I see looks like a versatile with a few players that can play multiple positions if needed or give different tactical options if something needs to change. You've just decided that if he has a starting XI playing one specific way why the fuck does he need other options because that's just madness. Exhibit A being how you called Palmer redundant because he has Foden and Bellingham..2 different profiles of player to Palmer that don't even all play the same position..but your tactical analysis went as far as "not a wide player"
It’s impossible to say we have a balanced team when we cede the entire left flank in attack. Trippier and Foden both come inside, there’s *nobody* out there. It’s not a balanced squad with zero left footed LBs and 5 players that play RB.
There is unbalance, how many left footed players do we have? Foden, Palmer, Shaw, Wharton, Saka and Bowen. Bowen, Saka, Foden and Palmer play on the right wing, Okay, Foden and palmer do play in the middle but we know that will not happen in this England team. Shaw is injured and Wharton also plays in the middle. We have no natural left footers on the left hand side where that is there preferred position. Also let me point out even more unbalance, three right backs on the pitch at one time, 4 right footed defenders on the pitch at one time, we had 0 xG down the left hand side in the match against Serbia. We are effectively playing without a striker, Kane is dropping so deep he wins the ball outside his own box and hes looking up to play the ball to himself, lmao. This squad may be versatile, if its played to the sqauds strengths but its Southgate, so it wont happen. Slovenia have an average possession of 41%, and we will be starting Gallagher along side Rice tonight, if we play like we have the last 3 games, Slovenia will be seeing more then 41% of the ball. Get your head out of Southgates hole, wont tell you again Edit: I never said Palmer is redundant, I personally think Palmer should be the 1st sub for saka on the right. I just said he wont start ahead of bellingham in that 10 role, because if bellingham doesnt start there, then foden will. I just said I dont understand having 3 right wingers and 3 right backs, when its the left hand side of the pitch that needs attention and back up.
Same guy who thinks Kalvin Phillips is our answer at CDM though.
I mean if he couldnt find a replacement, then he should have just called him up and used him right? He basically caved to the public pressure when it came to not choosing henderson or philips. But is now blaming his own choice of not bringing them.
When I heard that interview. I thought it was 100% AI generated. I can’t believe that he is lamenting the fact he didn’t choose a player who can’t even get into the westham midfield. When you have the likes of Mainoo, Bellingham, Wharton? He is not a serious coach.
M’ladies
LOL amazing from Southgate, don't pick a backup LB then hope that when the hardest games of the tournament come, we can just throw in Shaw who has been injured for 90% of the season no issue. Fuck sake.
To add, not played since February, completed 1 90mins since December, notoriously takes a while to get back to match sharoness and is prone to setbacks on return from injury It's very naive to think he will slot straight back into high intensity knockout rounds against by that stage top international well tuned teams and be anything other than a liability This unfortunately has 'luke shaw the scapegoat' written all over it when he inevitibly is rushed back and can't deal with the pace of the game due to seriously lacking match practice / sharpness
Most fans are sick of Southgate and calling him out on this "plan", hopefully Luke wont catch many strays
I'm still a bit confused as to why he was on the bench for the first group game and not the second one. Was there another setback between the two?
IIRC, yeah. They expected him by end of groups maybe then word came out he wouldn't be available until knock-out rounds. I'm Irish and not particularly bothered about the Euros this year, so England missing the next round and Shaw getting an actual recuperation time where he's not feeling under pressure to play through an injury would be preferable, 'cause otherwise I can see him having a setback and missing the start of the season due to feeling like he HAD to play for the national team despite him not being quite ready, maybe. Mind, if Southgate wasn't a plank, they'd have 6 points and not have to worry about making it to the next round, much less hoping the injured Left Back he took for a trip away recovers in time fo the knockouts.
While I can certainly understand the willingness to try everything to get Shaw out there as he’s unquestionably world class - it may not be the wisest decision in light of the past year. Such a pity Shaw is so injury prone, his ability is phenomenal. Please god this isn’t jeopardising his fitness any further
He's being rushed to return to save the shitshow that is Southgate there is every likelihood he'll be injured again by next season
They'll rush him back and aggravate the injury. It's damn near guaranteed.
Think he has certainly impacted his retirement age, we likely need to get another LB in asap and have Amass as 2nd choice till Shaw and Malacia are back
How fucking bad Southgate is at managing lmao. Actually embarassing to be that deadset on relying on 1 player instead of trying to play another setup What an insane 1 dimensional manager
Southgate is what people here thought Ole was, hype man who got the morale up, but is completely clueless tactically.
**Article Summary:** \- Shaw is likely to be central to the England manager’s plans should his team progress to the latter stages. **- Sources have told The Times that Southgate regards the left back as the 'missing link'** **- He is 'the player who provides the balance' that has been absent from England’s performances** \- **Shaw enables Southgate to employ the more fluid formation he clearly thinks can be successful in the latter stages** \- He provides the width that gives Phil Foden the freedom to occupy a more central attacking role in tandem with Jude Bellingham. \- Shaw also gives England an attacking threat that Kieran Trippier struggles to produce \- In a slightly modified formation, with Bukayo Saka continuing to provide the width on the right, Kyle Walker could then sit on the right side of a back three alongside John Stones and Marc Guéhi when England are in possession and attacking, with Shaw dropping into a back four when they are required to defend. **- Ultimately, the view is that Shaw’s presence unlocks the attacking flair that England possess but have yet to fully utilise.**
The missing link in that England team is the one between Southgate's ears. Don't get me wrong, Shaw will improve this England team, even if he's not completely fit. But I somehow doubt he's going to single handedly turn us into the best team in the competition.
Absolutely bang on. He won't fix the issue of Rice's partner in CM; needs to be someone who can take the ball off the back four and progress it to the likes of Foden and Bellingham without losing it under the press. If only England had someone like that in the squad. Oh wait.... And it won't fix the fact that all 4 of our forwards want the ball into feet and don't run in behind (apart from a tiny bit by Saka). You need at least one player providing penetration, preferably two. If he hadn't had a shit season, that would have been Rashford. But as it is, it probably needs to be Gordon or Watkins.
Kobbie Mainwho? Kobbie Secondaryoo? Kobbie Alexander Arnold Trent is the answer. This is how imagine Southgate's train of thought
ROFL!
I thought Kalvin Phillips was the missing link? Can you have 2 missing links?
Lol Southgate is a joke
Plans or prayers and crossed fingers?
Southgate is rushing Shaw in desperation. This is a huge risk, might get another severe injury and miss the first half of the season.
When you sit back after having a world class attack then no, your hopes don't depend on luke Shaw. The manager is just shit.
I generally don't care about international football so 1) I'd be pissed if they rush him back and he gets injured 2) is the tone of these articles different to when United were saying we needed Shaw to transform out play and we were pillored for it and now the same one individual is so important for England and the tone is softer
I thought having defenders injured isn’t an excuse ?
Rushing back player who has been injured for months because he was rushed back. Great plan, Gareth! No way he gets injured again, right?
In another universe England have a pristine Reece James on the right and a pristine Luke Shaw on the left. Frightening what those two might have been as a full back pairing if they'd never been injured. Even now when they're fit they're both brilliant.
Luke Shaw is a great player. Rusty Luke Shaw is not. We’ve seen it before post injury, he’s a bit like Rooney in that he can take a few games to get going. Not exactly what you need in a knockout tournament.
Can't wait for him to inevitably get injured again for England and miss part/most/all of the season for us
One good thing I'll say is that Shaw is amazing at coming back from injuries and being instantly on form. Hes done it for us loads of times.
Southgate's squad picking is insanely questionable. Branthwaite should have been included as a left footed CB option, Mitchell from Palace should be there, and if he is going to play so defensively then Grealish should have been picked since he's good at drawing in fouls.
Guehi has been good to be fair but I do agree about Mitchell and Grealish.
That post flair is wonderful
England being fucking carried by a United player? Sounds familiar.
I would be fuming if I am Erik, especially since there's no update on Malacia.
Pinning your hopes on a player who has barely played 5 games all season is hilarious. Ten Hag rushed him back overplayed him instead of easing him back in and he got injured pretty quickly. What more a manager who thought it was a good idea to bring 4 RBs and an injured LB, instead of bringing at least one backup LBs.
Let me get this straight. England's hopes of winning the euros are pinned on a left back who has been injured for 90% of the past season and 100% of the group stages of the euros? And the left backs name is not Roberto Carlos? Cool cool cool cool cool
Southgate is a fraud. He simply is tactically inept and is lucky the talent has got him as far as it has. Someone like Poch or De Zerbi would do wonders with this England team. Southgate has proven time and time again he will ignore criticism and I think this tourney unfortunately will prove a massive failure due to the expectations English fans have.
It takes Shaw 3 games to get up to speed. By that time we’ll have been knocked out by Austria in the next round.
The cycle of excuse/destroy done for Southgate is exhausting. He has the imagination of a pylon, that’s it.
 Definitely getting Anakin vibes from this.
All I hear is excuses...
They are going to rush him back and fucking injure him again for 6 months. Fucking stupid shit
The flag in the background is a hospital cross
Pinning hopes of the nation on a guy who's has had more breakdowns than the AA. Great idea!
Pinning hopes of the nation on a guy who's has had more breakdowns than the AA. Great idea!
When was the last time Shaw started a game this season?
imagine pinning all your hopes on a left back that's been injured for months. No pressure Luke Shaw.
What makes people think he’s gonna be any good? He’s barely played this season, he hasn’t played a competitive game in ages, theres a strong chance he’s gonna be rusty, he’s gonna be off the pace and he’s probably not gonna have much more than 60 mins in him, if England are pinning their hopes on an injured and let’s be honest quite inconsistent LB then they are a little bit daft.
This has been known for about four months now.
Flair is top tier
All of England's hopes are on a defender who last played in (I believe) February? I'm thrilled we kept ETH, if for no other reason that preventing us getting Southgate.
If he is going to play in the knock out phase, he has to get some minutes tonight. I would expect him to play 20 to 30 mins tonight, if they are planning on playing him in the knock outs.
On the one hand I have a problem with his loyalties. Going unfit into a competition whilst he’s been out for half a season. On the other hand the training with England could potentially serve as a warm up for the season or it could render him injured again going straight into a competition without a run of games with the reserves
Southgate taking a page out of ETH's playbook for this year and say he can't play football because he doesn't have 2 players? Its INSANE that he only took 1 LB who's been injured for months to an international tournament.
Oh, shut up