Is England's squad good enough to succeed in Russia?

[Roque Santa Cruz]

Despite several top players, like Kane, Sterling, Adam, Lallana and Alli, it's hard to predict England's chances at the World Cup. The friendlies against Germany and Brazil were encouraging, but is England's team gooed enough to triumph in Russia?

 

[Aaron-Bcfc]

No, certainly not.

 

[AnimoEtFide]

Yes.

I mean no.

 

[Soup Ladle]

Not a chance.

Getting to the Quarters would be a massive success and getting out the group would constitute a reasonable tournament.

 

[Dirk]

Despite several top players, like Kane, Sterling, Adam, Lallana and Alli, it's hard to predict England's chances at the World Cup. The friendlies against Germany and Brazil were encouraging, but is England's team gooed enough to triumph in Russia?

Do you support them at the World Cup, now that the Dutch didn't make it to the World Cup?

to your question if they are good enough to succeed? Of course they're good enough to do it but will they succeed? How the hell should I know that, I don't understand the Three Lions at tournaments

 

[mistermagic]

I think the notion of success for England depends entirely on who you speak to. Between 02 and 12, England made the quarter-finals in each tournament (apart from '08 where they didn't qualify). During that period, sucess would have been making it to the semi-finals which they never did (being shite at pens didn't help). Right now, I reckon most fans would be glad to get out of the group stage without being too ridiculous against the so-called lesser teams.

 

[Cornish Piskie]

We don't know how to play tournaments.

We get to a world cup and then have no strategy as to how to go about winning it. Do we start slowly and build up? Or do we go "eyeballs out" from the start?

Do we play our best XI in every match and only make changes when absolutely necessary? Or do we rest players against the weaker teams..?

Do we play 442 and stick with it or do we have a flexible formation?

Do we want a training camp out in the boonies where the players have nothing to focus on but playing football? Or do we want to be closer to town where the players can have time away from football, football, so they can relax between games..?

Do we talk to the press and let them get into our heads or do we have a press embargo which will inevitably rebound on us in vindictive headlines?

Do we allow WAGs to join the party or do we tell them to stay at home..? For chrissake, even the players wives have been used as an excuse for failure in the past...?

Until we have some sort of hard and fast strategy that everybody involved signs up, and which enables the players to bond, focus and play to the best of their ability................

.........we haven't got a hope in hell.

 

[STP99]

No chance. Quarters is good for me. Can’t be too optimistic... to many times they are a let down.

 

[Roque Santa Cruz]

Do you support them at the World Cup, now that the Dutch didn't make it to the World Cup?

to your question if they are good enough to succeed? Of course they're good enough to do it but will they succeed? How the hell should I know that, I don't understand the Three Lions at tournaments

I will be supporting Spain, although I have a soft spot for British people.

 

[Roque Santa Cruz]

I think the notion of success for England depends entirely on who you speak to.

With success I mean reaching at least the semi-finals.

 

[Cornish Piskie]

Hi Dirk. Long time no see. Thanks for the 'likes' Rocky (I hope you don't mind the nickname).

I'm sorry to sound so negative about our chances at the world cup, but English fans have become so accustomed to being let down by our national team and it's difficult to see anything different happening this time around.

I would dearly love to see us at least compete. At least we'd be able to say we gave it our best shot.

It's OK to not win the world cup if you give of your best and show that you've at least got some fight in you. But to surrender with barely a whimper as we have done at recent tournaments is just contemptible.

 

[Soup Ladle]

The problem is that we won't do well because we're not good enough. There's so many holes in the squad. We're technically not up to the mark, defensively very suspect and lack the guile to open up defences. We also have a damp squib as a manager. But don't underestimate the impact of playing in the most cash rich league in the world. The players are scared of showing weakness to each other as that often gets latched on by clubs and exploited for domestic success. The squad is very cliquey as a result. There are many other factors except these which mean we're not set up on and off the pitch to do well internationally and like I said earlier, quarters would be an excellent result for us. Second round is a decent outcome.

 

[AFCB_Mark]

What is success? Right now it's probably getting out of the group to the last 16, that has to be the aim. The Quarters would be massively over-achieving with this crop.

I think we can cobble together a decent attack from the options we have up there, good enough to score goals against most. Kane, Sterling, Rashford, Ali, Lingard with the excellent season he's had, Lallana now back fit, AOC having a good season. There's enough to be getting on with there.

But pick a keeper and defensive unit from the available options, who you could vaguely rely on to keep a clean sheet....that's tough. Not sure who the first choice keeper is (I'd go Butland myself). Then while full back looks fine, centre back is a mystery to me. Cahill is shot, I saw that with my own eyes at Stamford Bridge recently. Stones unpredictable but probably the best of the bunch. Smalling and Jones? Keane? Maguire? That's the biggest issue right now. For any side to function it needs to have a bedrock of CBs it can rely on.

Still who doesn't love a World Cup and being part of it.

 

[mistermagic]

With Kyle Walker being the best RB in the world, yeah I reckon you're pretty solid in that area.

 

[Roque Santa Cruz]

It's OK to not win the world cup if you give of your best and show that you've at least got some fight in you. But to surrender with barely a whimper as we have done at recent tournaments is just contemptible.

I always thought that England's fighting spirit was one of their strengths.

 

[Gassy]

I always thought that England's fighting spirit was one of their strengths.

---

England's squad is certainly good enough to make the 1/4 Finals IMO. Yes we slate them all, but for the strength of the first 11 I feel that Uruguay, Spain, France, Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Belgium are the only teams who are 100% better than us (in this years competition).

Some (Poland, Switzerland for example) have done exceptionally well but I think our strength throughout is overall higher.

That's not to say that we wouldn't lose to Switzerland if we faced them, anything can happen, that's why we love the World Cup.

That's one point about the squad being good enough. The problem is the manager & how the players play together. Individually we have a decent team. Collectively, we don't have a very good one at all. Especially as we may have lost Kane now too - we're stuffed.

But I fully expect us to get past the group stages this year, we should win our first 2 games which should guarantee a spot in the final 16 - after that it's anyways guess on what will happen.

 

[Roque Santa Cruz]

The problem is the manager

Why is the manager the problem?

 

[Gassy]

Why is the manager the problem?

I personally don't rate him at all.

He hasn't had any real success in management to warrant the England team IMO. Even when he was on 'trial' - what happened? We got annihilated against Slovenia but thankfully Hart saved us and kept it 0-0. We beat Scotland in a game where Scotland easily could/should have drawn. We played the worst football we've played in beating Malta 2-0 at home. And then commentators said, "he's done everything right" - I'm sorry but how is that considered success?

The only thing I personally rate Southgate on is being able to play youth players - at least he has the balls to do that. He talks a good game but ultimately he does nothing.

My favourite part where I thought hmmm okey Gareth was when Rooney was playing and we had this whole problem of Rooney being a striker but kept playing in midfield. Southgate came out strong and said "he will play where I bloody play him". Suddenly we finally have a manager who will stand up for what is best. What does he do? Put's Rooney in midfield

I haven't rated his tactics at all personally. I know this invites the whole "well who would you have" situation and ultimately I don't know, but it isn't Gareth Southgate for me

 

[mistermagic]

I hear what you're saying but what choice did the FA have? Who would you have put in the hotseat? Genuine question.

 

[Gassy]

Ultimately, that's a whole other problem, the lack of good English managers right now. Interestingly after Roy going, I was actually quite up for Alan Pardew. Personally I like him - although he has done horrifically at West Brom.

Right now, well there literally isn't anyone else who's an English Prem manager (Eddie Howe is still too young).

 

[Roque Santa Cruz]

Are there too many foreign managers in the PL? I can't remember any successful English manager.

 

[Gassy]

There are currently 4 English managers in the PL.

The last successful one I guess was Redknapp - but he's lost it now.

Should the FA be doing something about this I wonder? Many ex-players are going into punditry rather than managing, should the FA be doing more to encourage English players to go into management?

 

[mente captus]

 

[Super_horns]

There are currently 4 English managers in the PL.

The last successful one I guess was Redknapp - but he's lost it now.

Should the FA be doing something about this I wonder? Many ex-players are going into punditry rather than managing, should the FA be doing more to encourage English players to go into management?

Not sure they can do much about what happens in the Premier league and they appointed 2 overseas coaches and went for others themselves!

I wonder if some of our top ex professionals just don't want the hassle of management when they don't need the money and probably wouldn't fancy dropping down to clubs like ours ?

 

[Gassy]

Tbf I'm sure there are many who would 'drop' down to Watford.

We have SO many English managers in the lower divisions who have done very well but never had the opportunity to manage in the PL because many PL clubs appoint foreign managers. Nobody is willing to take a risk nowadays - perhaps the PL could implement a rule that if the Manager isn't British, than his assistant must be?

 

[Super_horns]

Good point about the lower league managers not getting a chance - even when a British manager is appointed its usually somebody already on the merry go round like Big Sam/Pardew.

I doubt the Premier league care about anything but their bank balances and marketing revenue..

 

[Gassy]

True and unfortunately I think you're correct.

It's a shame because unless new blood comes in/through, we'll keep seeing these numbers decrease. Already many Championship clubs are appointing more and more foreign managers now

 

[AFCB_Mark]

In decades gone by, the likes of Gary Rowett, Dean Smith, Chris Wilder would all be in the frame for any top flight jobs. They might have gone on to succeed, or fail, but they'd have been given a go. Also of course many clubs would promote coaches from within to become managers. These days neither happens. Lower league managers stay lower league unless they earn promotions with their own 'level' of clubs. And coaches tend to stay coaches through their career. Currently somehow Dyche doesn't seem to quite get the credit he probably deserves, and Howe we'll have to see when or if he goes onto other things.

There's definitely a pipeline issue. Ideally I think the plan was to give Allardyce a couple years and let Southgate bring through the batch of u21 youngsters to maturity, taking over the senior role as they got into the senior side (which shock horror has some logic to it). However that went tits up of course and we've landed with Southgate prematurely.

The same old merry-go-round managers don't help. Surely there's only so long the old boys network can continue. I'm hopeful that the top flight club careers of the likes of Pardew and Allardyce are coming to a close (although I'm sure Allardyce will get one more gig at the first relegation panicked club come November, after he leaves Everton this summer).

 

[St. Juste]

I hear what you're saying but what choice did the FA have? Who would you have put in the hotseat? Genuine question.

There are hundreds of candidates in world football more qualified than Gareth Soutghate.

At the time they could have gone for Marcelo Bielsa, I think Sampaoli was available at the time as well.

They are, in literally every conceivable way, better than Soutghate.

If you wanted an English manager then Howe is better, Dyche is better, Houghton is better, even Pardew has much better managerial pedigree. There would be more than a few in the Championship too I'd expect.

It was an utterly baffling appointment, up there with Giggs for Wales.

 

[mistermagic]

There are hundreds of candidates in world football more qualified than Gareth Soutghate.

At the time they could have gone for Marcelo Bielsa, I think Sampaoli was available at the time as well.

They are, in literally every conceivable way, better than Soutghate.

If you wanted an English manager then Howe is better, Dyche is better, Houghton is better, even Pardew has much better managerial pedigree. There would be more than a few in the Championship too I'd expect.

It was an utterly baffling appointment, up there with Giggs for Wales.

Not the worst decision however; they didn't hire a scotsman!