Slovakia v England, 20th June, 8pm

[JJ1532]

Other than the Rooney change, are we really getting any weaker with the other 5 changes? Kane, Sterling and Alli have been poor on the whole, those 3 should be dropped anyway. The full backs have done a lot of running so it might be a good idea to rotate them.

Other than Wilshere(or Henderson depending on your perspective) for Rooney, I don't think the other changes are the wrong ones.

 

[AFCB_Mark]

Individually, I don't think any of the changes are especially odd, but making that many together does seem overly risky.

What are we thinking for shape, diamond?

Hart
Clyne Cahill Smalling Bertrand

---------Dier
Henderson Wilshere
---------Lallana

Sturridge Vardy

Lot of pressure on Lallana there and he's had a couple of pretty mixed games thus far.

Or are we still looking at 4-3-3 and Lallana left with Vardy / Sturridge central and right?

 

[JJ1532]

Said on the previous page, with no Sterling it makes no sense to play wide forwards, especially given the 2 that would be on the wings aren't suited to play there. Makes more sense to have a diamond with Clyne and Bertrand running the channels providing the width.

Slovakia aren't as solid defensively as Wales were, don't think they can sit for a point either. We should get chances, even if we play mostly down the middle. Hope we get an early/first half goal, would just help settle everyone down.

 

[Vale on Trent]

Other than the Rooney change, are we really getting any weaker with the other 5 changes? Kane, Sterling and Alli have been poor on the whole, those 3 should be dropped anyway. The full backs have done a lot of running so it might be a good idea to rotate them.

Other than Wilshere(or Henderson depending on your perspective) for Rooney, I don't think the other changes are the wrong ones.

Why would we even want to risk becoming weaker?

 

[JJ1532]

Why would we even want to risk becoming weaker?

Are we though? Wilshere for Rooney is a downgrade, but Henderson for Alli is a wash, as is Clyne and Bertrand for Walker and Rose. But Vardy and Sturridge are an upgrade on Sterling and Kane. So with 2 being improvements, 3 being a wash and 1 being a possible downgrade, I honestly don't think these changes make the team weaker.

 

[Bobbin']

Very unlikely to be Northern Ireland, it'll be third place in group A or C.

Northern Ireland are in Group C aren't they? or do you mean they are unlikely to finish third?

 

[Stevencc]

No Sterling.

Great news.

 

[AnkleBiter]

Northern Ireland are in Group C aren't they? or do you mean they are unlikely to finish third?

Think he meant A or D

In which case I'd be wary of Spain beating Croatia and Czech Republic beating Turkey and thus pushing Croatia into 3rd

 

[Bobbin']

Better off finishing second, and hope that Portugal beat Hungary to win their group.

 

[AnkleBiter]

But then we'd likely face France in the QF and Germany SF... meh, still too complicated to worry about at the moment!

 

[Veggie Legs]

Northern Ireland are in Group C aren't they? or do you mean they are unlikely to finish third?

I meant Group D, sorry.

 

[johnnytodd]

Individually, I don't think any of the changes are especially odd, but making that many together does seem overly risky.

What are we thinking for shape, diamond?

Hart
Clyne Cahill Smalling Bertrand

---------Dier
Henderson Wilshere
---------Lallana

Sturridge Vardy

Lot of pressure on Lallana there and he's had a couple of pretty mixed games thus far.

Or are we still looking at 4-3-3 and Lallana left with Vardy / Sturridge central and right?

what a shit football team that is.

 

[johnnytodd]

Dier is a Dier international midfield player.

 

[Pagnell]

what a shit football team that is.

Of course it is. It has 4 Liverpool players and 0 Everton players.

 

[johnnytodd]

Of course it is. It has 4 Liverpool players and 0 Everton players.

If you think any of them 5 are international standard you are as thick as Salty.
(Sturridge fully fit is a 50/50)

 

[Super_horns]

2nd place wouldn't be so bad as we'd face the 2nd place team in Portugal's group (who could be anyone) but be nice to get a win regardless.

 

[Laker]

2x England vs Slovakia available, through a legitimate legal website Viagogo, together or separate, for collection near the stadium at Saint Etienne today. link in next post

Do one.

 

[Reaper]

Sounds like this will be the line up to me

Hart
Clyne Cahill Smalling Bertrand
Henderson Dier Wilshere
Sturridge Vardy Lallana

Think its a shrewd move resting a few tbh because if we gonna go far in this competition then we will need to rotate and save a few legs and theres not much difference in quality anyways between the 1st and 2nd fringe players. My only gripe is that i would have preferred Barkley to Henderson but im still very confident about that selection, just leave Milner out of it though.

 

[Ciderhead]

Whatever formation it's officially down as on paper I see it being quite flexible: Vardy to play on the shoulder with Sturridge drifting centrally and Wilshere and Lallana given license to roam.

People will moan if it's 433 but just because it's presented that way on the teamsheet doesn't mean Sturridge will be told to hug the touchline all game

 

[TractorBoys]

Really disappointed to see the squad prediction overnight, hoping for not quite so drastic changes come 7pm.

Struggling to see anyone's viewpoint who is suggesting this many changes can be anything other than risky, and I'll stand by that viewpoint even if we put in a performance... seems like unnecessary risk.

 

[JaseTheVillain]

Surely tournaments are about momentum? Why make so many changes???

 

[SALTIRE]

Decent line-up that particularly without the decrepit Rooney slowing things down.

 

[Liam_SWFC]

I can see the logic in the line up, it's important we get as many players involved in the games as we can as they will be needed at some point, and don't want them to be rusty. That side is still more than good enough to dispatch Slovakia, bringing Wilshere is a good move in my opinion, and the 2 full backs have run a lot of miles over the last 2 games so no problem with switching that up to rest them. Hopefully it's a diamond formation rather than shunting Jamie Vardy at wide which will be a complete waste but typical Roy, come on England 2-0 win please.

 

[Ebeneezer Goode]

One of our biggest disadvantages is that we haven't played with a settled side throughout the qualification campaign or even the friendlies before the tournament, so making so many changes is a big risk in my view. You upset the rhythm of the starting XI and you stop them from developing a better understanding.

 

[Veggie Legs]

Tonight's lineup looks ok to me: most people were calling for changes up front, resting the full backs is fair enough, and the midfield is still strong, if not quite as attacking as previously. Think it'll still be 4-3-3 with Vardy central, but I can't see Sturridge staying on the wing much.

 

[T.A]

I don't see the need in making so many changes. The full backs didn't need dropping and I'm not a fan of Henderson.

Just hope it doesn't come back to haunt us.

 

[GodsGift]

I don't mind 2 or 3 changes, but 6 is just excessive. I've got a really bad feeling about tonight.

In just three games, Hodgson has used more players than Ranieri did for the whole of last season.

 

[TractorBoys]

Any argument about squad involvement and resting does not go far enough to explain 6 changes.

 

[Stevencc]

What a load of negative nancies.

We've got this and the players we've brought in tonight will be all that more prepared to enter the fray come the knockout stages.

 

[JJ1532]

Any argument about squad involvement and resting does not go far enough to explain 6 changes.

But 3 are form based! Is there any argument that Kane, Sterling and Alli don't deserve to be dropped? Not for me. Yes, maybe Rooney and the 2 full backs didn't need to be dropped, but essentially its 3 changes for form and 3 for rotation. Not all that much when you think about it.