bigfluffylemon wrote:sussexpob wrote:Fact is, we have a better team than the world champions (elect) and we've made a QF.
Southgate has to go.
Sussex, I know you loathe Southgate, and I'm not exactly his biggest fan, but I'm having a hard time blaming him that much for tonight. For a start, the fact it's a QF isn't really relevant - if the two best teams in a tournament meet at any stage, one of them is going home, whether that's second round or final
The fact is, in three major tournaments under Southgate we have beaten Germany as the only supposed elite side, but their elite credentials are debatable after being knocked out of two consecutive world cups by East Asian sides, and the fact that the German take on their own side in that period is, it's the worst in their history and mediocre.
Either way, I do agree England played well. We didn't deserve to lose, and quite a lot went against us. But, we still lost. There are still mistakes to assess, and still improvements to be made. You look at the game and say, well how did France with so little of the ball win?
At this point, I ask, what was the most controversial choice Southgate made in this tournament? I'd say without a shadow of a doubt, it was picking Maguire not only for his squad (which the majority of pundits didn't), but to start him. I think pretty much zero people who watch football weekly agreed with that decision. I invite you back a month to read my comments, no hindsight in this assessment.
What happened in the end? France throw a deep ball from an area of the field where there is no danger, and guess who drops his marker and doesn't pick his run? Ah yeah, the guy who's club coach won't put him near a football field because he's been a total liability for 2 years. Doesn't contest the ball, 2-1.
Through the tournament only Foden had a worse tackle rate in the England team. He didn't make a single tackle last night, and lost two aerial duals, one leading to a goal, the other a shot on target. He also missed an open header from 8 yards failing to hit the target, and his protection of the ball compared to Stones was far worse. He made three unforced error passes against Senegal leading to chances on goal, so it's not like it wasn't forewarned.
England gave zero minutes to a starting defender in a team leading the PL by 5 points, and instead picked a player who hasnt started since Brentford's strikers embarrassed him, this after a long period of woeful form.
When it mattered, said player made an error that lead to England being knocked out.
The manager has to take full responsibility and accountability for that terrible choice.
Btw, two daily papers have posted articles this morning highlighting Maguire as the weak link. Every match report I've seen, both English and French, highlight him as the worst marked player (in some cases joint)...
So the assessment is clearly not just my subjectivity.