AjaxAndy wrote: ↑Sat Jul 04, 2026 4:17 pm
We've had a pretty damn good defensive record under Dyche and Moyes (apart from the last few games).
In terms of structure and defensive organisation we've been light years ahead of this England team.
Better players doesn't always make for a better defence.
What on earth.
Come on man.
We were terrible at the back last season.
Players like Keane, mykolenko, Holgate, playing as often as they have and not having a right back for ten years tells its own story.
We had a decent period under Carlo, a few months under Dyche where we were solid. Other than that it’s been ten years of being terrible at the back, with Pickford often having to bail us out.
He’d be made up to be playing in that England team after what he had to put up with last season.
TheRam wrote: ↑Sat Jul 04, 2026 6:00 pm
What on earth.
Come on man.
We were terrible at the back last season.
Players like Keane, mykolenko, Holgate, playing as often as they have and not having a right back for ten years tells its own story.
We had a decent period under Carlo, a few months under Dyche where we were solid. Other than that it’s been ten years of being terrible at the back, with Pickford often having to bail us out.
He’d be made up to be playing in that England team after what he had to put up with last season.
You're chatting pure shite
Pickford's clean sheet record for us is pretty much second only to Raya over the past few seasons. You don't have that without a well organised and structured defence FFS.
Cereal Killer wrote: ↑Sat Jul 04, 2026 7:25 pm
Probably helps our shit defence gets 10 months a year to play and train together, whilst England’s shit defence gets about 2 weeks…
This is a legitimate advantage some countries have.
When most of your best eleven plays together at the club level or you have a smaller pool of quality players who’ve played together at the international level for years, there’s less work to be done on those partnerships when the tournament rolls around.
This England squad really has neither. Players are fairly well dispersed across clubs and there’s always pressure to put the newest in form players in the squad which hurts continuity.
One thing Southgate did well was not tinker with the squad too much. He just wasn’t good enough tactically to win the biggest matches.
kramer wrote: ↑Sat Jul 04, 2026 7:46 pm
This is a legitimate advantage some countries have.
When most of your best eleven plays together at the club level or you have a smaller pool of quality players who’ve played together at the international level for years, there’s less work to be done on those partnerships when the tournament rolls around.
This England squad really has neither. Players are fairly well dispersed across clubs and there’s always pressure to put the newest in form players in the squad which hurts continuity.
One thing Southgate did well was not tinker with the squad too much. He just wasn’t good enough tactically to win the biggest matches.
All on Tuchel for “keeping his cards close to his chest” and never actually picking his preferred back 4 at any stage
