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Making tweaks, yes. In 2022, the formula was mostly right and a few subtle changes and it hasn’t quite worked out since. We battered Wales, Iran and Senegal and looked marginally the better team against France, imo. Come 2024, the rise of Foden and Bellingham as genuine world class stars has...

I’m not pleased with spending thousands of pounds for the matches I got to see. I’m just pragmatic that results are king and this is all that actually matters in the grand scheme of things. The choice of teams you used to describe how you wanted England to play was not great. Most of them lost...

Correct, we have 5 CMs to cover 3 positions and to be honest, I’m not sure Allen is up to the required standard. Sheaf and Torp have had their issues with injuries so we need that depth. Yes, Lati is there for cover too, but he’s covering CB and RB where there isn’t as much depth.

You look at the state of the team and their performances at major tournaments, and where he left it… it’s in a far better place. Highest win %, best tournament performances, most goals per game at a World Cup, first manager to beat Germany (and Netherlands) in a KO game since 1966. He didn’t...

Exactly, agreed on both points. It’s a fantasy appointment and one I do not believe is realistic. In international management, you need to be able to adapt to your personnel, the top managers do precisely the opposite. They buy players who will perform the functions they want in the system they...

Potter was in that bracket until he took the poisoned chalice at Chelsea. I’d love for him to get the England job and smash it for us to restore his reputation. He’s rejected quite a few roles already since Chelsea so clearly has his eyes on something… Carsley was rumoured to be more...

Agreed. His weaknesses has been the UCL where he’s arguably underachieved as a manager given the teams he’s managed. As with Klopp, these managers require their teams to be well drilled to a man. How would either manager react if, like this squad, you need to replace 12 players from the squad...

I know Howe is your favourite, to me it’s just not the move for him to make right now. Newcastle have an exciting project and he’s under contract. If we’re going English, it’s Potter or Carsley for me. Both managers hit well with the so-called ‘English DNA’ as both have proven to be tactically...

Not really, he’s coached most of the current and future England teams in his various youth setups. Won the U21 Euros against Spain playing the kind of free flowing football fans would like to see us playing. De la Fuente was a EFF ‘yes man’ and he looked a far more accomplished coach than Luis...

Sunderland fans are something else. Of all the many teams I spoke to out in my month out in Germany. It was only a group of Sunderland fans that gave it large about our plight as a club. Apparently we shoulda been ‘chucked out the league’ and made a low blow about Jimmy being in a box. In what...

Rudoni had a higher xG per game than COH so he clearly finds himself in better scoring positions. Yes, he missed plenty of chances but at 22, it’s fair to say he’s better than COH at the same stage of their career. In all honesty, the COH of Dec-Feb was on another level and from then, had good...

Rangnick got knocked out by a Turkey team Austria really should’ve beaten. On paper and on the pitch when they played. They looked good in qualifying and in the group stages but that literally means nothing. What actually matters is how teams perform in the KO rounds. Klopp doesn’t want a top...

I never said the performance was satisfactory. Without being cocky, it shouldn’t have got to that stage. Why use Georgia, Turkey and Romania benchmarks? All teams that had memorable moments but got battered by clinical teams. Turkey were lucky to beat Austria. Aside from Hungary and Scotland...

In that, we have shared goals. Potter would be the most likely manager (or Carsley) and arguably the best tactician we have. The only thing is that he wouldn’t have changed much from Southgate. I doubt Eddie Howe would leave the Newcastle project, even if England is his ultimate goal. He’s...

Slovakia had an excellent counter attacking strategy that really hurt us in the first half. They did a great job with the low block and credit to them. It was almost a perfect game plan. That said, in the second half we were on top, Foden was a toe away from scoring an early 2nd half equaliser...

Won 2 KO games against the top 10 teams versus 4 losses. Which is still an improvement compared to previous England managers. Bearing in mind we’d won something like 6 KO games since 1966 before Southgate took over. The narrative that if we’re a bit more attacking we’ll suddenly win everything...

Barring Spain, in the KO rounds we were the better team in every game with more shots and more possession against each opponent. Switzerland aren’t mugs, they nearly beat Germany to top the group and beat Italy convincingly. Somehow, the narrative that beating Italy would somehow be harder -...

If your nan had wheels she’d have been a bike, what’s your point?

That narrative just doesn’t match reality. In the first half we had the better chances, albeit both were half chances. Stones tackling Williams in the box was Spain’s most dangerous moment in the first half. We conceded right after the break being caught half asleep, we weren’t sitting back at...

With 6 shots on target and Portugal had a red card at 2-0. We didn’t cling on for penalties, that’s ridiculous. Only Switzerland went to penalties and we were pushing for a winner before penalties. Likewise, against Spain, most of their big chances were when they caught us on the counter...