Search results

The team mostly picks itself, I’d start the following in 4-2-3-1: Pickford Walker Stones Maguire Shaw Henderson Rice Sterling Mount Foden/Grealish Kane Good opportunity to get Henderson to start game and be a bit more direct in that 4-2-3-1 shape. Phillips is a higher yellow card risk than...

The last time we play Belgium at Wembley, we beat them. Most of our squad in for the 2018 World Cup are sat at home watching this tournament. That’s how much our squad has changed since then. Comparatively, Belgium are not as strong as they were in that tournament. Despite that, still a very...

Hardly. He’s 27 and playing in the Northern Irish premier league which is barely a professional league. Short term, he got paid. I doubt he expected to be playing in the NI divisions at 27.

We went into the tournament as the favourites after France. Belgium were behind us going into the tournament. We have a really good team and a good manager which would make us a favoured team on neutral ground. Having so many games at Wembley undoubtedly factored into inflating our value a bit.

They beat us in Belgium and we returned the favour at Wembley this season. In 2018, Belgium were a significantly better than us and that was reflected in the performances when we played at the World Cup. Since then, we’ve improved and developed a lot of new players One thing I really hope...

Why the hype around Belgium? They aren’t the team they were in 2018. With De Bruyne injured, Eden Hazard not at his best and an ageing defence. Despite Lukaku’s form, I don’t fancy them. We also beat Belgium the last time we played, somehow... A Belgium-England final would be an ideal scenario...

I’ll be honest and say I was sceptical about going 3-4-3. Having watched this video this morning, the change in system makes a lot of sense. Tifo is linked to The Athletic which is the outlet leaking all the team news in advance of the game.

Southgate doesn’t get the credit he deserves. People will always find something to discredit his achievements. If we got to a final and lost, some would say ‘our route was easy and we lost to first good team we played’. Germany were there for the taking, yet when they beat Portugal 4-2 they...

So if either Rice or Phillips get booked on a Saturday, they miss the semi-finals if we got there?

He will probably have to rest Phillips and Rice at some point as they’re both on yellow cards. You could play Mount slightly deeper and/or Henderson at some point too. I really like Rice and Phillips though, if one of them had Henderson’s range of passing, it would be very well balanced...

We were efficient and that’s the gold standard in international football. We had the better chances against Germany and deserved to win. We don’t get style points for winning in knockout games. Perhaps this is something previous England managers have missed a trick on.

Are the people saying it’s boring credible people? Absolutely not. First time we’ve beaten Germany in a knockout game since 1966. This is without penalties or extra time needed. No one has any just cause to complain about this result. Huge achievement and Southgate deserves all the accolades...

He consistently makes decisions that raise my eyebrows. But, then again, who am I? In the grand scheme of things, I’m a nobody who’s football opinion means very little. Southgate made a brave decision today that a lot of people had doubts about. Lose, he’s a pariah. Win, he’s a national hero.

I’ve always like him. This is not a ‘I told you so’ post at all. His experiences as a player, in international management and with the senior team so far, have served him well to date. We’ve gone for ‘world class’ managers who have done well in qualifiers and friendlies, but failed to deliver...

You wouldn’t think so though. For some reason, he has so many naysayers. For me, qualifying and friendlies mean nothing. We’ve had countless managers whose ticked those boxes and underachieved at the major tournament - when you earn your money. Capello and Hodgson qualified with almost...

Put some respect on Gareth Southgate’s name too. Takes so much stick, but has showed time and time again, he gets it right. I say that humbly because he makes decisions I wouldn’t make, personally, but they come through as being correct.

Belgium are my sweepstake team so hoping they progress well. But, I’m not convinced by them at all. With a few key injuries, they may struggle against Italy. Ultimately, I fancy them to beat Italy. If I was a betting man, which I’m not, I do fancy a England v Spain final at this rate.

Fair play to Southgate. He’s taken a lot of flack for his methods but to beat Germany 2-0 is a great achievement for us. We’ve got the job done. Every tactical choice Southgate has made this tournament, he’s got right. If you don’t concede goals, you can’t lose games.

Despite the criticism, we’ve been really positive so far! Keep it up!

I would have like Mount and Henderson in the team. For Henderson, he’s not ready to play 120 minutes if required. As for Mount, he’s been self-isolating. We’ve got talent on the bench, I’m hopeful we‘re using them to finish off the German team rather than chasing them.