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Euro 2024 - The European Football Championship

well, important win, but more concerns than positives, Kane and Bellingham are the best two players in the competition, but that won't be enough against a good team

Foden got better as the game went on, but this squad is weak, missing a proper DM
 
Nor the most impressive performance from England, but job done and three points, which is what matters really. Can't see them defeating Germany or Spain based on this showing, though.

Starting the game with three right backs was just weird, even if Trippier ended up having a good game on the left. Bellingham of course bossed the first half, Kane really lifted himself after the break, and Rice in periods showed why he will be very important for England.

Apart from that, a lot of average performances and a disjointed team effort, IMO.
 
So what have we learned..

Trent isn't really a CM

Foden and Trippier on the left is pointless. (I feel sorry for Foden but Southgate feels like he can't really play him central while we have Bellingham there. Would be better if we had a fit Shaw with Gordon ahead of him on the left.)
 
dingdongo said:
So what have we learned..

Trent isn't really a CM

Foden and Trippier on the left is pointless. (I feel sorry for Foden but Southgate feels like he can't really play him central while we have Bellingham there. Would be better if we had a fit Shaw with Gordon ahead of him on the left.)
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It seemed to me we played 20 yards deeper in the second half and in doing so we conceded the second ball to their five man midfield.

Kane, Foden, TAA and Saka were all lost to the game at that point and Serbia put some good stuff together - we could not get the ball but did at least keep a decent shape- Trippier deserves some credit for that.

Gallagher for TAA should have happened ten minutes earlier but overall, it was a bloody hard game against a good side.
 
dingdongo said:
So what have we learned..

Trent isn't really a CM

Foden and Trippier on the left is pointless. (I feel sorry for Foden but Southgate feels like he can't really play him central while we have Bellingham there. Would be better if we had a fit Shaw with Gordon ahead of him on the left.)
Click to expand...
We should take these things as a positive :)...at least they're glaringly obvious mistakes/issues that we can rectify...no head scratching required.
 
So did Kane have a bad game or did it work for a half? Jamie Carragher thinks the tactics were wrong and Kane's value is reduced when he doesn't drop deep.

www.telegraph.co.uk

Unless Harry Kane’s role changes England cannot win Euro 2024

Kane had only two touches in the entire first half against Serbia – England will not win the Euros if that continues
www.telegraph.co.uk www.telegraph.co.uk

The problem with a player of Kane’s many abilities is that it reduces his effectiveness by 50 per cent. Kane is a multi-tasking, modern centre forward who was reduced to one-dimension during the 1-0 win over Serbia.

If Southgate persists with the same system for the rest of the tournament, their No 9 will be heavily compromised. Possibly too much. Having come into the Euros with a Phil Foden conundrum, after one game Southgate has a Kane one.

In the first half, Kane registered just two touches of the ball. For a player of his class, that is deeply worrying.
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By full-time that had risen to 24, showing that he was more involved in the second half – ironic given that England were less dominant in possession. There is a tactical curiosity that when England played well, Kane was not involved at all. When they didn’t, he nearly scored and had more possession.
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Another view was that Kane's despite the lack of touches, his movement was creating space for others, making England more effective. Kane dropping deeper and allowing Bellingham to advance might work, but not if Foden is also seeking that #10 space. It seems like trying to shoe-horn Gerrard, Lampard and Scholes into central midfield. None perform at their best.
 
If your asking Kane to stay up top, you still need to get the ball into him.

It was all side to side and backwards that was too slow.

The 1 time we put a cross in for Kane, the keeper made a good save.

Even hit it into his feet and let Foden, Bellingham and Saka run past him to play it through.
 
Chrissivad said:
If your asking Kane to stay up top, you still need to get the ball into him.

It was all side to side and backwards that was too slow.

The 1 time we put a cross in for Kane, the keeper made a good save.

Even hit it into his feet and let Foden, Bellingham and Saka run past him to play it through.
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It’s why I’ve said England need a passer in midfield
Bellingham is a runner. Brilliant player but I’ve never seen him spray passes
Rice isn’t that man and is there to clean up
Instead we play Trent who passes well if your a team trying to play over the top… that’s not gonna work with Foden and Kane who aren’t quick enough for that and there’s also less room to play into
Mainoo isn’t the answer. Not sure how a guy who plays a double pivot for a team who conceded the highest amount of shots for any top side in Europe can fix the issues for England
Wharton is the answer big then Southgate isn’t the man for that
 
ricky2tricky4city said:
We should take these things as a positive :)...at least they're glaringly obvious mistakes/issues that we can rectify...no head scratching required.
Click to expand...

The other silver lining is the lack of fanfare now. If we'd won 3-0 it would over egg things. Now we can build into form hopefully. Get through the group and hit peak form in the knock outs is the ideal.
 
Still very early days. Poor/average first game is quite common.

Would be more concerned about defensive solidity than attacking shortcomings if I supported England. Some of the criticism of Southgate is over the top, but it's also strange to come into a tournament like this and not really know what your central midfield should look like. He may very well get the answers he needs as the tournament progresses though.

Trippier at left back as anything other than an emergency option I don't get. He can do a job, but even on the right he's vulnerable defensively. Makes up for it on the ball and with that right foot, nullify that and it's a real weakness.

Decent start for the bigger teams, but some of them against rather average at best opposition...

France, Portugal as long as they don't get stuck in Ronaldo main character syndrome, then a bunch of teams. Including England.
 
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