England

[K-Hod]

For me, I’d want Foden in the middle of the park. He’s the best footballer we have as far as I’m concerned and he will only continue to get better with him being so young. 

[roversfan99]

I do think with Foden that he is brilliant anywhere along that front 3 and even deeper. He regularly plays on either side or even as a false 9 for City and stands out with regular goals and assists.

Southgate seems to love Mount in that central role for what he does off the ball but I think especially as we need to become better on the ball as shown v Italy, ideally Foden could go in there with the team built around him. Bellingham could potentially displace Phillips too.

The question I had with Grealish joining City is whether he can adapt. At a mid table club he had the ability as a maverick and thrived being a big fish in a small pond with the whole team geared to serving him. At City he is surrounded by better players but to justify regular selection he needs to become more flexible, as equally hard working and match the goals/assists that they all get and its the same with England.

[roverandout]

I would have foden alongside Bellingham long term. Both excellent technically but foden is on another level to most players not just in England.  Phillips and rice are both excellent players especially rice but long term I would go with the former. 

[roverandout]

6 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

Dele Alli surely will never play for England again, he looks totally shot, he was a flash in the pan I think, embarrassing in the North London derby last week. We do have some good strength in depth but mainly amidst the players already being selected, not sure the likes of Maddison, Konsa and Loftus-Cheek would come close to worrying the bigger nations.

The pressure is on the next World Cup because of reaching the Semi Final and Final of the 2 tournaments prior, there is a natural expectation that we should be one of the favourites to win it for the first time in my life time anyway and if we fail to even match that last tournament final place, there will be strong pressure on Southgate to be removed, and the margins in tournament football are so thin. We have to build around Foden, that I am sure of.

Loftus-Cheek was superb before his injury.  Had everything strong technical good vision but hes starting to get back into the Chelsea squad now. Maddison has completely lost his form but he will get it back. Konsa has been one of villa's best defenders

[roversfan99]

3 minutes ago, roverandout said:

Loftus-Cheek was superb before his injury.  Had everything strong technical good vision but hes starting to get back into the Chelsea squad now. Maddison has completely lost his form but he will get it back. Konsa has been one of villa's best defenders

The problem is, are they going to displace the clutch of attacking midfielders that are currently being picked?

[jim mk2]

6 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

We have to build around Foden, that I am sure of.

You're obsessed with Foden. He's good but not a world beater. 

[roversfan99]

1 minute ago, jim mk2 said:

You're obsessed with Foden. He's good but not a world beater. 

I just think thats hes a brilliant player, at 21 everytime I see him he stands out even around world class players.

[roverandout]

6 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

The problem is, are they going to displace the clutch of attacking midfielders that are currently being picked?

No but they are good backup options especially in midfield.  Winks is a good passer of the ball.  Rlc is still young. Maybe made when in form could play the role foden played yesterday 

[roverandout]

4 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

You're obsessed with Foden. He's good but not a world beater. 

Hes absolutely close to being a world beater. I don't see many if any better 21 year olds. His potential to get better is frightening.  We all know he's a great dribbler of the ball but his passing range and ability to find spaces is top class 

[Oldgregg86]

12 minutes ago, roverandout said:

Loftus-Cheek was superb before his injury.  Had everything strong technical good vision but hes starting to get back into the Chelsea squad now. Maddison has completely lost his form but he will get it back. Konsa has been one of villa's best defenders

Loftus cheek is the next lingard still fulfilling his potential at 29

[roverandout]

2 minutes ago, Oldgregg86 said:

Loftus cheek is the next lingard still fulfilling his potential at 29

Lingard is no Loftus-Cheek 

[roversfan99]

35 minutes ago, roverandout said:

Hes absolutely close to being a world beater. I don't see many if any better 21 year olds. His potential to get better is frightening.  We all know he's a great dribbler of the ball but his passing range and ability to find spaces is top class 

I think the exciting thing isnt even just his potential but very much how good he is now. Stands out regularly in big games.

If Winks gets back into the England reckoning then something has gone awry.

[roversfan99]

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Edited October 10, 2021 by roversfan99

[roverandout]

11 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

I think the exciting thing isnt even just his potential but very much how good he is now. Stands out regularly in big games.

If Winks gets back into the England reckoning then something has gone awry.

I like winks. He keeps possession.  Moves the ball well. He needs to leave spurs though 

[RoverDom]

What I noticed against Andorra which I'd not noticed before is fodens ability to ping some nice balls around. I don't watch him too often but didn't realise he had that in his locker but if he can do that against better teams we'll have a hell of a player on our hands. 

 

[roverandout]

1 hour ago, RoverDom said:

What I noticed against Andorra which I'd not noticed before is fodens ability to ping some nice balls around. I don't watch him too often but didn't realise he had that in his locker but if he can do that against better teams we'll have a hell of a player on our hands. 

 

Agree always thought he was a fantastic dribbler but his vision is de bruyne esque

[Dreams of 1995]

Foden is a world beater.

He's won the U17 World Cup golden boot, 2 Premier Leagues and voted player of the year last season. Pep and his team clearly have absolute faith in him. So do Southgate and co. It's a shame he picked an injury up last tournament.

Foden will win win everything there is to win in Club football. It all depends on whether he has the back up / manager in international football. I suspect we will win at least 1 major tournament during his career.

 

[roverandout]

5 hours ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

Foden is a world beater.

He's won the U17 World Cup golden boot, 2 Premier Leagues and voted player of the year last season. Pep and his team clearly have absolute faith in him. So do Southgate and co. It's a shame he picked an injury up last tournament.

Foden will win win everything there is to win in Club football. It all depends on whether he has the back up / manager in international football. I suspect we will win at least 1 major tournament during his career.

 

I think he will have the backup when u look at young players like Greenwood Jones james Bellingham saka sancho elliot esr palmer etc coming through 

[RoverDom]

Struggling to get Grealish, he is a good player but his main attribute is getting fouled. I some times think he looks a bit lost for ideas when he gets in certain positions and someone isn't trying to foul him 

[AspRover]

All these creative players and no movement for them to pick out.

Also really struggling to work out how Sancho is so far behind Saka in the pecking order. Did he run over southgates dog or something?

Edited October 12, 2021 by AspRover

[simongarnerisgod]

scotland struggling against the might of the faroe islands🤣🤣

[oldjamfan1]

5 minutes ago, simongarnerisgod said:

scotland struggling against the might of the faroe islands🤣🤣

They’ll scab it I think

[roversfan99]

The big question for me around Grealish both at club and International level is whether he can adapt to being a smaller fish in a bigger pond. At Villa everything was built around him and geared around everyone working hard and feeding him at every available opportunity, and he is a maverick with real ability, both to draw fouls and to come up with magic.

At City and for England, he fits in technically but can he be a player who is equally responsible for working, for pressing, to not be in a team where he is the primary source of flair, early days but a big question mark.

[roversfan99]

Very poor all round including Southgate who was poor both with the balance of the starting 11 and also the very strange subs and tactical tweaks.

[simongarnerisgod]

2 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Very poor all round including Southgate who was poor both with the balance of the starting 11 and also the very strange subs and tactical tweaks.

he`s so concerned with not losing that his various formations mean the team can`t gel and get an understanding with each other,quite why you get so concerned about facing hungary at home is only a question he can answer,iv`e said it before,southgate is just a posh mowbray,terrified of attacking,positive football