Arena "The Beautiful Game" - The Official JCC Football (Soccer) Thread.

That first "save" was diabolical

 

My parents are moving house. A few days ago they dropped off (amongst other things) all the Everton shirts I bought (or was bought) as a kid. I would only wear them when Everton were playing. I put that down to a mixture of public shame and a firm belief that if I wore the right shirt at the right time I would help them win.

I did not.

 

The way he shies away from the moment, you'd almost think he's Michael Bradley

 

Man city apparently have first rights on him if you decide to sell

 

Seen it. First goal was keeper howler. Second goal, commentator speaking crap. Keeper in right place. A great strike. "Wrong hand"?? He was stood in the right place, dived to the left, so his right hand was higher and better placed to attempt the save. Nonsense from the commentator.

 

So actual Michael Bradley showed up on your video?

 

Richie, please weigh in

What ranks as a better season? Winning any trophy, or having Deadpool utilize your club in marketing?

 

So England are slightly screwed in the WC, no forward thinking central midfielders are gonna be taken, southgate choosing his favorites, that fact that potentially a overrated city player and a low on confidence relegated player could be going is a joke over Wilshere and Shelvey, just gotta hope Ruben gets taken.

 

Yeah, all relegated players are terrible and low on confidence.



You aren’t the Richie I wanted. You’re the one I deserve.

 

Shall we petition to change the username to RichiePool? Or just have Heelsy do it and skip the petition?

 

Wiltshire is crap. And always injured. You know how many games he played this year? Look it up.

Glad he’s not going and even more so Hart

 

I'm happy hart isn't going, Pope needs to start tbh. But Wilshere is the only real dictator we have in midfield, can't wait to watch Hendo and Dier pass sideways for 90 mins.

 

Really happy there is no Hart. He was great but has had his time.

A bit disappointed on Wilshere as he's an excellent footballer BUT is massively injury prone and although is on the way to proving his fitness he's not played for England this year and there is still too much of an air of fragility about him so I get why he's not going.

Full squad below

Goalkeepers:
Jack Butland (Stoke)
Jordan Pickford (Everton)
Nick Pope (Burnley)

Defenders:
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
Gary Cahill (Chelsea),
Fabian Delph (Manchester City)
Phil Jones (Manchester United)
Harry Maguire (Leicester)
Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur)
John Stones (Manchester City)
Kieran Trippier (Tottenham Hotspur)
Kyle Walker (Manchester City),
Ashley Young (Manchester United)

Midfielders:
Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur)
Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur)
Jordan Henderson (Liverpool)
Jesse Lingard (Manchester United)
Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea)

Forwards:
Harry Kane (Tottenham)
Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)
Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
Jamie Vardy (Leicester)
Danny Welbeck (Arsenal)

Standby:
Lewis Cook (Bournemouth)
Tom Heaton (Burnley)
Adam Lallana (Liverpool)
Jake Livermore (West Brom)
James Tarkowski (Burnley)


Need to read and digest the squad more before I pass judgement though

 

On reflection

Goalkeepers

No issue with Hart being dropped, weak to his left and just very inconstant this year/last.

Happy with the three called up and have no preference over the first choice although I would possibly pick Pope over the others (just)

Defence
Delph and Young are not defenders but have surprised this year, Can see Rose being first choice wing back with an outside chance of Alexander-Arnold being the right back due to his crossing.
Centre half will be Maguire, Walker and Jones even though Walker is a wingback.
No issues with those called up here as whilst there are better out there (Shaw/Bertrand) they have either been inconsistent or just not really played this year so a call up was always unlikely.

Midfiled
No issue with any of these and pleased to see Loftus-Cheek in the mix. Would like to have seen Wilshere as he is an excellent forward thinking midfielder which we lack but I understand why he's not there. Would still have liked to see and additional attack minded player like a Shelvey but he's not been part of the squad for eons and feel a lot of the attacking impetus will come from Lingard assuming Deli is used as a shadow striker behind Kane

Forwards
I like Welbeck but don't get why he's been called up as the left attack now feels overloaded, another attacking midfielder would have been my preference
The rest I have no issues with

Standby's all make sense and I can live with too


Aside from a couple of players I probably would have picked a broadly similar squad.

My suspicion is we're settling up for a 3 man defence, 2 wingbacks, 2 holding midfielders and a 3 man attack. It's a similar system as used in Euro 96 which I was a fan of, I just hope Southgate gives them reign to express themselves like Venables did back then.



Verdict.
B+ but for a couple of misses in defence and midfield

We should get out of the group, I expect to draw with Belgium but have a reasonable chance of losing (and if we do it will be a tonking) the others should be a win.
I can't see us getting past the next round though but I really hope to be proven wrong. (Anything quarters onwards is a strong result)

 

Cahill over Smalling is a joke. Cahill has lost his starting spot for Chelsea, and is a bit rubbish now. don't get that.

midfield looks light. after Henderson and Dier, you have a very unproven Loftus Cheek (although im glad he's been picked) and Delph, who has played as a left back this season. that's pretty miserable depth. would have much preferred Shelvey to be going.

thank god Hart is not going.

 

Agreed on Smalling over Cahill, but then I would have taken Tarkowski over Cahill. That being said none of the three mentioned are likely to start so the point is rather moot.

From a formation perspective I believe he's going for 2 holding midfielders with the likes of Lingard, Loftus-Cheek and Alli actually being used more as port of the front three so i all honesty, he probably should have dropped a defender in favour of another midfielder of which my preference would have been Wilshere or Shelvey (Livermore has no justification in being near the squad)

 

if Dier or Henderson get injured, we're relying on Delph, who isn't much of a holding midfielder, or... Jones? loftus isn't defensive. or we change the game plan completely. odd.

 

Big Sam and Moyes both get sacked.

i'm sure they'll get another half season with someone else who's in trouble around christmas. nice little 'save from relegation' niche they both have going.

 

totally forgot about him. another chelsea transfer masterstroke lol. but yeah i'd still have him as cover for england, definitely.

 

Anyone know when the US is going to announce their Squad?

 

I agree on Henderson/Dier injury/suspension issue

Drop Welbeck for er... Drinkwater?

 

Interest in a dedicated WC thread? Anyone cooking up a fancy opening post?