The Gareth SouthGOAT Appreciation Club ft. no fun at all

Credit to him getting this far really. I hope we can get a decent CM coming through in the next few years, because playing out from the back is a little futile if you haven't got a midfielder who can then make use of that time and space in there.

Also hope this world cup doesn't go to his head. Same for a few of the players, there's still a lot of work to do.
 
He's not great tactically but his man management is great. England feels like more of a team than it's been in years.

Honestly don't know what to expect from him in Euro 2020.
 
Did well to reach the Semifinals despite the favorable draw but I think his bigger achievement is to get the crowd base back on English NT side. I think there was a disconnect between the fan base and the team before.
 
England crying out for a good CM who can orchestrate the play and also need more mobile front men.
 
cj_sparky said:
England crying out for a good CM who can orchestrate the play and also need more mobile front men.
Click to expand...
Southgate did what he could to make up for lacking that player in having Alli and Lingard in midfield. Just hope Loftus-Cheek can prove himself over the next couple of years or someone else emerges because it's an issue for us, and all England fans were aware of it prior to the tournament.
 
While he gave England a solid base and made them a real threat on set-pieces, his subtitutions were poor throughout the tournament and any time England came under the cosh he never showed the same ability of other managers to change things up and get back into the game.
 
He's got a good enough squad to beat Croatia. Didn't make changes quick enough, the changes he made were like for like, no change of system or the way the team player.
A chancer who charmed a nation
 
Did well with a young patchy squad.

Stuck with Sterling far too long , needed a proper centre back in the middle to anchor the defence and our lack of quality in midfield was presumably why we resorted to hoofball from Pickford to the opposite box.
 
Did well with what he has but ultimately today was avoidable. We should be in the final and we're not. We were 1-0 up and cruising but somehow proceeded in getting hammered in the second half. Should've changed things a lot sooner as it was one way traffic but he didn't and we paid for it.
 
Terrific manager for England. So easy to shout at the TV on what he should and shouldn't do, but putting a player like Sterling on against Vida and Lovren wasn't a bad idea on paper. We just fell away in that second half and let goals in from defensive errors more than anything else.

He's done so much correct things both on and off the pitch I'd happily let him have faith in Sterling for a tad too long.
 
We looked shite any time we went long, yet we kept going back to it.

And he's heavily relied on that first XI, and he's burnt out the likes of Young, Trippier, Alli and Lingard. Too much expected of them.

I like him but he's not without his flaws.
 
Wasn't a fan of his but I am now. He's been intelligent, composed and brilliant he's done himself proud.
 
I thought we'd be shite so a run to the semi and all kinds of exciting moments on the way is a fecking great outcome. But he's going to have a big burden on him for the next tourney now. Find somebody better than Henderson, a better CB, and a creative midfielder.
 
Well done Gareth. You've had a great run and I look forward to seeing what you can achieve with this England team.
 
All jokes aside, you lot should keep him. Level-headed, clearly a good relationship with the lads.
 
Southgate + our exciting young prospects makes me somewhat optimistic.
cj_sparky said:
England crying out for a good CM who can orchestrate the play and also need more mobile front men.
Click to expand...
I'm hoping the likes of L.Cook, Rashford, Foden and Gomes can develop into those.
 
Proved me wrong he is the right man to take this side forward, how anybody can criticise what he’s done after a year in the job is beyond me.

Before the tournament I actually wondered how the hell he was given the job but watching us play and reading about his work not just with the main team but right the way down to under 18’s has me very impressed.

Lose the wastecoat though please :p
 
You were all happy with results so i didn't want to spoil good mood and post my opinion here. But now i think you would not mind.
Your team was all about set pieces and long balls on sterling and kane. Midfield does not exist. Which is shame because you have so much speed in your team.
 
KM said:
Did well to reach the Semifinals despite the favorable draw but I think his bigger achievement is to get the crowd base back on English NT side. I think there was a disconnect between the fan base and the team before.
Click to expand...

You're bang on with this statement.
 
Andycoleno9 said:
You were all happy with results so i didn't want to spoil good mood and post my opinion here. But now i think you would not mind.
Your team was all about set pieces and long balls on sterling and kane. Midfield does not exist. Which is shame because you have so much speed in your team.
Click to expand...

That and CBs who hadnt had to defend until this match and werent picked because they are good defenders, but because it was believed that they are good at passing
 
I thought his team selection in central defense decided this match. Both are too inexperienced at the top level and that is why Stones went to sleep for the 2nd goal.
 
Andycoleno9 said:
You were all happy with results so i didn't want to spoil good mood and post my opinion here. But now i think you would not mind.
Your team was all about set pieces and long balls on sterling and kane. Midfield does not exist. Which is shame because you have so much speed in your team.
Click to expand...

That's harsh.

England played some great football throughout the tournament - seemingly carving teams apart at will - it was the lack of composure in front of goal that killed our chances of progression. The only time we reverted to the long ball was toward the end of the Croatia game (things had become a little desperate at that point), so it's hardly fair to suggest our tactical approach was built around it.
 
Andycoleno9 said:
You were all happy with results so i didn't want to spoil good mood and post my opinion here. But now i think you would not mind.
Your team was all about set pieces and long balls on sterling and kane. Midfield does not exist. Which is shame because you have so much speed in your team.
Click to expand...

Which is why we needed to take Kane off and add to the midfield when Croatia started getting on top.

People in the pub told me that was stupid, but it was as clear as day where the game was going. It was ridiculously obvious and every passing moment showed our failure to have the guts to change is still our biggest problem.
 
Random Task said:
That's harsh.

England played some great football throughout the tournament - seemingly carving teams apart at will - it was the lack of composure in front of goal that killed our chances of progression. The only time we reverted to the long ball was toward the end of the Croatia game (things had become a little desperate at that point), so it's hardly fair to suggest our tactical approach was built around it.
Click to expand...
You are right. I was maybe over the top with that remark but you were too often in tournament playing long balls on sterling. I meant that. I expected some super counter attacking squad so maybe i am too harsh
 
Andycoleno9 said:
You are right. I was maybe over the top with that remark but you were too often in tournament playing long balls on sterling. I meant that. I expected some super counter attacking squad so maybe i am too harsh
Click to expand...
I think the Croatia game from the second half is where we've done it the most. It really highlights how much we lack in midfield.
 
Personally could see it coming before the first Croatia goal. Gareth seemed oblivious to it all.

It was really poor tonight against the first team we have played that had more than a 25% chance of beating us. Pretty, pretty poor but we did have an easy run, so let’s sing his praises!!
 
He’s done a good job, team spirit is sky high, something which we’ve never truly had for 20 years. Tactically, I still have some reservations, though I think he’s somewhat limited by the quality of midfield players available to him.

My main concern is whether he has the balls to make big changes to the squad, or if he’ll end up with a trusted group of favourites and persist with players that aren’t working. I’m really happy with him overall though.
 
Like many have said he's done well but his biggest flaw has been not reacting quick enough tactically to when we are up against it. Subs have been wrong, the timing has been wrong, not changing the midfield setup etc.
 
Tactically naive. Croatia dominated after half time, he didn’t change a thing. One defensive midfielder when you are 1-0 and Rakitic and Modric are starting to run the game? Crazy.

Look at Deschamps last night? Brings on Tolisso and Nzonzi to protect the 1-0 and shut down Belgium. Our manager gave two of the best midfielders in the world the run of the park.

He’s a nice guy and he’s calm but that ain’t winning any trophies any time soon.
 
He proved today that having defenders who are supposedly good on the ball won't compensate for lack of quality and quantity in midfield.

I lost count how many times the English defenders passed back to the keeper as they had no one in the midfield to relieve the pressure off them and they couldn't do anything useful with ball themselves.

Look on the other hand Modric and Rakitic always showing for the ball and moving the ball forward, so much difference in quality.
 
Many of us said before the tournament that a good side would turn that defence over. Walker, Stones and Maguire are good on the ball but aren't great out and out defenders. That was always clear. Putting Cahill or Jones in that 3 would have given us a bit more mettle. Neither are great, but are much better at actual defending.

His set up works against inferior teams but he needed to shore it up a bit against a good side and he didn't.

Still, he's the best England manager for a long time and young enough to learn a lot from this. He wasn't shown up or embarrassed but there's things he needs to improve on.
 
Defenders should be able to defend first. Get Defenders who can defend as the first priority. Forget about this ball playing business. If they can't defend then there are not fit to be there no matter how good they are on the ball.
 
#07 said:
Tactically naive. Croatia dominated after half time, he didn’t change a thing. One defensive midfielder when you are 1-0 and Rakitic and Modric are starting to run the game? Crazy.

Look at Deschamps last night? Brings on Tolisso and Nzonzi to protect the 1-0 and shut down Belgium. Our manager gave two of the best midfielders in the world the run of the park.

He’s a nice guy and he’s calm but that ain’t winning any trophies any time soon.
Click to expand...

Give him some credit on another day England have that game won at HT and Croatia are made to look like mugs we battered them in the first half.

He’s built up the youth teams and now he’s doing well with a young senior squad it’s hard to criticise.
 
#07 said:
Tactically naive. Croatia dominated after half time, he didn’t change a thing. One defensive midfielder when you are 1-0 and Rakitic and Modric are starting to run the game? Crazy.

He’s a nice guy and he’s calm but that ain’t winning any trophies any time soon.
Click to expand...

Pretty much my feelings. His tactical ineptitude has been glaringly obvious since he froze in the Tunisia game, and his absolute fixation on this silly system killed England in the end. Seems a nice, humble fella though, so, knight him I guess?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.