England v Slovakia: Pre & Post Match Analysis.

[allardyces tash]

The match was enjoyable for a neutral observer. Slovakia performed admirably, demonstrating the collective talent of their players. While some teams might have been hesitant against England, Slovakia showed no fear and it was evident throughout the game.

England might be considered fortunate, but their performance improved. The accumulation of yellow cards leading to suspensions in the next match could be a blessing in disguise, as it might compel Gareth Southgate to make necessary changes. I found Saka’s performance at left back appealing, whereas Trippier didn’t quite hit the mark for me.

[liampie]

i am glad england won, winning ugly is a thing but there was promising spells.

slovakia did well to score, england should have defended better but i dont want to sound like i am dismissing their performance. it was spirited and strong in spells. phil foden was offside but the goal gave england something to believe in. i think the changes should have come earlier but some are complaining they were the wrong players. if they were, england would not have won or scored. two assists from subs!

[Fan of Big Tone]

You see it all turned out alright in the end, oh yea of little faith. In Gareth we trust. 
 

 

[Wheelbarrow repair man]

@Robbie

England got through by the Skin Of Their Teeth. And if Slovakia had had any Luck they could quite easily have caused an up set. What the Hell was Jordan Pickford thinking being that Far Out of His Goal? If that had gone in Well... 

But it Didn't and England Won Doesn't matter How. For me they still looked Poor, Maybe a slight improvement  on the Group matches but  there's still a nagging Doubt about the English Defence and Slovakia almost scored in the opening Five minutes, that should have been a Warning and the Goal England conceded well there were large gaps in the English Defence.

  Foden's Goal was clearly off side and a Kane Header went wide when Normally you would have expected him to bury it.  A couple of good points Southgate got the Subs right and England kept Going right till the End.

Now the Big Test the Swiss are going to be a whole Different ball Game. They I think will Put a lot More Pressure on England than Slovakia did. And if the 3 Lions don't get Grip on the Game better than in other Matches, they could Find themselves a Couple of Goals down very quickly.. But will this Victory have a positive effect on England or will they just resort back to their usual Game Plan?

[DangerousSausage]

We're through and that's all that really counts.

It took us far too long to respond to going behind and could easily have been a case of too little, too late. I don't even mind us being boring but effective, what troubles me is that we're not effective. We look like a team of strangers and I fear we'll get found out once we meet a team that looks like a cohesive unit and has that bit of quality too.

However, I'm old enough to remember the 1990 World Cup, we looked like a pub team for most of that tournament and Bobby Robson got pilloried for it (like he did for most of his tenure). Nobody remembers those dire group stage games now.

So I'm very grateful that Southgate didn't take my advice and sub Bellingham off, I'm delighted we're through and looking forward to the next round! 

[Fozzy]

Southgate has to sort the left hand side of the pitch out, he’s either got to play Shaw with Foden, or Trippier with Gordon. Fully expect us to be beat by the Swiss as they’re a decent unit, whereas we’re just stumbling along with a totally unbalanced team. 

Still think Grealish have been taken.

At least we’ll get more money into the club by having another game at The Nest.

[Chris]

@Fozzy I thought Saka did alright whilst he temporarily moved to the left, I haven't been convinced by Trippier during the competition. I would like to see more of palmer, so making this change might bring a bit of needed change. I know the commentary team mentioned Saka wouldn't be happy playing in the position, but he needs to do what's right for the team. He's been easily replaceable during this tournament.

If I were the manager, I wouldn't have started him after the first game. I would have dropped him against Denmakr and maybe brought him back into the fold to see if it changes.

Trippier has done well on the left side before, but not enough in these games. He doesn't have the pace either; he's a different player on the right. Having spoken to some Newcastle fans, they have said he's been largely poor all season for them. There are certain players who just don't warrant starting, Trippier and Saka are two of these players for me.

Replacing Trippier with Saka could secure Saka's spot in the starting line-up.

[Robbie]

Unbelievable from Jude Bellingham. A special player.

 

[Robbie]

Another Angle.

 

[Piethagoram]

Not only on the left side. we are short of a quality central midfield king pin. TAA and Gallagher not cutting the mustard

[Fozzy]

Thing is though @Chris, with Saka we would again be shoehorning a player into an unnatural position and he will be found wanting against better sides.

Our main issue is Southgate’s negative tactics, we haven’t got the players to play the football he wants and he is unable to adapt to another style. Just stop picking the same 10 players, it is not working! 
 

Sooner he’s gone the better.

[Robbie]

Watched Spain last night and they are on a completely different planet at the moment, the skill, the teamwork and the will to win is something England need to learn from.

The good thing for England, Spain are meeting Germany in the quarters.

Southgate cannot believe his luck that England cannot meet Spain, France or Germany at least till the final 

England have a great opportunity here. They will never have a better opportunity to get to a major final. Southgate has to be bold and brutal with his England selections against Switzerland.

[Chris]

3 hours ago, Fozzy said:

Thing is though @Chris, with Saka we would again be shoehorning a player into an unnatural position and he will be found wanting against better sides.

Saka was originally a left wing in Arsenal's academy, mate.

https://www.arsenal.com/news/long-read-rise-and-rise-bukayo-saka

I know he's said that it isn't his natural position, but it never seemed to bother him dropping to left back when needed. Defensively, he's not the best, but he offers much more than Trippier currently does. If Shaw is ready to come in, he would be the ideal solution but the reason why Saka is playing down the role is he prefers attacking football. He doesn't want to play in the position, he's made comments about it when Arsenal had reverted him to covering.

[KB1862]

Another game, another poor England performance. I understand the whole thing about "play poorly but still get the win" but against Slovakia we should not be having to wait until the 95th minute to grab a goal let alone our first shot on target. 

I thought Slovakia deserved more than we did through the whole game. They outplayed us in quite a few parts of the game. Somehow we even managed to almost concede from our own free kick. 

Despite grabbing the goals, both Bellingham and Kane deserved to be subbed off. Saka didn't do much in the game. Game management was completely off, at half time subs were needed didn't happen. Toney came on way too late, the game was slowly slipping away and Southgate decided to make an attacking sub like Toney with just 1 minute to go. 

I'll be honest, I mentally switched off from the game because it wasn't good enough. Normally when England score late goals like that or even grab the goal to put us in front, I'm up celebrating, cheering and shouting with goal but neither Bellingham or Kane's goal got me off my feet.

In truth, I'm glad they got the job at hand done eventually but it was embarrassing. 

[KB1862]

@Chris I think it'd make sense to switch to 3 at the back with Saka playing as a LWB. Gives him the opportunity for balance on that side rather than relying a right footed playing LB. It would be more beneficial than having him fill in at LB. 

7 hours ago, Robbie said:

England have a great opportunity here. They will never have a better opportunity to get to a major final. Southgate has to be bold and brutal with his England selections against Switzerland.

This has been the case in Southgate's previous 3 tournaments in all fairness. The only exception to this was the possibly the 2022 World Cup when England came up against France and lost. Even that was a winnable match tbf. 

[Piethagoram]

Agree @KB1862 3 at the back the way to go

Need the extra man in midfield to help the build up play, which has been sorely lacking

[KB1862]

@Piethagoram 

That's why Bellingham needs to be in there rather than playing as 10. He has the ability to chase the ball down, recover possession, bring the ball forward. I think playing in the 8 role, we'll see the best out of him something we haven't this tournament. 

Mainoo has been a breath of fresh air with the appearances he's made taking on that role. 

Alternatively, allow Stones to do the job he does at Man City by bringing the ball out and playing almost as a CDM with midfielders like Rice pushing forward. 

[Piethagoram]

 

[KB1862]

@Piethagoram  

Very good article to read. Highlights what Southgate is lacking in managerial terms and how the win was more fortunate than deserved.  

Slowly more pundits and journalists are starting to question his managerial ability when it comes to tactics, in game management and selections which has been a problem for a number of years now. 

[themightymagpies]

England might want to reconsider changing the formation, unless it can truly bring out the best in the squad. We could end up putting more pressure on the defence. Shifting to three centre backs could work, but the question remains, which three do we start with?

[KB1862]

20 hours ago, themightymagpies said:

which three do we start with?

Walker Stones Konsa (Guehi when returned from suspension)