England's Road to Qatar

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Goalkeepers: Sam Johnstone (West Brom), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Burnley)

Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Conor Coady (Wolves), Reece James (Chelsea), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Kieran Tripper (Atletico Madrid), Kyle Walker (Manchester City)

Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Jesse Lingard (Manchester United), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Kalvin Phillips (Leeds United), Declan Rice (West Ham)

Forwards: Patrick Bamford (Leeds United), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Tottenham), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Jadon Sancho (Manchester United), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)

England play 3 games in 6 days as nations play catch up on World Cup Qualification so Southgate will need to use his squad wisely as I doubt club managers will be happy with players playing 3 full 90 minutes.

Thought Greenwood would make the cut having scored 2 in 2 a little bit surprised to see Bamford get picked ahead of him as that's 3 specialist centre forwards in the squad.

Interested to see what Southgate does with the team after the Euro's making it to the final and coming up short before the next works cup in 15 months he's probably got to find a way of being better on the ball against the stronger side which probably means ditching the number 10 and laying more of a 3 man midfield. I wonder if we might see Bellingham introduced into the side a bit more in the build up to the world cup.

He really is spoilt for choice in those attacking positions though don't think there's another country in the world who've got the quality in depth we have in those forward positions.
 
Calvert-Lewin pulled out injured.

Probably means that Bamford gets a start in one of the games
 
Hungary away tonight which will be a tough game we are top of the group with 9 points from 3 games they're second on 7 points from 3 games.

Will there be a bit of a handover from the final defeat?

Sancho apparently will miss this game with a slight knock.

Interested to see what he does team wise will we see some evolution from the team that made it to the final in the euros? Will he look to integrate Grealish & Alexander-Arnold into the side now or will he stick with the lads who did so well for him? I think we need to learn how to play the 4-3-3 in the bigger games we can't go against Italy or Spain with a man less in midfield I still think he sees Mount as his guy for that spot but Grealish is starting to play that role at City.

It's Andorra after this at home so you assume that is the game where we'll see the major changes.

Pickford

Walker Stones Maguire Shaw

Rice Phillips Mount

Saka Kane Sterling
 
Pickford

Walker Stones Maguire Shaw

Rice Phillips

Sterling Mount Grealish

Kane
 
2-0 Sterling and Kane

Very professional job being done by England.

Rice and Phillips absolutely bossing the midfield.

Hungary fans as expected behaving like absolute tits UEFA/FIFA need to shut this stadium for a few games.
 
Disgusting racist chanting and behaviour from the Hungary fans tonight. Should be a stadium ban for a while for fans - there has to be some sort of deterrent. Anyway glad England routed them, they deserved to see their team get mullered.

Professional job done.
 
Their keeper chucked the last 2 in but also made a few decent stops.

England were brilliant not only beat them technically but bullied them physically as well really imposed themselves on the opponent.

Obviously the racial stuff needs to be investigated and the book needs to be thrown at Hungary if it’s proven. I didn’t hear it on the TV but the pitchside reporter says it happened.

Sterling dedicated his goal to a 26 year old friend and twitch streamer who died this week from Covid.
 
Plenty of changes expected today shame for Sancho who is out injured.

Have to assume he will change pretty much the entire XI for this one.

Pope

TAA Coady Mings Trippier

Bellingham Henderson Lingard

Saka Bamford Sterling
 
Easy 4-0 victory for England as expected good to see Saka get a goal on his return to Wembley after that missed penalty and Lingard also grabbing his first goals for almost 3 years in an England shirt.

For me the stand out was Bellingham he looks an absolute star in the making I know the opposition was poor but my god he made the game look easy, England have some good depth in those central midfield positions.

On to Poland now avoid defeat in Poland and it's pretty much job done but England still looking strong after that Euros defeat in the summer.
 
A draw that maybe feels like a defeat last night late equaliser in Poland to make it 1-1 but to be honest that was the fair result.

Southgate getting a bit of flack for not making any subs after going 1-0 up he faced similar criticism against Italy in the summer for not making changes in extra time to try and win the game instead playing for penalties.

We weren't exactly holding on vs Poland but we did drop deep and all it really took was a moment of quality from their winger to turn Walker which allowed them to get at us and eventually it led to the goal.

England are pretty much home now 4 games to play and a 4 point lead at the top of the group with the hardest games out of way.

It seems like he's trying to get Grealish into the side now but I think by doing that he's becoming very reliant on goals from Kane or Sterling as neither Grealish or Mount are prolific scorers. What those two did offer though was a lot of control of the ball as they are both brilliant at looking after the ball in tight spaces under pressure they either wriggle away or even draw fouls.
 
Squad for Hungary and Andorra

Goalkeepers: Sam Johnstone, Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale.

Defenders: Conor Coady, Reece James, Tyrone Mings, Luke Shaw, John Stones, Fikayo Tomori, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker.

Midfielders: Phil Foden, Jordan Henderson, Jesse Lingard, Mason Mount, Kalvin Phillips, Declan Rice.

Forwards: Jack Grealish, Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka, Jadon Sancho, Raheem Sterling, Ollie Watkins.

No Greenwood again although reports suggest this is something Solskjear has discussed with Southgate and they feel the extra breaks might better for the player in the long run.

Assume Bellingham is injured as he's not in the squad.
 
Chilwell and Abraham called up to the squad as Reece James is out.

Turns out Bellingham is fit but like Greenwood they've decided to give him a rest as both are playing CL football whereas Saka isn't involved in european games so they're happy for him to get the extra games through internationals.

Sounds pretty sensible to me.

Andorra on Saturday so you'd assume he'll be making plenty of changes could be a chance for the likes of Sancho to get some playing time and make a bit of an impact expect Lingard will start that one as well.
 
Chilwell and Abraham called up to the squad as Reece James is out.

Turns out Bellingham is fit but like Greenwood they've decided to give him a rest as both are playing CL football whereas Saka isn't involved in european games so they're happy for him to get the extra games through internationals.

Sounds pretty sensible to me.

Andorra on Saturday so you'd assume he'll be making plenty of changes could be a chance for the likes of Sancho to get some playing time and make a bit of an impact expect Lingard will start that one as well.

I know Managers like selecting players that have played for them before but Chilwell is a strange one, until the weekend he hadn't played all season for Chelsea so won't be up to speed for starters, and he's a left-back brought in to replace a right-back. Surely it was a chance to have a look at the impressive Matty Cash at Villa before he opts to represent Poland.
 
I know Managers like selecting players that have played for them before but Chilwell is a strange one, until the weekend he hadn't played all season for Chelsea so won't be up to speed for starters, and he's a left-back brought in to replace a right-back. Surely it was a chance to have a look at the impressive Matty Cash at Villa before he opts to represent Poland.

Trippier was originally in as the backup left back so with James out not surprising he’s called up Chilwell, leaves him 2 right backs and 2 left backs. Good chance for Chilwell to get 90 minutes in as well vs Andorra as he needs games.

My guess is his plan originally was to start James and Trippier in the first game then it’ll be walker and Shaw in the second game. Now it will be Trippier and Chilwell.

We have insane depth at right back I wouldn’t be trying to lockdown Cash as well and if I was Cash I’d probably just accept the situation and go and play for Poland.
 
Trippier was originally in as the backup left back so with James out not surprising he’s called up Chilwell, leaves him 2 right backs and 2 left backs. Good chance for Chilwell to get 90 minutes in as well vs Andorra as he needs games.

My guess is his plan originally was to start James and Trippier in the first game then it’ll be walker and Shaw in the second game. Now it will be Trippier and Chilwell.

We have insane depth at right back I wouldn’t be trying to lockdown Cash as well and if I was Cash I’d probably just accept the situation and go and play for Poland.

Not even looked at the original squad to be honest, and it's not England's responsibility to give Chilwell game time, that's on Chelsea surely.
 
Not even looked at the original squad to be honest, and it's not England's responsibility to give Chilwell game time, that's on Chelsea surely.

So you're slagging off the manager without even having a look at why he might have made that decision?

It works both ways in theory Southgate wants Chilwell to be at his best as soon as possible as he's very likely to be in his squads going forward so giving him 90 minutes against Andorra means that not only does Chilwell get some playing time but Shaw also gets a bit of a rest.

He probably knows that a lot of the England players have been struggling since the Euro's it was a long old slog for a lot of them last season so he's got qualification games that don't really matter so he might as well use them sensibly and not risk injuring players.

It also was reported that Chilwell's issues were a mental issue that he suffered through not being used at Euro 2020 so could also be Southgate wanting to make sure he knows he's still in the plans and give him a bit of a morale boost as he is also his manager.
 
So you're slagging off the manager without even having a look at why he might have made that decision?

It works both ways in theory Southgate wants Chilwell to be at his best as soon as possible as he's very likely to be in his squads going forward so giving him 90 minutes against Andorra means that not only does Chilwell get some playing time but Shaw also gets a bit of a rest.

He probably knows that a lot of the England players have been struggling since the Euro's it was a long old slog for a lot of them last season so he's got qualification games that don't really matter so he might as well use them sensibly and not risk injuring players.

It also was reported that Chilwell's issues were a mental issue that he suffered through not being used at Euro 2020 so could also be Southgate wanting to make sure he knows he's still in the plans and give him a bit of a morale boost as he is also his manager.

I'm hardly slagging him off now am I, more making an observation, as an Englishman who doesn't give two sh*ts if England win, lose or draw for more years than I care to admit, and more so since Beckham, Scholes, Butt, Neville et al were regularly booed just for being on the pitch, if the Manger wants to select 7 left-backs and 6 goalkeepers in his squad I don't really care.

All Managers have favourites I get that.

That's me out.
 
Andorra home tomorrow so have to expect plenty of changes.

Johnstone

Trippier Coady Tomori Chilwell

Henderson Ward-Prowse

Sancho Lingard Sterling

Kane

Think he'll start Kane who missed quite a bit of the start of the season with injury same with Sterling who's been in and out for City.

I expect Sancho to start feels like he needs a big performance in and England shirt or he risks losing his spot in the squad with more and more players emerging putting pressure on those in the squad.
 
Pickford

Walker Stones Mings Shaw

Foden Rice Mount

Sterling Kane Grealish

Just the one holding midfielder tonight feels like an evolution this side needs to make to really challenge the top sides and compete with the ball.
 
0-1 Sallai (pen)

Given away by Shaw high foot when clearing a ball not sure he even knew the player was there until it was to late.

England haven’t looked good in the opening 25 minutes.
 
1-1 Stones off a set piece.

Looked better since we conceded still struggling to create chances in open play.
 
Criminal to leave Sancho on the bench! Pointless to bring on Henderson for me.

Been a real poor performance so far.
 
Yeah 1-1 fair result.

Quite a few poor performances Shaw, Sterling and Kane were poor.

Shaw’s crossing was very poor often had time and space to line it up but kept hitting the first man which hasn’t been like him recently.
 
Yeah definitely a fair result.

Kane was dreadful - he really hasn’t got going this season. Seems to be on a steep decline. He does tend to start seasons slowly but looks devoid of any confidence or quality at the moment.
 
Bit early to be writing him off but he’s certainly not player he was 3-4 years ago lost his speed but his all round game is off right now touch is sloppy and snatching at chances but he will recover and carry on scoring loads of goals over the next few years.

Just didn’t really have an answer to the challenge tonight Hungary defended in numbers and didn’t really make any mistakes at the back and broke out well.

Sounds like there was trouble in the stands a Hungary fan arrested for a racist comment made towards a steward.

Need 4 points from our last 2 games against Albania and San Marino.
 
Yeah I saw that fans throwing bottles on to the pitch when Poland scored.

Not good for Wembley after the trouble at the Euro's final yesterday a Hungary fan managed to get a flare into the ground which could land the FA in trouble.
 
Squad announced for the last two qualifiers Albania (h) San Marino (a) England need 4 points from the last 2 games to be sure of qualification.

Bellingham and Rashford both return to the squad having missed the last squad, Bellingham was rested and Rashford hadn't returned from injury at this point.

Sancho and Lingard both dropped from the squad. No call up for Trippier as well Southgate suggested he wants to give the minutes to TAA and James I wonder if Trippier will likely now be fazed out as TAA is playing well again it's impossible to ignore him. With Chilwell fit against you also don't need that cover he can give you at left back as well.

No call up for Greenwood sort of expected now seems like they're holding him back a bit as the kid is a star and should be in that squad on form and ability.

Part of me was hoping they wouldn't pick Maguire that guy needs a couple of weeks on a beach somewhere to sort his head/body out as he's miles off it. He rushed back from injury for Euro 2020 in the summer I wonder if they could have found a way to leave him out as on form he shouldn't be in the side. Although Mings has just been dropped due to poor form for Villa and Stones has struggled to get in the City side this season it seems like Laporte has jumped back ahead of him.

Goalkeepers: Sam Johnstone, Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale

Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ben Chilwell, Conor Coady, Reece James, Harry Maguire, Tyrone Mings, Luke Shaw, John Stones, Kyle Walker

Midfielders: Jude Bellingham, Jordan Henderson, Mason Mount, Kalvin Phillips, Declan Rice, James Ward-Prowse

Forwards: Tammy Abraham, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka, Raheem Sterling


 
Ward-Prowse, Rashford and Rice have all withdrawn from the squad due to injury/illness. Smith-Rowe was called up as a replacement.

Luke Shaw still hasn't joined up with the squad due to concussion protocol after his head injury vs City and Mount hasn't joined yet due to him having his wisdom teeth out. Seems unlikely that either will feature in either of the games.

Given Shaw's poor start to the season there's a huge chance for Chilwell to claim a starting spot in the side ahead of him going forward as he seems to be back to his best.

Also, think we might see Bellingham in the midfield for me if both are fit in 12 months time I think it'll be Bellingham/Rice in midfield at the world cup with Phillips dropping to the bench.
 

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