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*Official* English Football Season 2022/23

wpdavid

Hall of Fame Member
I guess the lesson from all this is that John Stones is the most important player in the world
I'm not sure what I make of Stones as a mid-fielder. My take was that there were times when he found himself in positions where a more creative player would have been advantageous. But it is possible that Pep knows rather more about this than I do. From an English pov, I'd rather see him regularly playing in the same position for his club as he does for his country. Also from an English pov, it was interesting to see Foden in a sort of inside left position alongside Grealish rather than instead of him. And playing quite well there. I wonder whether Southgate will be tempted to do the same in the forthcoming euros qualifiers, with Foden the third midfielder alongside Rice and Bellingham.

EDIT
otoh regarding Stones' new role, here is Jonathan Wilson's take on the matter.
And tbh, he has written a book about such things, so fair enough.
 
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Molehill

Cricketer Of The Year
I'm not sure what I make of Stones as a mid-fielder. My take was that there were times when he found himself in positions where a more creative player would have been advantageous. But it is possible that Pep knows rather more about this than I do. From an English pov, I'd rather see him regularly playing in the same position for his club as he does for his country. Also from an English pov, it was interesting to see Foden in a sort of inside left position alongside Grealish rather than instead of him. And playing quite well there. I wonder whether Southgate will be tempted to do the same in the forthcoming euros qualifiers, with Foden the third midfielder alongside Rice and Bellingham.
I don't see Stones playing this role for England because we have Rice who is frankly better at it. It also requires having 2-3 dependable defenders who can all play centrally to cover the roving role. We only really have one and that is Stones himself.

As for Foden, I'd love to see Southgate experiment with him. We've all but qualified for the Euros already (after just 2 matches!!) and he can use all the remaining matches to try different systems. A front 4 of Kane, Foden, Grealish and one other would cause a lot of problems for opposition with Bellingham supporting too.
 

wpdavid

Hall of Fame Member
I don't see Stones playing this role for England because we have Rice who is frankly better at it. It also requires having 2-3 dependable defenders who can all play centrally to cover the roving role. We only really have one and that is Stones himself.
Oh absolutely. I was just preferring that Stones played in defence for his club side too.

As for Foden, I'd love to see Southgate experiment with him. We've all but qualified for the Euros already (after just 2 matches!!) and he can use all the remaining matches to try different systems. A front 4 of Kane, Foden, Grealish and one other would cause a lot of problems for opposition with Bellingham supporting too.
Plus Saka of course. I think their form since the WC means that Kane, Saka and Grealish are shoe-ins for the front three. So it's about who plays alongside (or in front of) Rice and Bellingham in midfield and, at present, I'd rather see Foden there than Henderson.
 

GIMH

Norwood's on Fire
Bellingham is out injured for the next two qualifiers so someone will need to fill that box to box role, obviously that’s not Foden.

But Foden, while obviously a better and more exciting footballer than Henderson, is not the player to do the job Southgate generally has Henderson doing. My money would be on him staying on the bench.
 

BoyBrumby

Englishman
Phillips? I mean, not exactly a regular now, but Gaz seems a loyal manager (stuck with Maguire against the domestic evidence) and Kalvin was pretty decent in the Euros.
 

GIMH

Norwood's on Fire
Phillips? I mean, not exactly a regular now, but Gaz seems a loyal manager (stuck with Maguire against the domestic evidence) and Kalvin was pretty decent in the Euros.
Think there’s a difference between poor club form and a lack of game time though. That being said, it’s Malta and Macedonia so with all due respect I suppose the risk is lesser.
 

BoyBrumby

Englishman
Think there’s a difference between poor club form and a lack of game time though. That being said, it’s Malta and Macedonia so with all due respect I suppose the risk is lesser.
True enough, but I wouldn't say Harry was exactly overburdened with minutes on the pitch for ManUre either though. Having just checked to confirm my suspicions he started all of 8 Prem games in 22/23.
 

Molehill

Cricketer Of The Year
Plus Saka of course. I think their form since the WC means that Kane, Saka and Grealish are shoe-ins for the front three. So it's about who plays alongside (or in front of) Rice and Bellingham in midfield and, at present, I'd rather see Foden there than Henderson.
I'm losing the plot, how did I forget Saka? Agreed about Foden, a full back 4 plus Rice is plenty of cover.

If we could just find a couple of decent defenders and a keeper, we'd probably be favourites for the next World Cup.
 

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