Dev

- Think England should be taking Toney as the backup striker but if they want a F9 back up, it should be Bellingham supported by Rice, Anderson and Mainoo/Wharton to create a diamond if Kane is unavailable

My #ENGJAP thoughts: - Konsa and Guehi feels aerially weak - Mainoo and Anderson poor for conceded goal - Mainoo very slow to track back - Palmer, Rogers, Foden not in great form - leave one - Rashford > Gordon - Hall > O'Reilly - Bellingham is so important for team's mindset

Not a huge fan of playing too many players who prefer the 10 position but I imagine all the starters are probably going to the World Cup from what Tuchel has done so far as manager

@saundzo Reckon the Kane replacement should be Bellingham at the top of a diamond

Aside from anything with Tuchel, England are in a big transition phase. Not just from the Southgate era but from the generation of core players from like 2016/17 —>recent times. The wide threat has deteriorated, best CBs aging, midfield stacked but no real kane successor. Tough.

@FPLfrasier Said the same thing. Doesn’t make any sense from United. x.com/devftbl/status…

Why didn’t we sign him back before he signed that new contract for Everton?

@ahad_hussain786 @pythaginboots Luke Shaw was the first choice and then Trippier was the back up. Feels fine to me.

@devftbl @pythaginboots Look at the last euros

Quite poetic that Nico O'Reilly, a fullback known for his attacking qualities, decided this game. Yet Myles Lewis-Skelly holds bench as 3rd choice after having a similar breakout to O'Reilly last season

@ahad_hussain786 @pythaginboots England have had good left back options for about 20 years

@pythaginboots Good to finally get good left backs options

Arteta has left his attacking substitutions so late there. Given Arsenal less than 10 minutes to make an impact

Either that’s a red card for Kepa or you play the advantage. Very odd decision #CarabaoCupFinal

@tds122 Called it a while ago, so talented x.com/devftbl/status…

Lewis Hall surely England's left back at the World Cup ?

@Real1_balogun 1) this generation of footballers seem more pally with each other 2) Southgate didn’t have to deal with big groups of English rivals like previous managers 3) He had a huge amount of luck with draws, home fixtures, and quality of squad compare with other nations

Micah Richards, who was sort of an outsider in that England setup being a Man City player at the time, pointed it to a disconnect that came from their club rivalries. It’s why l’ll always say Gareth Southgate is arguably the most important manager England has had. He set a culture of unity and mutual respect. He democratised the Three Lions and obviously, the growth of the Premier League and it meant that more clubs had an input in the national team. It broke the big clubs’ camps where players associated based on the club they represented. See this excerpt from Richard’s’ book; “What made England difficult, then, wasn’t the players as people. It was how divided the squad was by club loyalty. Looking back, the dynamic was absolutely crazy. There was a large group of Manchester United players: Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes, Owen Hargreaves, Wes Brown. That was one faction, and probably the dominant one. Then there was a little Liverpool clan, built around Gerrard and Jamie Carragher. There was a Chelsea gang – Terry, Lampard, Ashley Cole, Joe Cole – and another one from Arsenal. “That first evening, when everyone started to arrive at the hotel, could be frosty, especially if we all got together after a big game between two of the big clubs. It would be up to one of the neutrals, someone who wasn’t affiliated to any of the major clans, someone like Jermain Defoe, to try to break the ice, to crack a joke about why they all looked so serious, but there was a limit to what any of us could do. I don’t think we were ever really united enough as a national team to say that everyone in the squad was talking to everyone else. There was always some sort of beef. It never quite passed over into becoming something you could joke about. It ran deeper than one set of players being disappointed to have lost, or another gloating that they had won. There was a genuine sense that, deep down, they didn’t like each other. “That divide defined everything on those England get-togethers. On those trips where we didn’t have our own rooms, the Manchester United players would room with each other. Gerrard and Carragher would room together. The Chelsea players would room together, and the Arsenal players. It was the same at mealtimes. There would be a Liverpool table, a United table, a Chelsea table, an Arsenal table, and they were lines that you did not cross. “Glen Johnson, who was then at Liverpool, couldn’t just wander up and plant himself down next to Rio Ferdinand. That would have been a taboo.” Rio Ferdinand rehashed the same opinion in an interview he granted in the past. “It (club rivalry) killed that England team, that generation. "One year we would have been fighting Liverpool to win the league, another year it would be Chelsea. So I was never going to walk into the England dressing room and open up to Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, John Terry or Joe Cole at Chelsea, or Steven Gerrard or Jamie Carragher at Liverpool because of the fear they would take something back to their club and use it against us. "I didn't realise that what I was doing was hurting England at the time. I was so engrossed, so obsessed with winning with Man United -- nothing else mattered.'' They had a squad of insanely talented footballers but never managed to have a team until Southgate.

@olawale2_ They should’ve convinced him to run down the contract like Real Madrid do.

One of the best DM in the premier league this season. Top 5 in tackles, top 5 in interceptions Top 5 in clearance and lastly top 8 in goals contributions by Defensive midfielder He plays for Everton.

@Hammers091 @AdamCrafton_ Not sure why you replied to me (assume it was an error) but I don’t think there isn’t a manager in world football who would pick Bowen over Saka.

@devftbl @AdamCrafton_ Picking Saka over Bowen is just a clear example of someone picking someone based on the club he plays for. Bowen has significantly better season than Saka. 😂😂😂

My England squad for summer. Very sorry Burn/Eze/Bowen…. Reasons in here! nytimes.com/athletic/71205…

@AdamCrafton_ Makes sense, I think I would go for a LB rather than Livramento if I were picking 5 full backs for the squad as Konsa can cover RB (eg. NOR or even MLS who can cover CM as well).

@devftbl Cos worried about james and Shaw so Tino covers both

@analyzingfutbol That’s what I say about Maguire too. If he had been bought for a reasonable fee then he would’ve been fine but the price they paid was astronomical and he could never live up to it.

Let’s be honest, expectations around Antony at €40m would’ve been massively different than at €80m+. He was being sought by multiple clubs and was rated by many. It could’ve worked, or could’ve failed like it did. Every move carries risk but the pressures increase with the price and role. Godts for €32m is a perfectly reasonable risk to take for me. We have other LW options (Cunha and Dorgu namely, a couple potentially from the academy) so it’s not massive pressure and they can afford a slight risk / prospective signing instead of proven with how tough the LW market is right now. I’ve seen other sources reporting this too so just something to keep in mind.

@DrewHanlen There would be no need for playoffs if you do a round robin league

If/when NBA expands to 32, they should make the season 62 games & eliminate back-to-backs. Every team plays each other once at home & one away.

@HumanDerek @NugsGetBuckets I personally think that those 3 players could have way more free throws but that refs allow more contact on them. Maybe it goes both ways. I imagine it’s very difficult to judge the contacts that are created by these guys.

@devftbl @NugsGetBuckets Young Giannis of course did Favor is given to the constant aggressor when they force contact & are not really much more dense LeBron’s Team, esp once in LA, absolutely did (+he absolutely did in 2020–just like how he got Jamal to foul out the Sat night) Shaq’s Team absolutely did

SGA genuinely has the best whistle of All-Time

@HumanDerek @NugsGetBuckets LeBron, Giannis and Shaq did not have good whistles

Maybe But he’s far from alone It’s a pecking order He just happens to be at the top For now 2-5 years ago it was Embiid …’s art, and Giannis/Jimmy/Dame/Luka/Shai’s flavor 6 years ago it was LeBron…’s team (it still kinda is whenever they’re close; heck the Luka “trade” is evidence enough of that wish), and Giannis’ flavor 7-15 years ago it was Harden’s art… and LeBron’s favor 20 years ago it was Wade 25 years ago it was Kobe & Shaq… ’s team

@bencoles_ It was so obvious at the time, completely inept officiating

Steve Borthwick afterwards mentioned the confusion around this knock-on. Fin Smith kicked the ball away, having been told England had a penalty advantage, right as Nika Amashukeli said it was just a knock-on (after a call from the TMO) and that advantage was over. Led to Bielle-Biarrey's fourth (!) try. "I think that World Rugby needs to look at that kind of situation. You can't have the players playing with certain knowledge and then it taken away from them."