DC

@MinervaxArtemis @rajsinghchohan Bellingham has had an equally poor past 2 seasons at Madrid due to form and injuries. But people dont watch La Liga either. Lemmings following lazy narratives - normally based on G/A stats, as if thats the only part of football that has an impact on whether a player/team performs

@MinervaxArtemis @rajsinghchohan Recency bias. Was arguably City's best player (with Haaland) prior to his injury at Xmas. Played 14 games back-to-back as a deeper 8. Then system changed before he returned due to injuries at CB & on the wing. Had some very good cameos at end of season too. Try watching matches

Narrator: the passers were not incorporated

He. Doesn’t. Miss. Zohran rejects his own approved pay raise. I’d be terrified if I were Mike Johnson too.

@Waynqueslfc Another problem is how the average fan/pundit perceives football and judges players. Most count goals and fill in the gaps from there. Scored? played well. Won? great team. No deeper understanding of performance Its like reading the last chapter of a book and ignoring the rest

@Waynqueslfc I was in the academy system and can vouch for this. Early physical developers always prioritised. No contingency for late developers - most discarded due to size. "Too" technical or "small"? Put on the wing, away from the centre. Then you were judged for not being quick enough.

The day England can create a Busquets, a Xavi, a Rodri, is the day England will win a big trophy like the Euros or World Cup. Unfortunately the football culture in England priorities athleticism and size over technical ability at youth level.

@superbook99 @Thechat101 I was in the academy system and can vouch for this. Early physical developers always prioritised. No contingency for late developers - discarded due to size. "Too" technical or "too" small? Put on the wing, away from the centre. Then you were judged for not being quick enough.

@Thechat101 Spot on - why?

Paul Scholes says that England lacks players who can control football games in the middle of the pitch. Thomas Tuchel should have have tried to play Kobbie Mainoo in that Argentina game. And why didn’t he select Cole Palmer and Phil Foden

@nonewthing @Leecosgrove10 Omitted *the* most technical one, who's entire career has been under Guardiola, and as an important player in one of the best/most dominant sides of the PL era. So important he won player of the year not so long ago.

Honestly, don’t agree. England have one of the most technically talented squads and options in the world. Just from the ones who did not go or play much TAA Hall Wharton Mainoo Palmer Eze Grealish Not to mention the likes of Kane, Saka, Jude, Stones, Guehi Anderson, Rice There is more than enough talent to play very expansively.

It’s nothing to do with formations , it’s not Thomas’s fault , we just can’t control games through possession , and we just haven’t got or produce the players to do that . Until that changes , we’re not gonna improve . It starts with coach / tutor education and then has to….

@KrisWall92 @ADevineLight @hbrooks_coach Difference is, they do that ON TOP of the foundation of ball retention and on-field problem solving, not in place of it.

@ADevineLight @hbrooks_coach Really not an issue. Argentina were celebrating tackles etc with gusto. Just not the issue at all

This is more evidence the problem runs deeper than Tuchel. Yes, his decisions were the biggest factor. But it’s been a nation wide issue since I’ve been watching football, and certainly since I’ve been working in it for over 15 years. And people think it’s improving. It will get worse. Because you have all these 1-1 coaches who just do the same routine “tiny touches, 100mph, player being told what touch to take, all receives 5 yards away, coach shouting “quick, turn, chop, bounce, set” blah blah thinking that’s what technique is…NONSENSE And then you have academies that are telling their young players exactly what to do all the time . I kid you not, one premier league academy employed a “pass out from the back coach” for their ages up to 12 and he made a rule that the CB can only pass to the GK or full back…NONSENSE I also once saw an FA Coach mentor educate coaches and literally say the words “the correct way to play is the way you’re facing” - NONSENSE Those are just three examples. This country thinks it’s producing more technique footballers. What it’s actually doing, and it will get worse, is it’s producing robots who can not think for themselves and just perform the same routine they’ve been taught with no adaptability or variety or feeling for the game. The single most crucial asset any footballer can have is ADAPTABILITY. That’s what Argentina did last night. Individually and collectively they had adaptability to find the solutions to win the game. What happened to England? Default of how those players have been brought up in this culture and unable to problem solve. England had a golden generation in the Southgate years where the players coming through weren’t yet poisoned with this overcoached nonsense but there was a bigger respect for technique. But you’re now going to see it get worse and worse as the players coming through are the product of being robotically coached from kids. It needs a country wide revamp in terms of player development education.

@cfczin0 See Connor Gallagher getting similar rave reviews, and starting in the Euros, prior to his part in Chelsea's collapse. Carrick, Scholes, Foden (and many others) have all been overlooked because they 'only' keep the ball and control the flow of a game. Too "tippy tappy".

@cfczin0 Because the average fan/pundit in this country is still stuck in 90s dog & duck understanding of football. All about people who run a lot. A lot easier for someone to see a guy sprint 20 yards into a slide tackle than it is to understand the significance of a midfield metronome.

Every team Declan Rice is in always has a problem with ball progression and retention but yet he’s the one never held accountable how is that possible?

@HWestwoodP He had a couple of brilliant cameos in the games right at the end of the season. Had a worldie disallowed for having fat arse cheeks too. Even with his troubles, hes still had an equal/better 2 years than Bellingham did prior to the WC. Just doesn't have his PR.

it's quite simple, the whole future of the club hinges on Foden relocating his brain and then playing like he did September-December last year, forever

Trump: China is rigging the elections. Hillary: Russia is rigging the elections. Reality: U.S. corporations and U.S. billionaires are rigging the elections by buying off and bribing both parties to ensure they win every election and the people lose every election.

And there you have it. Donald Trump released these documents tonight believing they would finally prove the 2020 election was rigged against him. Instead, his own release reinforced the exact opposite: Russia interfered to damage Joe Biden and benefit Donald Trump. The central @HunterBiden -Burisma bribery smear was built on fabricated claims from an FBI informant with Russian contacts, a man now serving six years in federal prison. Meanwhile, Hunter Biden is winning millions in court over defamatory lies. Trump tried to expose a conspiracy against himself and accidentally exposed the operation that benefited him. Absolute, breathtaking incompetence. Thanks for releasing the receipts, Donald!

All the docs released by the President clearly say: -China accessed public data and didn’t interfere -Russia interfered, spread lies about Biden, Burisma, and “rigged” elections to benefit Trump They just expect MAGA to be too dumb to read.

@RPA00_ @TalkinTactics I agree mate. Shot himself in the foot with squad selection. Left the best technicians (who learned/played under arguably the best manager of all time) at home. But, theyre currently unfashionable because they didnt score a couple of 5 yard tap ins after dropping a stinker

@DC10___ @TalkinTactics Sure, so if he seriously thinks they can't fucking keep the ball why keep wheeling them out? There's zero excuse man

Have a look at those clubs. Chelsea, Man City, Tottenham, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich.. Not sure it is the DNA of many - week in week out - to sit back and kick it away whenever it comes to them.

@RPA00_ @TalkinTactics Odegaard, Zubamendi (or Miles-Skelly) carry the burden for Arsenal in-possession Modric, Kroos, now Tchouameni, Valverde, Camavinga do it at RM (Bellingham operates like Delle Ali) Anderson played at Forrest - counterattacking, transition heavy team with limited control on games

@TalkinTactics He's sat there and picked the same midfield three worth £400 mil combined all playing at elite level clubs in every game and then he's turning around giving it this talk. It's unbelievable

@TalkinTactics Its not, but all of them (with the exception of Stones) have been/are reliant on others to control possession at club level. More technical, tactically astute teammates are the ones managing the game states at all of those clubs. Except for Everton. Pickford literally punts it.

Excellent for City prior to his injury at Xmas in a Rodri-less midfield. One of the reasons they picked up points in the first 4 months. People will say "what about the past 2 seasons", ignoring the fact Bellingham had an arguably equal/worse period over that time prior to the WC

@DragoOp13518 @DxBruyne17 Bellingham's had 2 terrible seasons at Madrid because of form and injury. But you wont know that because you dont watch La Liga. Foden was excellent prior to his injury at Xmas, in a Rodri-less midfield for City. One of the reasons they picked up the points in first 4 months.

@DxBruyne17 He had a bad season . I don't blame anyone for leaving him out , he can do himself a favor nd maintain his form during wc selection year

This is why you don’t leave England’s most technically gifted and talented player at home