1.) 22 Mar 2018
22 Mar 2018 13:23:16
very slim hopes hopefully lads lol.

2.) 22 Mar 2018
22 Mar 2018 13:55:39
Good article Putney.

Just out of interest what would be your preferred England side and formation?

3.) 22 Mar 2018
22 Mar 2018 14:19:55
Personally I'd go for a 4-2-3-1, Pickford, Walker, Stones, Jones, Bertrand, Henderson, Wilshire, Sterling, Alli, Rashford, Kane. I think Southgate is planning to play with 3 CBs so I'd expect him to lose either Rashford or Sterling and add Maguire.

4.) 22 Mar 2018
22 Mar 2018 14:58:50
if you look at the POSSIBLE spine of the team (Butland, Stones Maguire, Wilshere Henderson), compared to Germany, Brazil, Spain, France etc, its a wonder lol!

5.) 22 Mar 2018
22 Mar 2018 15:14:37
I agree pal, it's not a bad side really .

It maybe lacks the superstar names of the past but all are good solid competent professional's.

I think Eric Dier is an absolute shoe in starter either at CB or in midfield.

I agree I think he'll probably go for 3 at the back but I'm not sure that formation will get the best out of Ali or Sterling who alongside Kane are potentially our most important players.

I think 4-2-3-1 probably gives the best balance to the side I think 3 at the back smacks of round pegs in square holes and maybe more of a vision by the manger than suiting the majority of the players in the squad.

I'd go for -

Pickford, Walker, Dier, Stones, Rose, Wilshire, Henderson, Sterling, Ali, Rashford, Kane.

Splitting hairs to be fair though mate.

6.) 22 Mar 2018
22 Mar 2018 17:32:44
What prospects lol.

7.) 22 Mar 2018
22 Mar 2018 18:34:44
Maybe this is red tinted specs, but atm I would probably start Lingard ahead of Alli.

Alli is clearly the more talented player but he needs to improve his work rate, he floats in and out of games too much and has a tendency to throw himself to the ground too much if things aren't going his way.

I think we need to accept we haven't got the players to be a flair team, and starting with effectively a front three of Kane, Rashford and Sterling I think we need a No.10 who will put in a shift and cover defensively as well as add to the attack. Atm in time I feel Lingard would do a better job.

I would also start Dier in midfield, he was our best player at the last tournament, then rotate between Henderson and Wilshere alongside him. Bertrand and Walker get the nod in the full back positions due to Trippers recent dip in form and Rose not really making a great come back after his injury.

Stones and Jones probably start at CB, not a huge fan of Maguire, terrible positionally and with Stones strength being his ability on the ball and not as a sweeper that could be asking for trouble.

Butland at the moment is the best keeper we have, far better organiser than Pickford who gets more plaudits for his highlight reel of impressive kicks, although they conveniently leave off the numerous times he just boots it to the opposition.

So Butland, Walker, Stones, Jones, Bertrand, Dier, Wilshere, Sterling, Lingard, Rashford, Kane.

with a bench of Pickford, Rose, Young, Tarkowski, Henderson, Alli, Vardy.

8.) 22 Mar 2018
22 Mar 2018 19:35:48
England didn't get too far with all those superstar players in the past. Maybe it's better just to have a good solid side, with lower expectations, and who might just play above themselves.

9.) 22 Mar 2018
22 Mar 2018 20:21:09
Stevie, we have a functional side at best. Our football authorities and our fans don't trust technical players with intelligence. We want hard workers who'll run a lot and throw themselves into tackles. Work rate, commitment, fight and spirit. That's how you win things, not with flair like the south Americans, nor with intelligence and understanding like the Italians or Germans and definitely not with technical ability like the French or the Spanish.

I mean we won the world cup before, how many times have these other pretenders won it?

People like to talk about 66 and the fight and spirit shown by the England side in that tournament. What people forget is we played that tournament with flair, intelligence, understanding and on a near equal technical ability with the rest of the world at that time. So let's stop pretending it was good old British bulldog spirit that won us the competition and let's start trying to appreciate the parts of the game we have fallen behind in.

10.) 22 Mar 2018
22 Mar 2018 21:12:27
I think England's defense is fine and in rash Kane and Stirling a decent front 3 though not much depth after that, I see the midfield as the reason England have very little chance, I'm of an age where I've seen, Robson, Gascoigne, hoddle, scholes, lampard and Gerard and we haven't done it, Henderson, Jake Livermore, dier and Wiltshire just aren't in that kind of bracket.

11.) 23 Mar 2018
23 Mar 2018 06:36:59
I always thought strikers won these competitions and if you have the golden boot winner you stand a good chance and in kane we have a potential golden boot winner not many better than him imo.

12.) 23 Mar 2018
23 Mar 2018 08:04:33
Against the better sides I think vardy would be a better fit. We'll have less of the ball and he's a proper nuisance.