he wasn’t up to the job.
I do hope the F.A. remember that after watching England struggle in their nil, nil draw with Slovenia.
Well Gareth Southgate’s plan worked very well for him. He knew if he dropped Rooney it would distract all the media from the fact he picked Walcott, Sturridge and made Henderson captain.
While benching Rooney, Southgate wasn’t quite “brave” enough to go the whole hog and ditch him completely. This led to the manager spending most of the first 73 minutes of the match wondering when he could get his captain on the pitch.
He certainly wasn’t paying attention to the game, as he didn’t have a clue what to do and when. Well, I tell a lie, a little one, he did the right thing in bringing off Walnutt for Townsend and then Sturridge for Rashford.
But he was so distracted about getting Rooney on it took him an hour to figure the first and over 80 minutes for the second. Rooney came in between those changes, you know by the numbers, hour comes around make a change then one every ten minutes.
Management by numbers.
Now anybody that read any of the Spurs posts on here when Townsend was at the club, not long after he burst into the first team – eventually – will know hoe exasperated so many came of his on field antics. Yet in his first five minutes on the pitch he managed more than Walnutt has in these past two games.
Hell, than Walnutt for years, how long can he live off that hat-trick against Croatia, it’s been 8 years.
Theo is this game’s Rooney. His uselessness quietly masking the ineptitude of others. Step forward the new “Captain Marvel”. Those that heaped praise on Jordan Henderson after his effort against the might of Malta, have they been so quiet in pointing out he didn’t manage the step in quality that is Slovenia. Well it is a big leap from 176th to 67th.
Being next to Henderson can be the only reason for Dier’s wobbles. He looked a bit rusty early on but with Henderson there and Cahill and Stones is it any surprise. Cahill is another living on past glories, it’s no one know what glory there’s ever been. While Stones has the talent but looked too cocky last night.
One who didn’t act too cocky was the one that saved England. Getting out of his comfort zone with a move to Italy and knowing that he was going to lose his place in the starting XI for England looks to have worked for Hart.
He wasn’t so full of himself and he pulled of some excellent saves. he double one, where he saved it with his right and then his left especially.
When the ‘keeper is you man-of-the-match against Slovenia then you shouldn’t be getting the manager job.
Slovenia were going to come on to England, it wasn’t going to be a flat back ten. Pace up front was required and quick passing and a bit of width to catch them on the break. But no.
In picking Walnutt he ensured that the middle would be crowded, Lingard was coming in far too much on the other side – was he told to? – and up front there wasn’t a striker.
Saw Alli get some stick but when you play at 10 you need a 9. You need a striker that understands the through balls, that knows to go near post or far post, or drag the defender away. You don’t need a slap happy clown like Sturridge.
If when you play what you think will be a one-two and the other guy just takes a shot from anywhere, you stop attempting to play a one-two.
Sturridge’s dimwitted selfishness was plain for all to see here but did Gareth and if he did why did it take him over 80 minutes to do so?
Oh and then there was clueless Kyle, doing his clueless Kyle act. Kyle stop ball, Kyle step back, Kyle line up, Kyle balloon ball out of play.
All in all a shambles, in which England are yet again played the get out of jail free card by the piss weak qualifying group they are in, with the Jocks losing badly to Slovakia. And the laughable Clive Tyldesley trying to talk it up as possibly an important point at the end of it all.
So come on the F.A. do the honourable thing, as it seems he can’t or won’t, put Southgate and the rest of us out of his misery…