WHY

8 minutes ago, sne said:

They payed €25m for him last season so would probably cost double that since he had a great season in Ligue 1

Define great season. The kid looked good but his stats are pretty poor, considering the leagues he has played in.

15 minutes ago, PaulC said:

I'm given up caring whether Jack plays or not. Get past the Germans and England can win the whole thing. 

I couldn’t disagree more, it’s not because  he plays for us, it’s  because he deserves to play. How can a player who has been MOTM in half of his starts for England and have more assists than any other player since his debut not be first pick, let alone start. In the the last 3 games he’s started he has literally had a hand in all the 3 goals we have scored. 

Seems odds that all the pundits who were calling for him to start, now don’t want him in the team. He’s barely been mentioned. It’s almost like they’ve been asked not to mention him. Find it very strange the sudden turnaround, especially after his assist in the last game.

3 minutes ago, av1 said:

Especially when the betting company in question also peddle gossip/lies and claim the the deal was done on Friday 

What betting company claimed it was a done deal? 

18 minutes ago, The_Steve said:

Almost like the whole thing was manufactured to shift the betting markets on a quiet Friday.

I work in the gambling industry and the betting on transfers is literally nothing. A couple of hundred pounds in bets is enough for the odds to drop significantly. Also Talksport hasn’t got any affiliation to Skybet, they are owned by different companies now and have been for years.

10 minutes ago, PaulC said:

I wish we had a forward thinking manager  that would appreciate what Grealish can do not what he cant.  

This,  play on the front foot and give your footballers the ball, football is complicated by idiots. I’m fine with pressing football if you keep possession when you get it back, like City do. Unfortunately because Southgate doesn’t play the players who are comfortable in possession, the press is pretty much pointless imo.

4 hours ago, KentVillan said:

I disagree with this, thought Saka was exceptional, and his intelligence off the ball was really noticeable. When you have a poor manager like Southgate, you need players who can read what's happening and make their own decisions. Saka has that defensive awareness, but also knows when to stay high or drop deep to collect. Our goal came from him getting that right. Phillips is another one who I think knows what to do, probably because the Leeds system is so flexible.

A few of our other players look a bit lost. Tbh I'd say Jack is one of them. Off the ball he doesn't seem to know who to press or when to press. Partly injury, partly being played in a different position from the one he's used to.

Problem Jack has is Sterling has scored 2 goals so is undroppable until he has a stinker (and even then, won't be dropped).

So his best bet of starting is probably Southgate playing same team again as one that started against Czechia. Which wouldn't be a bad lineup tbh. I don't see why we should be switching to wing backs as GNev has suggested.

EDIT: Also, I agree Jack just needs a lot more of the ball. There's no point in playing a 10 unless he is your main playmaker. Arguably this is why in modern football, 10s have drifted out wide, because then you keep your defensive shape better. But in international football maybe you can still get away with having an old fashioned 10. Let's use him properly.

Must have watched a different game to me to describe him as exceptional. Not one player has been exceptional at this tournament so far. He’s better defensively than any other of the wide players as he’s played left back on a number of occasions  this season, he actually made his England debut of a left back.  Like I said I thought he was good but his final ball and decision making was poor,. There was one time he went through and only had Sterling in the middle against 3 defenders but he still tried an impossible cross and basically wasted possession. I agree he was good defensively and contributed going forward but his end product was poor.

4 minutes ago, darrenm said:

But Jack W is setting Gary straight

 

I’m a big fan of Saka and he had an impact the other night but wasn’t as great as media, pundits and fans are making out. Yes he played without fear and ran at the Czech defence but he often wasted the final ball, he also lost it quite a few times. The goal came from brilliant work from him but his final ball into the box was poor, Grealish did very well to keep it alive with his header back to Kane, this wasn’t mentioned but was very intelligent play. I’m not suggesting Grealish deserves to start over him but if I had to pick him or Saka I would pick Grealish due to his ability and footballing brain.

16 minutes ago, DaveAV1 said:

That’s a very important point. I think keeping him sends out all the right messages as well as his obvious importance to the squad. But there’s a tipping point that will be influenced by what the medical staff know. It must also be recognised that he and any other player could get a career ending injury at anytime. Sell and replace with 3 or 4 extremely good players spreads that risk. It’s a football/business decision and not an easy one. 

I don’t think City or any other club for that matter will spend over £100m on a player who isn’t fully fit. Anyone who would want to sign him will be well aware of his injury and have the best specialist in the world look at it. No chance he would pass a medical if he isn’t 100%.

50 minutes ago, Lord Willard said:

The whole Scotland team were compact on their right to stop any movement from Grealish. The right side of the pitch was constantly open. Did we try and exploit that? The ball would slowly move to James but we then had no RW cause sterling was then playing as a 10! 

             Kane

Sancho Grealish Foden  

       Rice  Bellingham 

 

Other than Kane, Rice was our worst player last night. He’s the most overrated player in the team. 

19 minutes ago, MotoMkali said:

I didn't think he was that bad. The England team is so static. Twice grealish drive into the box. And then layed the ball off to where a player should have been. First he layed it off to the edge of the area where mount should have been bursting onto. Instead he was standing next to Shaw about 40 yards away from goal as the attacking midfielder. The 2nd time he put it back outwide anticipating his left back to run on and put a ball into the box. Instead you guessed it Shaw standing 40 yards away from goal. 

Exactly this mate, said exactly the same thing.

Jack didn’t have much impact but he’s not an impact sub type of player. He needs to feel his way into the game. Having said that it’s hard to make an impact when there is literally no movement around you or players showing for the ball. Four players around him right at the end but nobody to lay it back to, to have a shot. 

May as well have left him out the squad so he could get a proper rest. Shit house has used him to keep the media off his back.

17 minutes ago, darrenm said:

re the interview, the question was that Dean Smith had said Jack has an encyclopaedic knowledge of football. Jack didn't know what that phrase meant. I have no doubt he knows what an encyclopaedia is, he just hadn't heard of it in that context before.

Playing tonight, if he starts it's at the expense of Foden who wasn't great last match despite hitting the post early on. Otherwise he probably comes on at 60 mins and then starts the next game.

I would personally play him instead of Mount tonight. Don’t think we need  2 holding midfielders and Mount against the Jocks. Foden needs more game time, he wasn’t great the other day but hardly got the ball. Mount seems to be see as a guaranteed starter but isn’t for me yet. He’s been ok for England but not really stood out enough to be guaranteed starts.

150 bags a week or know what an encyclopaedia is….

It’s a tough one this.

2 minutes ago, Villarocker said:

Also, he today said that it's a game for people to keep calm heads because of the rivalry. Jack can be hot-headed at times. I doubt he will even get on as a sub.

The kid got punched in a local Derby which Is far more feisty than a England v Scotland game and kept calm and went on to score the winner!! Doesn’t say hot head to me. You’ve got him confused with Mings mate.

2 minutes ago, sidcow said:

Saved the penalty but they scored off the rebound. 

It was a great save, commentator didn’t even mention it. Coverage is awful 

Mount and Foden are both quality players. I do however think Foden was average today, largely down to the fact he didn’t get much of the ball. When he did outside of his early shot he didn’t do a great deal with it. At City he is used to seeing a lot of ball as they dominate possession. This is something he will need to learn whilst playing for England, he needs to have more impact when he gets the ball, given we don’t generally dominate the ball. This for me is what makes Grealish different to most players in the squad, he’s used to playing in a team that generally has less possession but when he gets it he makes things happen. This is the reason I would pick him to start!

Best defender today, he gets a bit of unfair criticism by fans and pundits imo. Yes he was poor against Romania but I thought he was the best defender against Austria as well. 

2 minutes ago, tom_avfc said:

This is equally ridiculous to Grealish not getting minutes for me. Rashford plays left wing and has played their badly in recent months for United. Yet Southgate has him coming on as first sub on the right with our actual in form right winger (Sancho) not even in the squad.

Can only think Sancho had a knock or isn’t putting it in during training. Can’t think of any other reason to have 2 GK’s on the bench!

That was Croatia’s 7th defeat in 12 games. Fans and pundits alike are viewing them through rose tinted spectacles imo. We won but it was a average performance. We just shaded possession and had 2 shots on goal and 1 corner against a team who are fragile atm. Sterling justified his inclusion though as he was the best of the attackers and got the winner. Foden was average and nothing like the player you watch at City. Kane will continue to struggle given the way we constantly try to play to Sterling’s strengths, as opposed to Kane’s, which I find odd.
 

Grealish will hopefully get some minutes against Scotland but I’m not confident he will get many. Feel a bit sorry for him as the media clamour for him seems just to get Southgate’s back up more towards him.

Think we have got a great deal in Micah

Rotterdam

The buy back clause only lasts for 2 years...hasn't Gil got one as well??

Would he offer more than Nzogbia???