WallisFrizz Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 42 minutes ago, YLN said: Paul Merson says that Toney should go to the euros instead of Watkins. His reasoning is that Kane will play every minute of every match and Toney is better at penalties so he should be there just in case a game goes to a penalty shootout. Within the first paragraph he argues that having a good back up striker would be irrelevant because if Kane gets injured, England won't win the tournament anyways. It's the most asinine football opinion I think I've ever heard. It's bait, but even by Merse's standards it's stupid. He’s right that Toney is a better penalty taker and if we’re in a shoot out we’d all pick Toney over Watkins. But Watkins is far more likely to get you further in the competition than Toney who is miles off it last time I watched him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colhint Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 Why don't they both go and leave Rashford at home. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyblade Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 I'd love for him to do it obviously, but it's quite crazy that Ollie Watkins could become our all time leading scorer in the PL era after just 4 1/2 seasons and cracking the 15 goal barrier just once. We've either been really shit or we haven't been able to retain the great strikers we've had. *checks notes* It's both actually. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YLN Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 9 minutes ago, WallisFrizz said: He’s right that Toney is a better penalty taker and if we’re in a shoot out we’d all pick Toney over Watkins. But Watkins is far more likely to get you further in the competition than Toney who is miles off it last time I watched him. Yeah I would only let Watkins take penalties for the opposition, but Merse's idiocy is that the back up striker is irrelevant because if Kane misses games it's guaranteed elimination. In back up, you would only have the player with the second most goal involvements in Europe's top 5 leagues. Only Mbappe has more. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheltenham_villa Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 to be fair, Merse is sort of right though isnt he. If Watkins goes, he wont play a minute, Kane will play every game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vancvillan Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 7 minutes ago, cheltenham_villa said: to be fair, Merse is sort of right though isnt he. If Watkins goes, he wont play a minute, Kane will play every game. Assuming he's fit / available to play every game. I disagree that if Kane's out it's over. The midfield is one of the strongest in world football - having a striker like Ollie who provides so many assists should be a deadly combination. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duke313 Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 21 minutes ago, cheltenham_villa said: to be fair, Merse is sort of right though isnt he. If Watkins goes, he wont play a minute, Kane will play every game. What if Kane gets injured in the first game? You want your best players there ready to step in. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPJCB Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 6 hours ago, Vancvillan said: Assuming he's fit / available to play every game. I disagree that if Kane's out it's over. The midfield is one of the strongest in world football - having a striker like Ollie who provides so many assists should be a deadly combination. Agreed and plenty of teams have won these tournaments without a world class striker at the helm. The two strikers for Argentina and France in the World Cup final for France were Alvarez and a 37 y old giroud respectively for example Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted March 21 Moderator Share Posted March 21 Not sure it's been mentioned yet, but his 6 goals in the Conference League this season means he's already our 3rd highest scorer in Europe ever. Behind only Shaw & Withe, both on 9. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omariqy Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 10 minutes ago, BOF said: Not sure it's been mentioned yet, but his 6 goals in the Conference League this season means he's already our 3rd highest scorer in Europe ever. Behind only Shaw & Withe, both on 9. Do the qualifying rounds count? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted March 21 Moderator Share Posted March 21 10 minutes ago, omariqy said: Do the qualifying rounds count? Well they're competitive European games so I don't see why they wouldn't. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talldarkandransome Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 22 minutes ago, foreveryoung said: If Kane got injured there's decent enough players there to still win the Euros. We could just play like Man City before Haaland arrived. It's just unfortunate Southgate wouldn't have a clue what to do without him. It's Southgate that will stop England winning, won't be anything to do with Kane. I'm not even that bothered if Ollie goes, he'd only play if the result didn't matter and he could get injured. The same goes for the other Villa boys in contention. I'm afraid I'm a club before country kind of bloke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dillon66 Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 (edited) I liked Merse as a player, but as a pundit he's woeful. Trying to take over from Kamara as the token thicko who can't pronounce players surnames properly to get giggles......he makes Clinton Morrison look intelligent. His opinion on Watkins penalty taking may have more than a grain of truth, but Ollie offers so much more to the team than Toney. Edited March 21 by Dillon66 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vancvillan Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 On 19/03/2024 at 14:23, colhint said: Why don't they both go and leave Rashford at home. I've always thought of Rashford as a sort of inverse John Barnes in that he looks way better playing for the national side than for his club. I actually like him for England. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinker Posted March 21 VT Supporter Share Posted March 21 2 hours ago, Vancvillan said: I've always thought of Rashford as a sort of inverse John Barnes in that he looks way better playing for the national side than for his club. I actually like him for England. Ollie or Rashford? I know who manure fans would prefer, Ollies stats are at the top of the pile for assists and goals, add his defensive work to that and his lack of injuries and work rate and he is ahead of Rashford or Toney by a country mile surely? Southgate, given half a chance, won't take him. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brummybloke Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 I see saka has pulled out of the England squad. No doubt he will be fully fit after the break. As much as I would like to see watkins in an England shirt, I would rather he did the same for these friendlies with ' an injury'. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vancvillan Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 2 hours ago, tinker said: Ollie or Rashford? I know who manure fans would prefer, Ollies stats are at the top of the pile for assists and goals, add his defensive work to that and his lack of injuries and work rate and he is ahead of Rashford or Toney by a country mile surely? Southgate, given half a chance, won't take him. I'm saying Rashford looks better for England than he does for Man U, so club stats or club fan opinions wouldn't factor into that. For England his stats are decent: Games: 59 Starts: 26 Goals: 17 Assists: 6 Total minutes played: 2,668 (approx 30 games worth of minutes) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinker Posted March 22 VT Supporter Share Posted March 22 (edited) 10 hours ago, Vancvillan said: I'm saying Rashford looks better for England than he does for Man U, so club stats or club fan opinions wouldn't factor into that. For England his stats are decent: Games: 59 Starts: 26 Goals: 17 Assists: 6 Total minutes played: 2,668 (approx 30 games worth of minutes) So you would pick Rashford over Ollie for England but Ollie over Rashford for club football? Shame Ollie what get the chance to show his club form for country, as I have pointed out earlier hes a far more complete player than Rashford, who isn't at bad player, he's just not as good as Ollie , IMHO. Edited March 22 by tinker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jareth Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 Ollie Vs Dougie would be pretty awesome tomorrow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a-k Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 3 minutes ago, Jareth said: Ollie Vs Dougie would be pretty awesome tomorrow Until Dougie does a Ciaran Clark on Kozak on Ollie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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