The World Cup Thread

No Betrand and no McCarthy on standby.

 

Southgate is a big-club b*tch...

Agreed. If McCarthy was in nets for big clubs like Heaton, Pope & Butland are, he’d get the call.

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Has there been any neutrals suggesting Bertrand or McCarthy shouldn’t have been left out, because I haven’t heard one.

 

Bertrand got what his performances deserved, dropped.

 

Had FF been dropped earlier, even the back end of last season and McCarthy played like he has done the past few weeks, he’d have been in. Personally, I’ve no complaints on that score.

 

Overall I’m a pretty decent squad given the resources. At least he’s binned the half fit and shown he’s not afraid to make tough choices. Others would have put Wilshire, Lallana & Sturridge in.

 

 

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I think it's less that Bertrand didn't deserve to be dropped and more that the others didn't deserve to replace him.

No lallana?

No lallana?

On the reserve list.

I think it's less that Bertrand didn't deserve to be dropped and more that the others didn't deserve to replace him.

That's what gets me Rose is no more deserving than Bertrand and Heaton (I know it's only standby) no more so than Mcarthy ! It's just Saints have gone out of fashion these last 2 seasons imo

The fact that Rose has been injured most of this season means he's a lower injury risk than Bertrand?

Injured but then not selected for an extended period of time presumably because Poch did not take kindly to Rose angling for a move.

No lallana?

And he will get less and less game time at the scousers too..... bad luck Adam...

That's what gets me Rose is no more deserving than Bertrand and Heaton (I know it's only standby) no more so than Mcarthy ! It's just Saints have gone out of fashion these last 2 seasons imo

No, it’s just that the manager ( and the majority of pundits) think Rose is a better player.

It’s no conspiracy, no anti saints bias, there’s no agenda. Southgate thinks others are better than our two, it’s that simple. Bertrand could have made himself undroppable by having a great season, he didn’t. His standards dropped, and he’s got himself to blame that he hasn’t done enough.

People should take off their red and white glasses and enjoy the World Cup.

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Young is a better left back than Rose and Bertrand. Based on this season.

"Ryan is also very unfortunate in that it’s probably one of the strongest positions we have. Ryan has had a decent season but I just felt the others were ahead of him.

Not sure how Rose is ahead of him in any way. He only played 10 games this season.

Then you 'feel' wrongly, Gareth. Berty has been #1 all season, made himself available for all friendlies, and then you drop him for the prestige event of the season.

"Ryan is also very unfortunate in that it’s probably one of the strongest positions we have. Ryan has had a decent season but I just felt the others were ahead of him.

 

 

Then you 'feel' wrongly, Gareth. Berty has been #1 all season, made himself available for all friendlies, and then you drop him for the prestige event of the season.

And if it had been the other way round RB at Spurs DR with us RB would have gone....

Pickford over Forster

Jones over Stephens

Henderson over Reed

Loftus-Cheek-Park over James Cardiac-Ward-Prowse

Kane over Austin

Southgate is clearly clueless

Follow on from what most Saints fans are saying

Worst England squad I have ever seen, will be funny watching them buckle under the pressure as usual.

A poor squad fronted by the best natural striker we've had in years in Kane and another very decent one in Vardy. Really need to set the whole team up to give Kane the ammo he needs but we probably won't.

Although it refreshing to see some new young players with promise in the squad notably Harry Maguire, Alexander-Arnold & Rashford I fear big team bias and naive team selection is at work here.......we'll be lucky to make it out the group......the Iceland result in the Euro's last time out is still a painful memory for many England fans, think seeing that squad we'll see another result like that soon.....

 

John Stones (terrible positioning when defending set pieces and prone to giving away the odd penalty with reckless tackles he couldn't get a regular game for City this season)

 

Jordan Pickford (selected on the back of his potential but is overated in my opinion he has only 2 senior England caps had a mare of a season at Everton shipping a load of goals and making some glaring mistakes too)

 

Danny Rose (Has talent but has barely played this season surely Ryan Bertrand deserved his chance more than him having played nearly all season, a prime example of big team bias at work here).

 

Danny Welbeck (an Injury liabilty, with no pace and woeful finishing)

 

and to top it all off just how did Bompey's Lewis Cook who has played once for the England senior team made the standby list is beyond a joke.

 

Still at least Lallana isn't in (at the moment anyway) that selection would of been totally out of order

 

Should be an interesting World Cup, just don't hold your breath

Pickford had a mare of a season at Everton.... yet managed to win Fans, Players and Young Players of the year...

Holy ****e that’s the worst looking England wc squad I’ve seen since forever. No loss not joining that shower.

How did we get so bad? We used to be known for at least developing solid centre backs, wtf happened.

At this rate, can see Stephens captaining England in 2022, and that is a sad indictment.. we might get out of the group but can’t see beyond that.

Pickford over Forster

Jones over Stephens

Henderson over Reed

Loftus-Cheek-Park over James Cardiac-Ward-Prowse

Kane over Austin

 

Southgate is clearly clueless

Cool story bro.

A poor squad fronted by the best natural striker we've had in years in Kane and another very decent one in Vardy. Really need to set the whole team up to give Kane the ammo he needs but we probably won't.

Not when someone tells Kane to take Corners and Free-Kicks.

Has there been any neutrals suggesting Bertrand or McCarthy shouldn’t have been left out, because I haven’t heard one.

 

Bertrand got what his performances deserved, dropped.

 

Had FF been dropped earlier, even the back end of last season and McCarthy played like he has done the past few weeks, he’d have been in. Personally, I’ve no complaints on that score.

 

Overall I’m a pretty decent squad given the resources. At least he’s binned the half fit and shown he’s not afraid to make tough choices. Others would have put Wilshire, Lallana & Sturridge in.

 

 

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“Bertrand got what his performances deserved, dropped”. So,

a) why wasn’t he dropped before now (he played in qualifiers if I recall correctly) and

b) Do you think Rose’s 10 performances for Tottenham deserved him being selected and why?

Since I have just 3 posts I’ll anticipate a response along the lines of the manager thinks Rose is a better player. Well that would be a different argument from the manager selecting, or not selecting in Bertrand’s case, on the basis of form, your point.

No, it’s just that the manager ( and the majority of pundits) think Rose is a better player.

 

It’s no conspiracy, no anti saints bias, there’s no agenda. Southgate thinks others are better than our two, it’s that simple. Bertrand could have made himself undroppable by having a great season, he didn’t. His standards dropped, and he’s got himself to blame that he hasn’t done enough.

 

People should take off their red and white glasses and enjoy the World Cup.

 

 

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Rose has looked a shadow of his former self since his injury, hence consistently being dropped for Spurs.

His own manager doesn't rate him any more, let alone pundits.

No, it’s just that the manager ( and the majority of pundits) think Rose is a better player.

 

It’s no conspiracy, no anti saints bias, there’s no agenda. Southgate thinks others are better than our two, it’s that simple. Bertrand could have made himself undroppable by having a great season, he didn’t. His standards dropped, and he’s got himself to blame that he hasn’t done enough.

 

People should take off their red and white glasses and enjoy the World Cup.

 

 

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Rose has arguably had 1 great season Bertrand has been in the top 5 left backs in the country since joining us , also played the majority of our qualification games so where is the loyalty? Good enough to get us there but not as good enough to stick with !

Delph & Young can also be used as midfielders. Plus England will likely play with 3 centre backks and 2 wing backs, so you need more defenders in your squad than a 4 man defence.

Delph and Young won't be used as midfielders. They are being taken as full backs / wing backs. Even with 3 "central defenders" you don't need ten defenders in the squad. Especially when some of your full backs and one of your central midfielders can play at centre back.

There are too many defenders being taken. Fact.

Given that squad I'd go for:

Pickford

Walker

Jones

Maguire

Alexander-Arnold

Dier

Delph

Lingard

Alli

Sterling

Kane

Given that squad I'd go for:

 

Pickford

 

Walker

Jones

Maguire

Alexander-Arnold

 

Dier

Delph

 

Lingard

Alli

Sterling

 

Kane

Think it's expected to be three at the back with two wingbacks that Southgate will play.

Pickford over Forster

Jones over Stephens

Henderson over Reed

Loftus-Cheek-Park over James Cardiac-Ward-Prowse

Kane over Austin

 

Southgate is clearly clueless

you are a bit of a strange one aren’t you ?

Not sure what the fuss is all about for 3 games tbh

you are a bit of a strange one aren’t you ?

I'm sure the mods will cotton on before you can say "this forum hasn't had any trolls for at least two years now"

I'm sure the mods will cotton on before you can say "this forum hasn't had any trolls for at least two years now"

Different view is now classed as trolling is it, brilliant argument that. I haven't done anything wrong other than offered an opinion and have a laugh on this forum and in return i've been called names in the process. Which i find odd, no wonder you don't get many new clients.

Thats the last I will say.

Pickford had a mare of a season at Everton.... yet managed to win Fans, Players and Young Players of the year...

Wiining young player of the year is nothing really for an aging side like Everton there are hardly any young players anyway, He has made some big mistakes notably at Burnley where he cost them the game, i'd go with Nick Pope personally who has been consistant all season with better stats and helped them qualify for the Europa league against the odds beating Everton who were expected to fill that spot, the table and stats don't lie

People are kidding themselves if they think Bertrand has been a better left back than Young this season.

Bertrand only has himself to blame by letting his performances slide.

Not the best England side by a long way, but that's just the general quality of English footballers right now, rather than Southgate's fault. Welbeck has always been a better international than club player bizarrely, although I would have had McCarthy as back up GK over Heaton.

No selection disasters to the level of influential PL Champion Danny Drinkwater being dropped for Jack '180 mins of PL football all season' Wilshere last time round. Still ****es me off thinking about it.

Still think they will do better than last time out, cant do much worse really, glad there is some youth in there.

Wiining young player of the year is nothing really for an aging side like Everton there are hardly any young players anyway, He has made some big mistakes notably at Burnley where he cost them the game, i'd go with Nick Pope personally who has been consistant all season with better stats and helped them qualify for the Europa league against the odds beating Everton who were expected to fill that spot, the table and stats don't lie

https://www.premierleague.com/players/10079/Nick-Pope/stats?co=1&se=79

https://www.premierleague.com/players/4640/Jordan-Pickford/stats?se=79&co=1

https://www.premierleague.com/players/4634/Jack-Butland/stats?co=1&se=79

https://www.premierleague.com/players/4573/Alex-McCarthy/stats?co=1&se=79

Think it's expected to be three at the back with two wingbacks that Southgate will play.

Is that what we've done before? Hardly took a notice of the qualifiers.

Different view is now classed as trolling is it

Textbook

As I understand it Bertie is on his way out. After playing 'crap' for us all season it appears that he is wanted by Man City.

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Textbook

You hounded this fella to reopen his twitter which you had assumed was real and was being used as a front on here. He promptly does so yet you're still spamming this thread with your schtick. Who's ultimately the troll pal?

Rose has arguably had 1 great season Bertrand has been in the top 5 left backs in the country since joining us , also played the majority of our qualification games so where is the loyalty? Good enough to get us there but not as good enough to stick with !

If only Bertrand had put in 100% effort occasionally he may well be on the plane. Having said that, I can't see that Rose is better. I'd have left them both at home and taken the young lad from Fulham

Let's get this right, Bertrand really isn't deserving of a call up.

Agreed. Bertrand has done a good job of looking disinterested for large parts of the season wnd has been bang average. Rose's attacking play in the Leicester game was superb, and far better than anything Bertrand has produced all season. Young has been very solid. Understandable selection imo. Leaving McCarthy off the standby list but selecting a player who hasn't played for most of the season is just odd though.

As much as I want Saints players to be represented, Bertrand really hasn't performed consistently well all season. No complaints from me, although no doubt this will further fuel the fire of his agent pushing for a move up the table.

It doesn't half hit home how average a squad we have, when it's written down in front of you.

It’s obvious we have a bang average squad without seeing it written down Tbf. General policy seems to be to go for youth and form over experience, so a longer term approach which is fine by me if it means no Hart or Wilshire but then the inclusion of Cahill flies in the face of that policy somewhat. Just see what happens I guess, we obviously aren’t going to win it whoever we pick.

As much as I want Saints players to be represented, Bertrand really hasn't performed consistently well all season. No complaints from me, although no doubt this will further fuel the fire of his agent pushing for a move up the table.

Not like Rose has done much more.

Not like Rose has done much more.

He did more in his last game to warrant a place than Bertrand has all season. He's proved he's back at his best, and his best is better than Bertrand. Southgate has gone with the better player, simple as that.

It's just a really weak squad. Check out Belgium for a quick comparison.

Yes, but how many of the Belgian squad play in the PL?

Oh ......

Probably gutting for Bertrand, but he's only got himself to blame. LB has been there for the taking for the last year, but he's been half-assing it most weeks for us - and I guess sealed his fate with his injury time brain fade that cost us the win at Everton, with Southgate watching from the stands.

Thought Alex McCarthy might get a form-based wildcard as third choice keeper, but sadly not.

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Disappointed for Bertie, should have been included. Young is more versatile but Rose and Bertrand are the best english leftbacks. Another last 16 exit beckons lol

A poor squad fronted by the best natural striker we've had in years in Kane and another very decent one in Vardy. Really need to set the whole team up to give Kane the ammo he needs but we probably won't.

We’ve got decent front players for a change but midfield, defence and keeper options are awful. We will come unstuck against the first decent side we play. There is pace in the side though.

I think saints fans need to get over themselves.

Yes, we would nearly all take RB and AM over Pope and Rose, but every call southgate has made is at least arguable. I was at first puzzled by the 3 right backs, but the fact is it means he us going to use Walker as a CB.

The team and tactics are good for a knock out tournament. Pack the defense and hit hard and fast. Don't like it? Then look at Hughes since he came in...

It's solid tactical picks on the whole. But I like most saints fans would pick RB and AM. Oh well, non of us are experience ex England players or managers.

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I really think Kane/Vardy/Sterling/Alli/Rashford/Lingard could cause problems and it’s the best selection of attacking options we’ve had for a while.

Shame about the rest.

I really think Kane/Vardy/Sterling/Alli/Rashford/Lingard could cause problems and it’s the best selection of attacking options we’ve had for a while.

 

Shame about the rest.

This is pretty much my thought on the issue - strong in attack but weak elsewhere, especially in central midfield. I still think Drinkwater would have gone had he stayed and performed for Leicester, but on the whole we are weak in central midfield, although with Dier and Henderson I doubt others would get much of a look in anyway.

The starting XI of the first game was being debated by the TalkSport lot earlier, who came up with: Pickford, Walker, Stones, Maguire, Trippier, Henderson, Dier, Young, Lindgaard, Kane, Sterling. Hard to argue with that really with the players he has taken, depending on who is fit at the time. I'm still not sure about Walker at centre back but I guess we wait and see.

Looks like Payet could miss the France squad - he's just gone off injured for Marseille and is in tears.

Been a busy boy all day and only heard the highlights of the newbies on the radio.

Home and had a peek at the squad, I feel like I have just found a copy of a 4 year old newspaper down the back of a cupboard.

Joke of a squad like I said , Hope England lose every game ! I hate everything that the England team stands for these days and haven't cheered an England goal since Rickies

Think that says more about you than the England team.

It's hard to get behind the England team when I hate all the teams the players play for.

I hope they do well, obviously, but I don't get as annoyed if they lose as when Saints do, or as happy when Saints win. It's just not the same.