27 Jun 2024 07:14:34
May be one for the banter page,
Why is Declan Rice Undroppable? He can’t pass a ball forward we all know that. He is not a DM either. Can they not pair Wharton / Mainoo / Foden / Bellingham?
{Ed025's Note - for me Rice can play DM Jaguar but hes more box to box, hes a great player i think but is being stifled by the formation that the Wally on the Waistcoat is employing, no width and midfielders who are all a much of a muchness means we are not really creating as many chances as we should mate..
27 Jun 2024 07:33:31
He can’t play any B2B. B2B players are genuine goal scorers, For me Rice is a ball winner. Rice is purely playing on reputation just like most of them.
Agree with other points. Gordon and Palmer on the wings please.
27 Jun 2024 08:31:47
Rice is not a DM but he is a ball winner, Jaguar?
He's not undroppable but he's a very good play that can play 6 or 8.
He hasn't played well so far but we'll never know how Wharton and Mainoo would have done had they played.
I'd give Mainoo a go alongside Rice in the next game though.
27 Jun 2024 09:25:49
If all 11 players on the pitch is poor, then most likely the issue is with the system that they are being asked to play rather than with the personnel or individual players. The England team is a mess, with no width down the left side and very static attackers. That is not down to the players, but the man standing on the touchline who chose not to bring a fit LB or any players who can naturally play LW along for the tournament.
As for Rice, he is a class player who can either play in DM or MF. We can see his impact on the Arsenal team this season. It's not his fault that the current England manager has no clue on how to utilise the players to bring out their strengths in a cohesive manner.
27 Jun 2024 09:41:01
I actually thought that Mainoo at DM and Trent at RB showed some positive signs working together the other night.
I like Mainoo but my concern is that he has a tendency to want to stay up front and completely abandons his defensive midfield responsibilities on a semi regular basis. He will become a great player but as with most players out there at the moment I don't think he is a 6!
27 Jun 2024 09:48:09
My issue isn't Rice it is Kane.
He is the player whom seems undropable but has offered little to nothing thus far in the tournament.
He should be the outlet and the target man for the defence and midfield. Someone like Trent with his wand of a right foot gets the ball and looks up to see the outlet. Instead Kane is 5 yards from him in a deep lying midfield position.
Ball goes out to the wing and Kane is on the edge of the box struggling to catch up with play, as such the ball then either goes in with no real target or is passed sideways and backwards to recycle by which point the defence has reset and the play broken down.
Kane has (on current performances) had his day and should not start the next round.
27 Jun 2024 10:37:22
Rice is not a 6 and he didn’t do very well at the 6 for arsenal, he became their most influential player only when he got moved to the 8, Wharton seems much more suited to the 6 position than he is, at least he would be better passing the ball through the lines from deeper positions.
27 Jun 2024 10:41:18
And to be fair that’s Kane’s game and always has been redQ, he drops short to receive the ball and link up with other forwards and runners, with England though every single player is coming short to receive the ball and the result is nobody is creating any kind of panic for the opposing defensive line, it’s actually quite astonishing to see, England don’t press the ball out of possession (Kane does nothing when it comes to pressing from the front) and don’t get behind the defensive line when in possession, it’s amazing to watch.
27 Jun 2024 11:30:13
Exactly, Ed25. Rice is a DM who can play in a double pivot (like he did with Soucek at WH) and with Jorginho at Arsenal which allows him to get forward and score or create. He never plays the DM alone the way Rodri, Fernandinho or Fabinho played/ play it.
This is what Southgate is doing to him and it is not working and leaves him exposed. Just watch the Slovenia game. He was exposed with runners going at him each time the recovered the ball. That's not his game. Even Rodri struggles with that. The Waist Coat is such a wally, I tell ya.