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2015/16 Football/Soccer thread

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No Luck Involved said:
What the England team needs now and has needed for the last 15 years is a coach with a clear strategy. The new manager needs to pick a system that suits the players and then decide on the best players for that system. They need to forget about trying to fit everyone in, you're never gonna fit 5 in form strikers into a team.

For example, I could decide to base the team on the most naturally talented attacking players we have: Oxlade-Chamberlain, Sturridge and Sterling imo. Put Wilshere at number 10 to release them and stitch them together and then have Henderson, who is a workhorse, and Dier to protect the defence to complete the midfield three. This is a possession based system where Ox would have freedom to come inside to add an extra body to midfield for control while Sterling is told to hug the line to give balance to the shape.

Or you could decide our players are too shit and Wilshere is a shit no. 10 and they're all injury problems on legs and we need to just accept we're a team with little talent. But we do have flying full-backs such as Walker/Clyne/Rose who don't know how to defend so why not use a 5-3-2 with Smalling, Cahill and Stones in defence. Stones can be the ball playing CB from the back and fire balls up to Kane and Rashford. Alli and Henderson to support box to box and feed on knocks downs while Dier anchors the midfield.

Whoever the new coach is, they need to break hearts and stop trying to fit Kane, Sturridge, Vardy, Sterling, Rooney, Alli and Wilshere into the same team. They need to decide what system suits the squad and drop the players that don't suit the system.
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Maybe it's because I'm a Liverpool fan but I'll claim that Clyne is one of the most consistent RB in the league and rarely makes mistakes in defence. Yes, he isn;t the most adventurous in attack but the last thing you need is to leave your defence exposed when your CB and GK are not very good.

I'm also astonished that Henderson was not a certain starter for England and he take so many stick in that game vs Slovakia where imo he is one of the better players on the pitch. Just keep him away from set-pieces. I know I laughed at England for taking him earlier but that was when he was virtually injured for half the season (you can see him starting to tire around the 60 minute mark).

Since England don't have quality wingers, they should just quit trying to play 4-2-3-1 and play the diamond which allows them to fit Vardy / Sturridge / Kane / Rashford / whoever into the team (this also allows them to play Hendo at the right side of midfield, his natural role). Don't shoehorn players into the team because he plays for a certain club (so no more Rooney, Wilshire, etc.) but pick players who can do the job in a team. For example, in the early 2000s, England tried to build a team around Michael Owen so they pick Heskey who compliments him as well as players like Gerrard and Beckham who can deliver balls for him to chase. If the set-up doesn't fit certain players (the Gerrard-Lampard midfield, anyone?), just change it instead of trying to do the same thing again and again.
 
I agree with the Clyne pick, I haven't seen too much of him at Liverpool but I remember him as a flying full-back from his Southampton days, I'm just glad we have at least one defender who can defend. He did really well in the Slovakia match and Walker hasn't convinced at all.

There's really no managers available right now. If I wasn't an Arsenal fan I'd say Wenger would be the perfect choice. Imagine how inspired all of the players would be, especially the young players coming through, to hear Wenger was gonna be their manager. But he has been offered many international jobs before and turned them down so there's no reason to think he'd be any different this time. Plus being an Arsenal fan, I want him to stay and I have a feeling that the only country he would ever consider managing is France.
 
No Luck Involved said:
I agree with the Clyne pick, I haven't seen too much of him at Liverpool but I remember him as a flying full-back from his Southampton days, I'm just glad we have at least one defender who can defend. He did really well in the Slovakia match and Walker hasn't convinced at all.

There's really no managers available right now. If I wasn't an Arsenal fan I'd say Wenger would be the perfect choice. Imagine how inspired all of the players would be, especially the young players coming through, to hear Wenger was gonna be their manager. But he has been offered many international jobs before and turned them down so there's no reason to think he'd be any different this time. Plus being an Arsenal fan, I want him to stay and I have a feeling that the only country he would ever consider managing is France.
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You must be one of the rare Arsenal fan who still like Wenger. Most Arsenal fan I see on social media or know personally doesn't seem too fond of his works. Rival fans appreciate him more though (if Klopp didn't come when he did, I would have liked Wenger at Liverpool although he most likely won't join).

As for managers, I think it's about time they look for someone who can articulate his ideas clearly to the players and is not going to be a yes-man. The FA needs to get rid of their "hire British" mentality as there simply aren't many good managers available, let alone British ones. Biggest names you can find are Moyes (regarded as a joke nowadays), Rodgers (just got a job), Pulis, Pardew and Big Sam (all not having experience of managing a big club before). It will be even worse if they hire Southgate, Giggs or Neville.
 
Any Arsenal fan who think we can win trophies as soon as Wenger leaves is delusional. I dread the day he steps down because it will be like Fergie leaving Utd except worse. Wenger has been working miracles for the last two decades at Arsenal. If there's one thing I can criticise him for is not taking more risks in the transfer market now that the stadium has been paid off.

I keep saying this jokingly but increasingly a little bit seriously... If everyone keeps saying the England team lack a national style and identity then why don't they pick Pulis and let him play long ball? It's about as English as it gets. The fans get to see a few hard tackles and we could be the ones scoring bundled-in long throws! I'm pretty convinced nothing could be worse than it already is so I wouldn't even be mad if it happened. At the very worst, Pulis would be able to sort the defence out and we'd 0-0 our way to the world cup. Allardyce is another one who I think gets a bad rep. He's not that bad and his tactics are quite sophisticated. It's a shame that he gets crucified in the media so I think it would be hard for the players to rally under him. Probably still better than Southgate though, what a disaster that would be...
 
DestinyUnknown said:
I think his influence on Germany's team is overrated, and honestly, there's a feeling that Klinsmann is better suited to the Technical Director role than the Manager one, as he's pretty limited tactically.
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Klinsmann isn't done with the United States but he is getting there. He is doing a lot better trying to influence players and grab future talent that has a potential to play for the United States. I only wish he wasn't fought every step of the way by former players who are butthurt about not being good enough anymore and a league that can't accept it might be on par with the English Championship
 
Actually, Portugal could be an example of why 3rd place teams should advance. They have been pretty solid throughout the tournament, just with very unlucky finishing and receiving flukey goals like against Hungary.

You are all overreacting, Portugal has been pretty good, and have outperformed every of their opponents except perhaps for Croatia.

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I think the Euros has been entertaining so far and the standard of football has been good. Not as good as club football but much better than tournament football usually is anyway like the last world cup imo. I think Portugal have played better than Poland overall so I'm happy about the results :D
 
ZoroDark said:
I hope Denayer and Wilmots never touch the Belgian national team ever again, what an absolute disgrace
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Don't blame the player, he's still young.

Wilmots however... hope this is enough to convince Belgium to get a better manager.

Btw is there any reason why Dembelé didn't play a single minute this Eurocup? Makes no sense unless he was injured but if that was the case... why was he even on the squad?
 
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Great win for Wales. Was a lot of fun to watch and probably my favorite game of the Euros so far.

Only shame was that the referee wasn't very good. A lot of questionable non-calls and then some of the yellows given out weren't yellows I felt. Wales not having Ramsey for the semis is really too bad from a neutral perspective, I wish they would change the yellow card rule to 3 yellows and then you miss a game. Hopefully it'll still be a great semis anyways!
 
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