Ph.c.

BTW, maybe on purpose, but you left out what he had to say about Kane - not exactly hubris, is it? "He is good with his feet and he is one of the best finishers in football. I react a lot on instinct. He is very big, so it is hard to get into his body, but he also has great qualities with his feet, so you should not get too close either."

It's relative, isn't it? I suspect he might have been asked something like "how on earth will you manage to even get the ball from the mighty English?" and then replied "well, I don't think they are THAT much better as a team". He doesn't even claim they are not better at all, which would be perfectly understandable as well considering the mental state he needs to put himself and his teammates in before the match. The England fans' and medias' underestimation of other teams is quite astonishing.

Well, if both England and Denmark play their best football, it will be one hell of a game with England most likely to win. But, with just a tiny bit of complacency or a bad game from Pickford (not unlikely) they will lose, if Denmark play like they did against Belgium bar 20 minutes in 2nd half. If Denmark don't show up though, e.g. due to tiredness from a much harder quarter final and trip to Baku and back, England might win comfortably. But player for player the difference in the starting 11 is not as big as some think - Denmark are no minnows, but ranked 10 in the world for a reason. Schmeichel is better than Pickford, Mæhle and Hojbjerg has been outstanding and Kjaer (top 3 defender in Italy this season) and Christensen matches Maguire/Stones in quality. Further up and on the bench England are superior, of course, though the youngsters Damsgaard and Dolberg have been very, very good - even Cornelius has looked very solid when he has played. Problem for Denmark is that as much as many England fans vastly underestimate them, the players and Southgate won't. I really hope for a well played, entertaining match regardless of who wins it.

Of course, drop him then, our best CB atm. While we're at it let's drop everyone, cause they've all made a mistake at some point. AC has played brilliantly especially against Man C before, it suits an intelligent, anticipating CB like him.

When a defender with the obvious intelligence and ability AC has is doesn't perform well, the formation cannot be the sole culprit. Possible reasons he hasn't been as good as he is now for some time: - Lack of confidence. - Coaching. Who knows if Lampard coached him to his strengths and inspired confidence? - Other players. He played a lot with Kepa and was dropped when Mendy came. Then ppl said the initial stabilising in defence was because of Zouma, when in reality any of our defenders would probably thrived in front of the new keeper. - Perception. As others have pointed out, he has had quite a few good performances in a back 4. But the occasional error, his apparent lack of 'grit', last ditch tackles and inner fire are noticed much more than the sublime subtleties of his game. There is so much confirmation bias and negative halo effect it's unbelievable. So, of course he can play well in a back 4, even though his biggest strength are more noticbale in a back 3.

Well, he's been very solid in Denmark's back 4 in nearly every game and even as a cdm in some games a while back - in the 2018 WC for example. His anticipation and positioning is up there among the very best, his distribution top notch and with his recent form he's hopefully showing everyone that he has become the complete cb we expected him too.

Again, confirmation bias most probably. Because you're convinced he's not good enough, you only notice actions supporting your opinion while disregarding the things he does well. Btw, have considered the opportunity costs of him making that challenge? Maybe he sees dangers that you do not?

"Again looking shakey with Christensen at the centre of the back 3 with no physical presence." You must have watched another game, then. He won nearly all his duels incl. headers, was comfy on and off the ball and made one or two elegant long passes upfield. The confirmation bias on here is unbelievable tbf.

Apart from Rudis blinder the CB's been very solid.

Excited to see if his many usual critics will find a way to blame this on AC...

Point was, one fan blames him for not playing on with a broken nose, another fan blames him for not asking to be subbed.

And: "It's about the attitude. Do you quit or do you soldier on. Even worse coming off after you've f**ked up and conceded the goal." -- He can't win, can he?

Too lightweight, crybaby, weak... Broke his nose ffs https://www.si.com/soccer/chelsea/news/frank-lampard-andreas-christensen-broken-nose-martial-manchester-united