As @Valerie brusquely point out to me and @Munkworth we were spoiling her Random chat thread with talk about England, I thought it was about time to create one for the home nation internationals.

Tonight England did well after conceding a well finished goal from a poor headed clearance by Keane.

We play so much like Sarri's team yet England have better attackers and a better midfield balance. 

Delli Alli had a poor game for me, hardly any end product and just did not link up well.

Sterling had a good game and it got even better after he switched with Hudson-Odoi, both then looked dangerous.

Barkley did well, excellent from set pieces and also being in the right place to effortlessly convert two chances. His performance wasn't perfect with a couple of misplaced passes (not alone there). Makes me wonder why he does not take more for us instead of Willian. I like the way when Barkley receives the ball he can hold off his marker and turn, that is a good skill. I would like him to have a bit more pace yet still a decent m/f for me and at £15m now seems a bargain.

I thought Declan Rice was solid in defensive midfield too.

 

 

International football is becoming enjoyable again for me.  This current squad is probably the best we have had since 2004-06 when we had the likes of Rooney, Lampard, JT, A.Cole, J.Cole, Rio, Neville and Becks in the squads.

What i like about this England squad is we aren't overly reliant on Kane to score all the goals. Whereas in the past it seemed to be a case of if Rooney/ Owen did not play well, then usually England would not win.

I like Gareth Southgate. I think he has done a tremendous job since becoming England manager. When we first hired him everyone was afraid that he was just an FA "Yes man", but he has done well to blood the younger players, and also appears to want to pick people on form rather than reputation.

 Overall, it feels like an exciting time to be an England fan, and it's been a long time since i felt like that. 

11 minutes ago, drjonesy1994 said:

International football is becoming enjoyable again for me.  This current squad is probably the best we have had since 2004-06 when we had the likes of Rooney, Lampard, JT, A.Cole, J.Cole, Rio, Neville and Becks in the squads.

What i like about this England squad is we aren't overly reliant on Kane to score all the goals. Whereas in the past it seemed to be a case of if Rooney/ Owen did not play well, then usually England would not win.

I like Gareth Southgate. I think he has done a tremendous job since becoming England manager. When we first hired him everyone was afraid that he was just an FA "Yes man", but he has done well to blood the younger players, and also appears to want to pick people on form rather than reputation.

 Overall, it feels like an exciting time to be an England fan, and it's been a long time since i felt like that. 

I wasn't about sure Southgate at first though he seems to have built a good team who know what their job is.

Ok Kane plays for Spurs no is never going to be a love-in here yet looks the best England No.9 and N0.10 by some distance.

We are stronger in other areas so are not so dependent on Kane as previous teams yet will need him to challenge near the top, internationally.

Sterling is also very important and I think we would struggle if both were unavailable.

 

Still find it hard to like the England team full of detestable c**ts from teams I despise. Luckily the Chelsea boys could come to the rescue last night and run the show. 

Have England ever scored five goals in two consecutive International games before ?

Okay, I accept and realise that The Home Internationals Championship matches were certainly deemed as competitive matches !