Quote Originally Posted by Moodybluebird View Post
I'm sorry, I just don't buy into this rubbish that England have the best players in the tournament and the strongest squad. Rodri, Ruiz, Williams, Yamal, Olmo, Zubimendi, Carvajal for instance are head and shoulders above any England player I've seen to date. Nearly all the English players are over-hyped by the media and football pundits.

If England had Spain's manager they would still play like England because it's not in their DNA to play like the Spanish. They are unable to play with composure against the really top sides, are unable to retain possession especially when pressed and have minimal movement in or out of possession. No for me they are second raters when measured against the world's best teams.
I disagree. Traditionally, England have been a more physical, power based team that did not seem to place technique as high up their list of priorities as most other international teams did, but that’s changed gradually to the extent that I would say they now have a squad that is as technically proficient as most others in the world. It’s clear that England’s record since the 2016s Euros places them among the very top teams in Europe and their tournament record recently has them probably in the top five in the world.

It’s great that what has generally been a pretty miserable tournament has been won by the team that wanted to play front foot football no matter who the opposition was. Spain were the best team in the competition in terms of results and performance, but I’d still say it was an opportunity wasted for England because they had a man in charge who just would not release the handbrake as far as playing to what should have been England’s strengths was concerned.

As England went further in the competition and the performances improved to some degree, those who, rightly, were critical of Gareth Southgate found themselves under fire as if his approach had been vindicated - it hadn’t in my view, England made it to the Final despite Gareth Southgate, not because of him.