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Reply | ITV's coverage last night...
at 14:29 12 Jul 2026
Keane, Neville and Wright are definitely worse than usual. They generally offer something in the way of analysis for Prem matches and make a few jokes to be more entertaining. Not sure if they have been given a shit hotel room or something but they seem hugely unengaged and unenthusiastic trotting out the terminally obvious.
The BBC pundits seem to be excited about being there. Recent ex players like Azpilecueta at least provide some variety. And Kelly Cates and Gabby Logan are streets ahead of Mark Pougatch who just seems like a bloodhound who hasn’t been fed recently.
I agree with you about the athletics though. Usually excellent. |
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Reply | Match Fred - Oh Vienna FC.
at 13:16 12 Jul 2026
Hells bells we don’t even get the summer off from stressing about what hasn’t even happened yet.
I thought it was an okay effort introducing everyone new to the squad and testing out a few things against a team that was much further along their training schedule.
I also thought we looked like we’d met each other before by and large which was further along from last year’s efforts. I don’t think it Indicates how we are going to start in August because:
a) it won’t be the same squad in all probability
b) we don’t know what the first team will actually be
c) it won’t be a friendly.
Apart from that OMG we’re getting relegated… |
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Reply | England Thread 🏴
at 12:02 12 Jul 2026
I agree. It’s like when players put their leg back to tangle with the defenders legs. I don’t want to see them given. Now if our player had been slightly further forward then it would’ve been okay to put his leg across to shield the ball but for me it looked like he only put his leg across to get tripped up as he wasn’t far enough in front of the defender to shield the ball from him. |
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Reply | ITV's coverage last night...
at 11:57 12 Jul 2026
The Tuchel interview and the Bellingham one were pisspoor.
STOP TRYING TO MAKE A STORY, JUST REPORT ON WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED.
And breathe….
Glad to see both of them giving it back to him, especially Tuchel. |
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Reply | Squad for Austria
at 11:02 10 Jul 2026
I don’t think it’s just the social media. From what I’ve seen of Stephan he doesn’t generally throw players under the bus. If he is saying in a slightly cryptic way about Kolli that those who train well are much more likely to start, I’m guessing (and yes it’s a guess but we’re all speculating all the time so why not?) what he really means is he’s a f*cking lazy a*se who thinks he’s better than he is. If Madsen, Dunne and Ronnie can bother to work hard and get themselves fit surely the largely unproven 20 year old can get to the gym occasionally in pre-season.
Look I’d love Kolli to be a massive superstar and our player of next season. And while I can see people’s point about Nourry being manipulative, secretive etc. I’ve seen nothing from Stephan that suggests that. If he’s saying he’s assessed him and decided not to take him then there’s got to be a reason. And I think he may be off ski. He’s undoubtedly talented but definitely not the complete player - his pressing and all round play aren’t perfect by any means- and if we have to sell him it’s better than rotting on the bench. |
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Reply | Stephan: new deal
at 13:52 9 Jul 2026
Neither do I. My point is that the reason we haven’t done as well is we wanted is the players weren’t available, good enough or experienced enough. All three things we suffered from at various times last season and sometimes all three at once. So it wasn’t that they didn’t care enough.
I don’t think you’re going to win all your matches, you’re going to have rough periods but having players with experience and guile can get you through some of those rough patches. You’re right there was inconsistency but I don’t think it’s that they didn’t care. It’s younger players like Vale, Kolli, Dembele, Saito and Walsh that seemed the most inconsistent and they’re all learning.
Also I think lack of fitness is relevant here. Players like Mbengue and Dembele looked like they couldn’t last matches and especially back to back ones and generally our worse performances from memory tended to be at the end of a three day week.
Anyway those are just my thoughts for now. It will be an interesting ongoing discussion as next season begins. |
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Reply | Arthur Fery.
at 08:56 9 Jul 2026
I follow a tennis forum and they’re seriously knowledgeable, knowing many of the coaches and players and many having played at high level themselves. They are very sceptical about the LTA. Particularly how they put tons of money into very young players and then hothouse them so they have a ton of pressure on them and maybe overplay at a very young age and get injuries later on.
There’s a young girl called Hannah Klugman who might come into that category. She’s very talented but I saw her at 14 and she was having fun and playing with freedom. Now at 17 she looks strained and pressurised.
I don’t think Fery came into that category and maybe that plus his mother knowing about how to manage tennis careers may have saved him from the LTA clutches.
Judy Murray blames them for wrecking Jamie’s singles career potential. |
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Reply | Stephan: new deal
at 08:47 9 Jul 2026
Fair enough if the much better squad had been available all season. But there were matches towards the end that there were so many of our better players out I thought I might even get a game. Being without Chair, Madsen, Burrell and Dembele and with a horribly out of form Saito and Kone running on fumes it wasn’t a fair fight a lot of the time. |
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Reply | Arthur Fery.
at 07:50 9 Jul 2026
No he’s an English kid with French parents and spent his entire childhood here. He represents Great Britain and have you heard him speak?
Raducanu also grew up here and neither will have any memories of living anywhere else. Other ‘British’ players like Oliver Crawford, who grew up in the States but has a British parent, Cameron Norrie who grew up in New Zealand but has Scottish parents and Choinski who claimed Britishness as adults have much weaker claims. |
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Reply | Stephan: new deal
at 05:53 9 Jul 2026
Is it really couldn’t be arsed though with the current cohort or sometimes just not quite fit enough, too many intjuries not quite enough quality and not quite enough experience at the level. I think in the bad old Barton and Wright Phillips days you could have levelled that accusation but not so much with this group.
Let’s imagine taking Kane, Bellingham and Anderson out of this England team shoving in the less talented/experienced replacements. Would that team have beaten Mexico? Debatable. That’s what we were dealing with last season with playing our 19 year old midfielder at right back and Esquerdinha at LB against Coventry, no Burrell or RND and our woefully inexperienced goalie and massively out of form Field and Morrison. Then later in the season we had no Burrell, Dembele, Dunne or Madsen. I don’t think it was lack of heart or not caring. But this season with a year of Championship experience for players like Burrell, Kone, Mbengue and Vale under their belts I’m expecting them to hit the ground running. If they don’t this season then we can more fairly start questioning the manager and the players.
I know it’s Saint Warnock in these parts but he did have Buzsacky, Faurlin, Derry, Clint Hill, Mackie, Shittu, Routledge, Rowlands, Lee Cook, Helguson, Kenny and 19 goal Taarabt in his promotion squad. |
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Reply | Arthur Fery.
at 05:13 9 Jul 2026
He’s got a very prestigious pedigree with a dad who was a financial trader and owned his own firm and then went on to own the football club Lorient until recently and is worth squillions. His mum was a professional tennis player.
Arthur went to highly selective private Kings College Wimbledon school and then Stanford University one of the top Unis in the States. These days it’s popular to go to US Unis as a young player as you get three years top coaching and competition for free and you play in the cauldron of uber-competitive US college sports instead of the traditional route of starting at 18/19 playing in minor professional tournaments in front of one man and his dog which can be very lonely and you can’t afford to have the coaches travelling with you and developing your game. I’m sure it’s helped him deal with the pressure.
He’s also got the advantage of novelty value as most players play each other day in day out at the top level and get used to each other’s strengths and weaknesses whereas he’s something of an unknown quantity. He played in the Wimbledon qualifying tournament as a young teen and got through two rounds which is very impressive as it’s a very tough competition. He also got a WC last year and won against Popyrin who’s highly ranked.
Only two omale players have been WCs and reached the semis at Wimbledon before. The other one was Goran Ivanisovic who ended up winning the tournament! His next match is against reigning French Open champion Zverev who will be a different level of competition but is largely unpopular due to some very questionable circumstances in his private life.
Whatever should be a fun match and it’s refreshing to see someone burst into the top echelons of the game. Win or lose he’ll be in the top 30s of the world rankings and has an outside chance of being seeded at the US Open in September. [Post edited 9 Jul 5:55]
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Reply | England Thread 🏴
at 10:58 7 Jul 2026
Schjelderup caused havoc when he came on for Nusa.
He gave Haarland more opportunities. He’d be another danger man for me. |
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Reply | England Thread 🏴
at 03:21 6 Jul 2026
I thought it was a red. Studs up and too high to get away with it. |
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