I am very much club over country but like most people, I will admit I hypocritically get excited about the major tournaments.
You are right though, this is very dull like most England games outside of major tournaments.
I think the uninspiring football is to be expected at international football though when the players and coaches get so little time together. The modern football we generally see domestically and at the Albion is so much much more about systems and teams are like machines as the coaches have plenty of time to drill them.
At international level they generally can’t get them playing like that unless it’s like Germany a few years ago where most of the players were at Bayern or Spain before that when most were at Barca.
The Portugal team that won in 2016 and France team that won in 2018 will be fairly typical of the international sides that will do well these days - not exciting or fluid, difficult to beat and score against and then relying on talented individual players to grab the goals.
I've read about this in The Guardians "The Knowledge" column... its Wayne (?) Barton IIRC.
I wonder when the last time an Albion player lined up against England was.
12th November 2020 v ROI
If i extend that to non- UK or Ireland ?
You're good !
So. I genuinely wonder when the last time a non UK/Ireland player started against England was ?
You're good !
So. I genuinely wonder when the last time a non UK/Ireland player started against England was ?
thought it might be Radostin Kishishev but no. Still thinking
Zeqiri couple of days ago
It's worth its own thread, I think.
Kayal on the bench for Israel v Scotland.
Great points.
It’s changed so much in a few short years.
I remember loads of England qualifiers and friendlies (before your time in the 80’s and 90’s), when great England teams turned it on. For example a Yugoslavia 1-4 England in 87, countless games at Wembley in the Gazza, Butcher, Lineker, Beardsley, Waddle era, later Venables teams. Genuinely exciting football at the time.
School coach trips to Wembley were special.
We need a Rene Higuita to liven things up a bit!
Do you remember the B team games we used to play? I think they would be more interesting to watch these days just to see a few different players playing together. Always remember Le Tissier scoring a hat trick, in the last B international game we played I think, and then Hoddle still ignoring him for the 98 world cup.
I even remember England Schoolboy Internationals, they always seemed to be against West Germany or Scotland, on Saturday afternoons at Wembley. Crowds 60,000 plus.