i thought he had a crap game and bar the goal and a few defensive contributions did nothing. Sterling and Alli are the weaklinks in this england team - going by the WC so far - but their reputation means they will never be dropped. for all the ridicule he gets Welbeck is actually a decent performer for England and offers pretty much everything Sterling does while also being Bambi on ice in the final third. Alli isn't suited to that deeper role IMO and he is being outshone by Lingard so far, but i guess it pays to have as many goal scorers as possible on the pitch to make a difference. The lack of a proper midfield will show against Croatia even if they manage to beat them and will perhaps not be enough against Belgium or France.
For all the great things that Southgate has done with this young England team (he is to me one of the best managers of 2018), I have to say he is not helping Ali & Sterling at all.
Since they got the results so no complains, but he is using a bizarre 3-1-4-2 formation at start with Young apparently at middle though he is spending most times on wings, Ali at left wings and Sterling as one of pair forward.
No credit taken away, but by the luck of draw England has got a path which apparently is easier despite finishing 2nd & their task was made even easier by Germany (Spain also - other wise it was Germany at QF & Spain in SF), but I dont think with this formation England can beat tactically better organized teams.
Englands traditional formation is 433 or 442 with lots of wing play; but this young squad was perfectly suited for more dynamic 4231 formation and that could have helped both Ali & Sterling.
Maguire & Stones at CB (Maguire is playing as left back actually), Tripper (to me one of their best players) & Rose wing backs.
Henderson & Young as the base of midfield, Kane as the spearhead with Ali behind and two wingers could have made England even better team. Ali & Kane are the best English pair at Spurs and Pochhetino plays them one behind another allowing Ali lot more freedom; and he is a £100mn+ fee, player now for sure for that role (Kane will be £170mn+, English players are obnoxiously expensive for home grown quota).
Ideally, I would have liked to see an England team like this -
1: Pickford
4: Rose, Maguire, Stones, Tripper
2: Henderson, Dier/Delph
3: Sterling/Rashford, Ali/Cheek, Lingard/Young
1: Kane/Vardy
But Southgate has got the result and kept team happy - deserves 4 more years even if England loses out at SF.
Welbeck is just not good enough for international soccer, even Heskey was more potent!!!!
[MENTION=141114]Hasan123[/MENTION], [MENTION=46929]shaz619[/MENTION], [MENTION=57506]hadi123[/MENTION]
