There is reaction to an England ladder which placed Jude Bellingham above Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice, and Dominic Solanke higher than Liam Delap.
Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com.
England ladder ahoy
Just a few comments:
Mike
Poor Jarrod?
I was confused by Tom G feeling sorry for Jarrod Bowen, who got his chance to impress but didn’t really take it against Latvia. Tom compares the situation to when Andy Johnson was called up and played out of position, but the comparison is frankly a bit odd.
Jarrod Bowen is 28 and has played the vast majority of his career as a right winger, I hardly think he has forgotten how to do so just because he’s been covering for Antonio for a few months. And besides, what is the alternative? Bowen isn’t going to be picked as a 9 for England, because that would be absolutely mental.
To get a chance in his most natural position is the best and only chance he was ever going to get.
Phil, London
The law is an asterisk
I read the mail from Mannix (Boro Fans) and he made interesting and valid points.
However, he fell into the trap that many seem to, and stated ‘City fans will never forget those moments, acquired unlawfully or not’
Unlawfully implies criminality, and City, and their employees, are not subject to anything like criminal proceedings.
Rules may have been broken. It’s very different to laws being broken, and this should be clear in the way it is written about.
A, LFC, Montreal
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Tone it down
While not strictly related, Keith in the mailbox did touch on an ongoing issue with this site of late. Specifically, now that we’re all being forced to pay to view this website (either with money or our personal data), do you think you could tone down the hyperbolic, tribalist clickbait nonsense? It’s exactly the sort of thing that I (and many others, I’m sure) have historically come to this website to avoid, but the descent over the last couple of years into the sort of childish mocking and ridicule that genuine football fans despise has been so, so disappointing.
Even as an Arsenal fan, I’ve found myself feeling sorry for Spurs fans this season due to the repeated and unwarranted kickings their team has received in some of your articles. Yes it’s fun to see them struggle, and yes I’m sure the thought of Arsenal failing to win the league is ROFLMAO, but when your writers start sounding like the perpetually antagonistic pub d*ckhead, then honestly I might as well just start hanging out with Jason Cundy.
Matt, AFC (at least the Mailbox still has some well written and insightful pieces)
Less crust, more trust
Nicholson, you miserable crusty old sod.
Your latest article reads like it was written by a bloke who peaked in ’66 and hasn’t seen a decent game since. Lay off the bloody negativity for five minutes, will you?
You bang on about Tuchel being an “elite” manager like it’s a bad thing. Newsflash: We hired him to win, not to give everyone a cuddle and sing Kumbaya.
And while we’re at it, let’s address this sh*te about club management being harder than international management. Picking a squad from dozens of different clubs, each with their own style, and trying to get them playing as a team in ten training sessions is arguably much harder than handling a settled club side. An elite manager working for an elite team has an elite recruitment team, so it’s not as if recruitment is something to beat Tuchel with.
Your bit about the “hipster’s choice” and “footballing ark of the covenant” – that’s rich. Especially from someone with pre-historic football rose-tinted glasses. A bit of jealousy, methinks, from someone who rates themselves as a hipster.
So, instead of wallowing in your nostalgic misery, how about we give Tuchel a chance to prove himself? He might fail, sure. But at least he’s got a plan. He saw what went wrong in the tournament finals and is figuring out how to address that during the qualifying stages – something Southgate (whom I liked) only appeared to do after the qualifiers.
Your nostalgia for Southgate’s “beta male culture” is touching, really. But last I checked, we’re not here for group therapy sessions. We’re here to win something. Anything. It’s been 58 years, in case you’ve forgotten. Southgate’s initial very defensive approach worked until it didn’t. England couldn’t turn it on when needed – as against Italy in the final. The best chance since 1066 – I mean 1966 – to win something. We saw that over and over again. Enough to get through the early rounds but not enough to get past that final hurdle.
Tuchel will get some things right and some things wrong in the early stages, but as long as we qualify and he learns enough to make England more competitive in the finals…. Look at how we crucified Carsley for one bad game and then lauded him later—after he learned and adjusted.
Johnny, have a cup of tea and a lie down. I am sure there are some replays of First Division games from the 1970’s you can use to settle your nerves.
Paul McDevitt