McParlandTheGreat
Vital Champions League
Enjoyable tournament, whatever. What can England take from it? What positives?
For me the standout thing was the way a number of players about whom many doubts were cast proved to be the real deal. Maguire looked the player MU thought they were buying. Sterling looked the player to make things happen up front. Stones showed he was a very good player after all. Grealish when he was on showed that he can add something extra at this level. And so on. This bodes well for the future.
A different sort of positive was the fact that some players were found to be lacking in some respects, a useful thing to know. Foden didn't really cut it, neither did Rashford. I like Mount, but maybe that final cutting edge wasn't there.
And some players who were below the radar rose above it. Saka for example.
Gareth? Worth a go at the World Cup. He got a lot of things right. And he's a very good man manager, which matters hugely when you're building a squad gathered from all over the place. Only in the final did I think he got it wrong; in the second half and most of extra time we didn't have a setup which looked capable of scoring another goal. That and the wrong penalty kick takers.
For me the standout thing was the way a number of players about whom many doubts were cast proved to be the real deal. Maguire looked the player MU thought they were buying. Sterling looked the player to make things happen up front. Stones showed he was a very good player after all. Grealish when he was on showed that he can add something extra at this level. And so on. This bodes well for the future.
A different sort of positive was the fact that some players were found to be lacking in some respects, a useful thing to know. Foden didn't really cut it, neither did Rashford. I like Mount, but maybe that final cutting edge wasn't there.
And some players who were below the radar rose above it. Saka for example.
Gareth? Worth a go at the World Cup. He got a lot of things right. And he's a very good man manager, which matters hugely when you're building a squad gathered from all over the place. Only in the final did I think he got it wrong; in the second half and most of extra time we didn't have a setup which looked capable of scoring another goal. That and the wrong penalty kick takers.