Sydney_Gills

#England #Cricket #Football #Gills #AfL #Swans #Cities #Travel

[Sydney_Gills @Chuffries]

Public health notice in Australia courtesy of the ABC #coronavirus #coronavirusaustralia #COVID2019 #worldsgonemad

[Sammy J @sammyjcomedian]

Renowned bush poet S.J. Paterson presents his latest work.

[Sydney_Gills @Chuffries]

@ME8Gills Something utterly predictable about France’s march through this World Cup

[Sydney_Gills @Chuffries]

@ME8Gills Indeed. A massive gulf in quality and depth between 1st (& 2nd) ranked teams in France 🇫🇷 & Argentina 🇦🇷.. and 4th England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 & 5th Portugal 🇵🇹

[Sydney_Gills @Chuffries]

@ME8Gills Think so- Congo need to score a couple. But didn’t count on the mighty Uzbekhs did they? Great strike, sign him up Gills!!

[Sydney_Gills @Chuffries]

@ME8Gills Watching your own team always brings a level of stress if you’re passionate about it / Gills or England. But doesn’t help when they serve up absolute dross !!!

[Sydney_Gills @Chuffries]

@ME8Gills Yeah very poor

[Sydney_Gills @Chuffries]

@ME8Gills Delivery is right up there with the gills

[Sydney_Gills @Chuffries]

@ME8Gills Need to be patient today… the super subs will make a difference. 3-0 England

[Sydney_Gills @Chuffries]

@ME8Gills It’s the modern way mate. So structured esp in first half. Possession, probe, pass, …

[Sydney_Gills @Chuffries]

@ME8Gills Much better tempo this half

[Sydney_Gills @Chuffries]

@ME8Gills They were on a day long siesta vs capo verde

[Sydney_Gills @Chuffries]

@ME8Gills Nice one! Is that Darren bent?

[Sydney_Gills @Chuffries]

@GillsKent30 Disgraceful. Absolute shambles mate 😂😂😂

[Sydney_Gills @Chuffries]

@GabSutton @tonywoodrow12 Absolutely 👍 hear hear !! c’mon England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿!

[Sydney_Gills @Chuffries]

Great take here …

[EBL @EBL2017]

🚨 Let me take you inside the mind of Thomas Tuchel… 💭

Tuchel prioritises profiles over names.

Gareth Southgate tried to fit all of the best names into the team to start the Euro's last time around and that resulted in England playing poorly in every game in the entire tournament.

Alright, they got to the final, but they were seconds away from being KO'd by nations like Slovakia and Switzerland which would have been a natural disgrace.

The media said 'you have to play Foden, Trent, etc'.

Tuchel doesn't buy into that primitive way of thinking, and rightly so.

He has a tactical system and the players must fit into that.

It's a 4-3-3 base with a #6, #8, #10 balance in midfield. Rice has freedom to 'feel the spaces' and play slightly lower than the #10 who must stay high and between the lines.

However, the balance in each wide triangle is the priority. On each side, when England have the ball in open play, there must be 1 player high and wide, 1 player high and between the lines in the half space, and 1 player low in a central position at the base of that triangle.

This gives England the best possible balance to interchange, combine, rotate, occupy the 5 lanes across the final third, AND maintain compactness in defensive transition in the initial line of counter-pressing and in the second line of managing the defensive transition.

Within those triangles, each player must be comfortable in each area (high and wide, in the half space between the lines, and at the base of the triangle) whilst each collective trio offer a balance of showing to feet and running in behind.

Take the left triangle, for example. O'Reilly can play in each of the three areas but also run in behind. So can Gordon and so can Rice.

On the right, the same is true for James, Saka, and Rogers.

With Kane as the #9, England will need players who penetrate the space in behind the defensive line as he drops deep to link play (this might explain why Palmer, for example, missed out).

But football is not just a 'with the ball' game.

You need to excel defensively, too. Tuchel's England press in a diamond shape from the goal kick. To press zonally, you need reliable defensive players, especially alongside someone like Kane.

Saka, Gordon, Rice, and Rogers are some of the most reliable defenders in the game. The same is also true for Bellingham. Gibbs-White would have been closer to selection than Foden and Palmer for these reasons. Not only does he run in behind more, but he is also a much better defender.

Similar can be said for Mainoo in midfield over Wharton. Mainoo has played that exact pressing role at the tip of Carrick's diamond at Manchester United, so he is an apt alternative to Declan Rice should he or Elliott Anderson get injured/suspended (Rice could then play in the #6 with Mainoo as the #8, for example).

England also try to transition into a man-to-man press at times or they defend low in a 4-4-2, and they do this via a central rotation (centre back jumps to the #10, #6 jumps to the #6, and the #10 jumps to the centre back – think Guehi, Rice, and Rogers).

Tactical discipline and collective balance relative to Tuchel's system is why he has made some eyebrow raising selections.

He likes Spence at fullback because he can play in the 3 lanes in the left triangle and provide cover at right back if James/Livramento get injured. Burn can also provide cover at left back in that context.

Someone like Henderson in midfield is unlikely to get many minutes (if any), especially because Rice is versatile to play in the #6 and #8, but his presence is crucial in the camp because of his leadership qualities. Similar can be said for Dan Burn. Levi Colwill is a better player than him, but Burn is #1) heavily underrated and #2) an incredible standard setter and character. Harry Maguire will feel unfortunate to have been left out because he profiles similarly to Burn whilst being a better player, but he is not as versatile to cover at left back in case of an injury crisis.

Quansah is also positionally versatile. It could even see Reece James play in midfield at some point because of the presence of lots of right back profiles in the squad (Konsa included).

An argument can certainly be made for a guy like Harry Maguire to be in the squad over John Stones, for example, and I can see that, but the reality is Stones also happens to be a special player who has incredible experience at the highest possible level.

Tuchel has had the luxury to leave out Maguire, Shaw, Foden, Bowen, Gibbs-White, Trent, Wharton, Palmer, Colwill, Hall, and others I'm sure that I'm forgetting like Welbeck and Calvert-Lewin… there was always going to be uproar or unhappiness at certain choices with that level of depth at his disposal.

However, from Tuchel's perspective, he strives for balance relative to his system and style of play. I think it's a risk to not bring another left-footed fullback over someone like Spence, for example, as that can negatively impact build-up dynamics as he gets trapped on his right foot (especially with Guehi being right footed on the left too), but outside of that the squad makes a lot more sense to me than it seems to to the average person…

Tuchel will give England balance at the World Cup and they are one of the favourites to win it because of that. They have always had the talent, but now they have guaranteed tactical balance on top of that. Something Southgate failed to provide at crucial moments in previous tournaments (despite doing a good job overall).

[Sydney_Gills @Chuffries]

Cmon England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 game on!

[Sydney_Gills @Chuffries]

Exactly this - spot on. Cmon England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🦁 🦁 🦁 ⚽️

[TobyWrites @tobyasky]

I tell you what, Tuchel has just exhibited the highest level of boldness in football.

He dropped Foden and Palmer for who they are, this looks like a difficult and an easy decision at the same time.

He dropped Wharton who has had an amazing season and currently in the Conference league final, a different profile, but maybe similar to Mainoo.

Morgan Gibbs White who has got the highest goal contributions of all English players in the league.

Maguire who's equally doing well and has been a very important part of this squad over the years, but you could argue he has not been regular or had a great season.

James Garner who he has been psyching, attending Everton games, gave him his debut earlier this year and showed belief in him, yet he's dropped him.

On the flip side, he has taken John Stones who hasn't even played regularly and injured all through, but but, every team needs such player for the experience they bring, but why not Maguire? You can argue.

He's also taken Jordan Henderson for same reason as Stones.

Ivan Toney has got over 40 goal-contributions this season, and Tuchel is definitely not overlooking that, even if its in Saudi League, a very brave decision. I would have loved Welbeck as that 3rd striker.

Noni Madueke would be the player on everyone's lips, why him? I'll tell you guys something. There's a spark Madueke brings, nobody else has that. He's that sub that can change any game, like he did in that difficult West Ham game just few weeks ago, you need such players for "Tournament" football.

No doubt about the rest attackers, they were expected.

Djed Spence is another question mark, but he can play both full back positions, a tough guy to beat, same with Tino. Trent is a good argument, but you can also argue he's not done well this season. Jude hasn't also, but Jude is Jude, you cannot overlook Jude in tournament football, a player that crashes the box, you cannot. Its crazy that you can make a case for each of Tuchel's appointment.

This time last year, Lewis-Skelly was tipped to be the number one left back for England, he was having the greatest season ever, then boom, he was 3rd choice this season, and he fell off. Nico O'Reilly on the other hand has been phenomenal this season. We all know who to blame for MLS.

Lastly, my biggest happiness on this list is Kobbie Mainoo, Amorim almost ruined this fella, but all thanks to Carrick. Such a talent that would have gone under the radar.

All in all, Tuchel is brave, dropping those big names, the list is a solid one based on merit, bar Stones and Henderson, who are also needed for other reasons, even if they're not going to play regular.

Your thoughts?

[Sydney_Gills @Chuffries]

@GillsKent30 But surely we should stick with the tried and trusted method of picking all the prima donnas then fitting them into a completely unbalanced xi. That’s worked before right !!?!