Underwhelming England & How To Get The Best From Phil Foden | EURO 2024

[@anonymousinternetuser7519]

Birmingham fan here, Bellingham signed a contract that meant we could sell him for £25 million. At that time we were in serious financial trouble. And had he not signed, he would have gone for £2-3m max. Bellingham saved our club. That's why we retired his shirt.

[@sinksinkswim]

That's the first time I've heard the financial side of it. I always assumed that it was because you thought he would become a great. Makes a lot more sense to do it for saving the club financially.

[@anonymousinternetuser7519]

@@sinksinkswim as far as I'm aware that's correct. Although trying to find evidence of it with there being two Bellingham's and high profile transfers is proving difficult...

[@cachedreamer]

As far as I know, that is just a theory that was put forth by a fan. It doesn't even really make sense because it's just based on him signing a professional contract. People make it sound like it was planned and that he did it for the club, really it was just the same contract that any youth player would sign when making the step up, it just so happened that he ended up being a very good player and went for a lot of money.

[@5678hgvhjkjnbnm]

Nonsence nevertheless. He was always going to move eventually, retiring a shirt means you have to have done something for the 'football' club, not the finances....

[@anonymousinternetuser7519]

@@5678hgvhjkjnbnm Yes he was always going to move, but he signed a different contract to get us more money when he did. Perhaps not worthy of shirt retiring given that scenario has happened before, but the context of our finances was the argument. And the only nonsense here is your spelling of nonsence.

[@indexfinisher]

Regarding the Broadcast side Cesc Fabregas was a brilliant analyst and able to communicate his thoughts very well without speaking in clichés. I wanted to hear more from him. You can tell he has the ingredients to become a top manager. Would be a great signing for rest is football. I think Rio or Micah cant play on the same team and a older manager insight would have been beneficial.

[@dontbewoke]

Fabregas predicted England to win 3-0 yet when the English themselves make a similar prediction we're all arrogant....

[@carlgill1386]

England under a good manager would win 3-0 ​@@dontbewoke

[@dontbewoke]

@@carlgill1386 I agree

[@iNoScopeNathan]

I agree and as a Chelsea fan I adore him but he speaks way too fast sometimes seems like he’s panicking when he speaks

[@nimascolari1508]

That's just Spanish people 😂 ​@@iNoScopeNathan

[@cameronfindlay2407]

The Foden issue is clear- start him central or bench him and rotate with Bellingham when Jude is tiring as he did last night. Foden just isn’t a LW. We need to stop shoehorning players into the team

[@carlgill1386]

He's not good enough to start ahead of bellingham so i agree

[@richierich7229]

But what does that say about Foden? Germany has two number 10s. Musiala and Wirtz but played them on both wings. And they still performed. If you are good, you are good.

[@Omnipotent-Q]

100%. Lots of games in a short space of time. I wonder if Southgate is afraid of criticism leaving certain players out. It’s the same fear when it’s making subs.

[@Tesmond256]

@@richierich7229​​⁠ Why did Mittelstadt start ahead of Sane? Surely a €70m player should not get picked ahead of a €17m player, if he’s good enough, he’s good enough…

[@sharkymoon422]

No left,back! At least play foden left side only when you have a left back! No left back means go wing backs, and then play foden up front with Kane 3-5-2.. 3 midfield doesn’t mean Arnold, he can cover the wing backs… Why put him midfield when he doesn’t play there.. If you wanted left mid then Gordon or the crystal palace guy, since they replaced Grealish! Grealish plays LM better than foden.. It’s all gone south!

[@urosmihailovic8345]

Watching the game last night as an Serbian fan, I noticed that Southgate's In-Game management was worse than our managers who is really bad, which is an achievement in itself and something you guys should really worry about

[@happyapple4269]

we do, we have been, we are

[@louiserandle9105]

I can't understand why Tadić was dropped. You need your best players on the pitch.

[@mh.1.]

_Trust me, we know._

[@XboneMalone]

We've seen it vs Croatia in 2018, Italy in 2021, France in 2022 & plus any game where we're up against top 15 teams. Southgate's achieved relegation as a club manager and an international manager!

[@MrBillUp]

Trust me, we do! Southgate is utter dogshit.

[@thuiner1_lw]

At some point we need to stop asking the question of "How to get the best out of Foden" and start asking "Why is Foden not getting more out of himself"

[@Set451]

Southgate

[@tomekkaminski2677]

Or just let Gordon play ffs

[@shaun-anthony9731]

Facts mate, I almost feel like it might be worth dropping him for a game, giving someone like Eze or Palmer a shot then see if he comes off the bench and changes things

[@gameforalaugh5743]

He's not good enough in this system, he's used to Pep and his unbelievable tactics. Gordon in.

[@Bert-lw1ot]

@@Set451it’s not the managers fault Foden kept giving the ball away! 11 times he lost possession

[@maxim469]

Amazed Watkins didn’t get a look in. He’s perfect for a counter attack when the opposition need a goal

[@adamiredale2089]

I was very surprised Gordon didn’t come on for the same reason, just as an attacking outlet to keep Serbia thinking

[@Bert-lw1ot]

Yep. Agree with both of you. Kane & Foden off, Watkins & Gordon on…it was the perfect time to do it

[@davidlennox8686]

@@adamiredale2089Probably personifies Southgate’s management the fact those two didn’t get on.

[@paulharris869]

Agree or Toney

[@SimBir08]

Yeah, Gary saying that when you need a goal you look to Kane is silly. Kane had 1 chance the entire game, taking him off in place of a striker who's going to run at defenders was what should have happened. Keeping Kane on just because he's our talisman is why we only scored 1 goal. Isn't that the whole point of taking Watkins and Gordon for when Kane is getting frozen out?

[@dreadful_name2924]

Can I just say that this is exactly the sort of coverage I want to see. Well balanced and shows off the understanding the two of you have of the game. The point about the tone of the broadcast was really well made.

[@thewellandvalley2103]

Last night in that system, Gordon for Foden, Watkins for Kane and Mainoo for Trent… all on at 50 minutes when it was clear things weren’t working. Southgate is so inflexible in game it’s painful.

[@victolaaaa]

Isn't he out of ideas as a manager? It seemed to me he could play mbappe, iniesta and xavi and still the team would play crap. I think he is not a good manager...

[@adamgrimsley2900]

That was so obvious. He could have taken Foden off try and change the game rather than hangon.

[@Niko-hi5my]

Fully agree, changes were needed after 50-55 mins. I was for Gallagher coming on (after 50 mins of course, not 75) to win the ball back in midfield, but also for Gordon for Foden. But you're not taking off the captain at that point. To be fair to Kane, he won loads of freekicks to give the heavily under pressure England (sigh) a few breaks.

[@Sam-es2gf]

Kane clearly isn't fit. Again. Are we really going to have another tournament of him not getting above a jog, half arsed pressing for 90 minutes every game? Him and Foden were begging to be replaced. Southgate is infuriating, it's like he's not even watching the same game.

[@dylanhudson4665]

Trent needs to be at right back, he’s better than walker because of his distribution, were was Walker in the Iceland game, personally I’d play Bellingham as a number Eight Foden 10 and get Gordon in, we have an energetic left winger, how he didn’t get on the pitch is beyond me

[@patbrett3031]

That Serbia game was almost Croatia & Italy all over again, Southgate has learnt nothing.

[@petesmart1983]

The team isn't good

[@Mil-w6d]

Team is fine, manager isn’t good

[@hyywe240]

Gareth scapegoat and the worst fans in the world

[@YouTube]

time to unleash eze or gordon 👀

[@petergeddes6652]

I don't understand how Micah can sit in front of a microphone after Bellingham has just scored the winning goal playing off Kane (and being Real Madrid's top scorer) and say that he should be playing further back to accommodate Foden. Foden is great but Bellingham is the star of this team.

[@Michael-me6qu]

Foden at his club is great.no questions. its just bad luck that Bellingham is better. dont try to find him a place just for the sake of it. play your best positional players

[@Tezwad]

The hate they got for Bellingham is beyond me! Bellingham missed the game against Iceland and Foden was playing that 10 position and he was nowhere to be seen, and now Bellingham plays an incredible game and scored the only goal of the game and now they want him to play deeper behind Foden! Omds

[@astalavista_84]

Foden’s never performed to his potential in an England shirt

[@jonmartin9732]

Bellingham for some reason was running two positions basically no.8 and no.10 doing so is absolutely spent in the second half, to me that is either he thinks he has to do it himself the whole time, poor game management or he doesn’t trust the players around him. Either way his influencer faded especially the second half.

[@petergeddes6652]

@@Tezwad I wouldn't say it's hate but I think they're falling into the trap of just thinking about it through the lens of getting the most out of Foden and fitting all the good players in. It's clear that Bellingham is more adaptable and *can* play further back. It's FIFA syndrome when a player's rating goes down if you move them out of position. People think "oh if Bellingham plays further back he drops from like 88 to 87 but if Foden plays on the left instead of centrally he goes from a 86 to an 82 therefore we should play Foden as a 10 and Bellingham as an 8 to keep the average points higher"

[@Jabroni8903]

That game was screaming out for Gordon. Watkins deserved at least 30 mins too.

[@ps5andstuffhere]

England have had this issue for years and years. Trying to fit everyone in. The left side is terrible. Forget Foden

[@jimb9063]

What age did Scholes retire from internationals? Phil might break that record.

[@jonmartin9732]

It’s a shame we can never utilise players like scholes and Foden in the England setup.

[@TyneBridge90]

we've got Gordon who plays on the left every week

[@denisako6493]

Naglesmann is using 2 10s musiala and wirtz fairly ok

[@jimb9063]

@@jonmartin9732 It is. There is possibly a way to fit him in effectively maybe, but we've not found it yet, if there is one. It's a strong argument that you pick a way to play, then fit in the best players for that system. This might mean that some of the best players on paper miss out. If we'd have lost the final, Ramsey would have been crucified for leaving Greaves out however!

[@paixetdamour25]

"How to get the best out of Foden" Maybe he is just bad for England? Every postion he played he did nothing. Fabregas answerd u this very well

[@rw4025]

Thank you! Someone who sees sense and doesn't just jump on the 'Southgate is shit I could do a better job' bandwagon

[@thekid12390]

Micah is president of the phil foden fan club. I saw the pom poms in the background lmao

[@Houby1198]

Seems the fanbase is split in two. Half of us are saying "Don't play players out of their favoured position, Gareth must have the bravery to drop Foden"; the other half are saying "We have 2 of the best players in the world in Foden and Bellingham, we have to find a way to play them both". Won't please everyone, Gareth is stuck between a rock and a hard place on this one.

[@84tigershark]

No, Southgate hasnt done either. Thats the issue!

[@josephsimmons7351]

I am a city fan but it really isnt worth playing foden on the left isolated like that no wonder he was shit. If southgate keeps the same system you have to drop him. They should honestly just play a different system tho. Germany is able to get 2 10's out there much better than england are.

[@Benjalina123]

As it turns out, the fan base doesn't pick the team 😮 Who would have thought? 😂

[@Houby1198]

@@84tigershark I agree, not saying he has found a solution. Personally, I'm in the bench Foden and bring him on if Jude is tiring camp. My only point is, that's also going to piss off a lot of people! :')

[@daviddimmock1044]

Foden is a great player but how can you start him in front of Eze or Gordon? A natural left

[@SueMyChin]

Foden started 10 games on the left wing for City last season scoring 6 goals and 17 games on right wing scoring 5 goals. He also started 7 in CAM scoring 7 goals. People are making excuses for him naturally but the idea that Southgate isn't using him right because he's starting on the left wing is doesn't add up. It's only one bad performance but Trippier isn't a great option offering width. If Shaw was playing Foden could play more centrally. In his absence They'd be better off with a natural wide man.

[@85ABC]

Well Foden shouldn’t be playing left for starters. Why can’t he just play CM like he does for Man City? You’d think if it was good enough to win the EPL it might be good enough for Southgate… but no, Southgate wants to protect the back 4, versus my mentality which would be ‘just score more goals and you’ll win that way’

[@SueMyChin]

@@85ABC He doesn't play CM for City. You don't have a clue.

[@carlgill1386]

​@@85ABCbecause phil foden isnt better than bellingham to start cm

[@petesmart1983]

​@@SueMyChinyea but you comparing a billion pound team in a extremely weak league Vs England a international team. Foden doesn't have haaland,rodri and others to cover his mistakes

[@danielharries5468]

The game was crying out for Gordon, all the threat was through the right hand side and we needed to stretch the pitch. Also felt for Tripper having to cover that entire left side while Foden ran centrally and essentially clogged up the attack.

[@petesmart1983]

Definitely Bowen came on and was direct and created the chance that hit the bar, Gordon would of done the same. Serbia arnt the quickest team especially at wingback it would of been perfect

[@tomboore8357]

Foden has to start central or not at all

[@GIBBO4182]

Yeah, I think that’s exactly where we’re at with Foden

[@etsyconsultant]

@@GIBBO4182 I think we're at the not at all level to be honest, best thing would be a sub, enough is enough, he can't play in the England setup and should not start against Denmark in my opinion.

[@GIBBO4182]

@@etsyconsultant it’s an extremely tough decision to drop the PL player of the season, tbh I’d try him as a #10 next game and if that doesn’t work you have to drop him

[@Obs1986]

He’s not going to play in Bellingham’s position

[@All3cannons]

@@GIBBO4182 you can’t be experimenting with formations in the tournament! That’s the point of friendlies! We should have a settled team that play together many time with or without Foden in the starting line up.

[@Suroky232]

Shearer's commentary was very good! Great insight, especially surrounding Kanes role. Southgate needs to change tactics and subs at the right time, stop defending so deep after we go in the lead. More positivity from Safegate!!!

[@PatrickKelly-lz3pv]

Shearer loved Rice and continually told the viewer how well he was playing.

[@Irokeshi]

Great insight? At one point he was asked a question and replied with "England are winning so who cares" 🤣🤣

[@JamesCM86]

Was it??

[@Houby1198]

I don't mind Shearer as a pundit, but the commentary last night was dreadful. I lost count of the number of times he repeated that Serbia brought Dusan Tadic on for his dynamism and creativity! Probably commentary is harder than you'd think, though, he can improve

[@Michael-me6qu]

yeah its helpful having Shearer explaining why Kane isnt as bad as he appears

[@sodyouall9206]

I have to say the glass floor under the desk terrifies me! Great pod Gary/Big Meeks/Wor Alan 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@darthmaul408]

I agree with Micah on Foden. Listening to pundits and fans before the tournament I didn’t hear one person state that Foden should start on the left. For Man City he might be listed on the left, but he doesn’t play there. He plays more centrally and rotates in a far more fluid system under one of the greatest managers of all time. Without going down the Southgate bashing route, the England system is far more rigid. It doesn’t allow for him to float around the frontline. The three options for me are, start Gordon or Eze on the left and put Foden on the bench, leaving Rice and Trent in the middle. Or move Bellingham alongside Rice, Foden at 10 and bring Gordon or Eze in on the left. Lastly, try Wharton next to Rice as a possession keeping forward passing pivot in place of Trent. Whilst Bellingham has been a false 9/10 for Madrid, he was an 8 at Dortmund and bossed many games. Personally I think that’s the way to go.

[@stinkrat1016]

Bellingham should 100% play alongside Rice, doing what Trent has done which is to act as a pivot into the central midfield, this allows foden to play in the attacking third far more fluidly and limits the two clashing - which was shown on heat maps. This also allows you to inject some momentum into the late game by freeing up options for the Left and Right Wings from the bench. This is basically what Southgate did with Trent and Rice, Bellingham has the box to box ability to make it work, and I think he would.

[@darthmaul408]

@@stinkrat1016 agree 💯

[@spoonyuk]

I think this was your best episode yet. Very Insightful, an honest assessment and the sort of analysis you can’t get on TV.

[@Puntastic7]

In regards to Bellingham, it is the Madrid DNA in him. He is him!

[@HauganJr]

as a non brit, and as someone who watches madrid religiously, i dont understand why you want to force bellingham further back, to try and get foden into the no.10 role. i totally understand that foden is not living up to his usual best for city, whenever he plays off the left for england... however, you're now seeing bellingham play for the three lions, as he is for madrid, when he's at his absolute best, the no. 10 just behind the striker. Forcing foden into the no. 10 no matter what, means you're essentially sacrificing bellingham and playing him out of his best position, which means no matter what, you cant have both foden and jude play at their prefered position. for me it then comes down to who you think will drag you through the mud, when times get tough. after yesterdays performance, i think jude will be the key throughout this tournament if your are to win it all, not just cos of how he's playing, but also how he conducts himself on the pitch and demand 100% from his teammates. jude will be your star for years to come, please play him where he shines the most. as always, absolutely love the pod, its a great way to enjoy the mornings and start off the day

[@stakzonstakz]

Well said and dropping trent in amongst all of this also to accommodate foden is also a mistake

[@atrlawes98]

As an England fan I agree 100%. We have a weird obsession with desperately trying to squeeze our best players into the starting XI every time rather than having a bit of balance. Put Foden on the bench and you’ve got someone who can come on and might change the game if its not working. Play someone like Gordon and we’ll have a lot more width which we desperately need while Luke Shaw isn’t playing.

[@Niko-hi5my]

Yes! Don't get it either. World Cup 22, Bellingham is England's best player playing in the 10. 23-24 he is the best player for Real Madrid and in La Liga playing in the 10. Opening game of Euros, he scores the only goal and is England's best player playing in the 10. Yeah, let's play him as an 8.

[@kamsb]

Jude is great as an 8 which he played for dortmund and u saw yday he slide tackles is physical duels etc we as england are crying out for a player next to rice and foden’s best position is 10 so I think it makes sense to drop jude down and give foden the love to put him in his favourite position. I dont think jude would say his best position is 10 he has had to adapt to that role where as foden it is natural for him as a 10

[@omardevonlittle3817]

34 games 4 goals for Foden... he's nit a goal scorer and he's not creating them for England either... it's EZE time...

[@bantamNeil12]

Great start to the week with a Monday morning pod with the lads...👏🏻⚽️👏🏻 Keep em coming guys!!!...❤️

[@andy9735]

Am I the only one that is glad England showed they can defend solidly without the ball?

[@MattBax-sy3gk]

Honestly are defense was problem before the game, now apparently it's are attack does my fucking nuttin

[@petesmart1983]

Biggest problem is Serbia are an average team, England see themselves as great team but not much difference between them

[@thf3038]

With all the criticism no one is mentioning the fact we kept a clean sheet. One of only 2 teams so far to do that in the tournament

[@josegallardo8334]

Solidly? Had it been a Spain Portugal France etc they’d have lost 3-1

[@uzaidgurjee4798]

@@josegallardo8334after watching France Today it propably would’ve been a 0-0

[@Itsthecreative]

We spent so many years debating how to get the best out of Gerrard and Lampard (and Scholes), when the reality is, players needed to be dropped to the bench to get the best out of the team. And here we are in 2024, and its the same now with Foden and Trent

[@enemywithin1295]

Once again we enter an international tournament with some of the best players in world football, and we're lucky to get a 1-0 win against Serbia. And, once again, Southgate won't get mentioned or even partially held responsible. Good Bunch of Lads FC.

[@SueMyChin]

Lucky? They hardly had a chance...

[@nickbrown9478]

Some of the best ATTACKERS. That's it. Midfield is talented but thin. Defence very average. The Southgate haters conveniently forget this.

[@85ABC]

Exactly. Once again he takes good players and then basically just goes all out defence. Silly. He never learns

[@edmann1820]

@@nickbrown9478 Perhaps if he'd not persisted with Maguire for so long we would have an established partnership at CB.

[@SueMyChin]

@@edmann1820 Or maybe if Maguire was not injured we would have an established partnership at CB? You blaming him for injuries now too?

[@cillaa2496]

Believe me I'm British though and though 🦁🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🦁🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🦁🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 I was watch when Christian Eriksen fell 3 year ago, I've been watch his recovery and I was watch when He scored a on Sunday. Tears of joy came from me and the don again when you talk about it. I hope I can put feelings aside and have the heart for the three points. All I can say is that man is special ❤ and to see him come back like he has has made a lot of people happy.

[@leonporter2625]

If Trent's gonna play you need runners...Only Saka fits the bill so seems the wrong option. It makes sense with Liverpool although when everyone's fit he doesn't play in Liverpool midfield.

[@cornerofryan]

Love this set up. Makes it more relaxed and flows much better I feel ❤

[@2TwoJ]

Or, as what should've happened during Sven's reign, the solution is that you don't try to fit in all the star players. Gareth shouldn't be afraid to bench Foden and start Gordon. It's clearly best for the team.

[@martel8626]

This. It seems odd that they are still, even in hindsight, trying to figure out how you layout a Scholes, Gerrard, Lampard midfield. You don’t. Scholes had Keane, and later Carrick at Utd, Gerrard had Xabi Alonso and Mascherano at Liverpool. They needed players for those roles. I don’t recall the Italians throwing their system out the window to accommodate Baggio, Totti and Del Piero as 3 number 10s. In Euro 2000, they alternated Totti and Del Piero, and left Baggio at home.

[@lewistaylor1965]

Just stumbled on this...Brilliant...Wish it was this relaxed on the BBC cos you seem to get more and its less filtered...

[@palatialslumlord4938]

Eze has to start. He can wiggle into defenses in ways that the rest can't

[@chagavah]

Only Eze and Gordon should be fighting for the LW

[@AbidoShaker-]

I was hoping Southgate would introduce Eze at the 50th minute. Thats when he is usually dangerous. The time players are tired is when Eze hurts you so bad especially if he is fresh.

[@gollumei]

Shoulda just brought Grealish. He's a better version of Eze, which he proved against Bosnia in creating 2 open play goals within 10 minutes of coming on as a sub. Imagine if we brought him on in the Serbia game... Oh wait, we can't because fucking Gareth didn't take him! NICE ONE GARETH!

[@TariqAmazin]

Brilliant natural conversation. Nothing forced for views and likes. Fantastic content.

[@Shayan_R]

The commentary/punditry aside, simply the ITV broadcast is a lower quality. BBC through their iPlayer app, offer 4K and HDR. So until the ITVX app adds that functionality it will always be inferior. Plus BBC doesn’t have ads, but this isn’t as important for a football match. Not like you get ads during the game 😅

[@Michael-me6qu]

at least it isnt channel 4. they are shocking. way out of their depth with international games

[@Dee-77777]

You should try watching it in Australia

[@akamiguelsanchez9985]

We were absolutely fine! Never once did I think we’d concede

[@ethelburga]

Taking injured players to tournaments NEVER works.

[@jonathanlatimer8127]

Facts, surely you take a punt on Chilwell being fit and not wait on Luke Shaw

[@richierich7229]

​@@jonathanlatimer8127It's very weird how Southgate doesn't want to even consider another natural left back apart from Shaw.

[@2011hwalker]

Maguire, Grealish not in the squad reflected that. Englands squad is good-its fine margins at int level. Would we rather be Belgium right now, sitting on a fat loss to start the tournament.

[@jonathanwarburton348]

Keep em coming lads 😊

[@IDHANYT]

Foden and KDB are both players that enjoy their reputations due to their club managers. Both very good players, but their abilities are amplified by Pep's system, hence their difficulty at reproducing their form for their respective countries...

[@karmaascendant3936]

KDB has been consistently Belgium’s best player. If Lukaku actually finished a couple of the chances Hazard and KDB created for him Belgium would have been in the final vs Argentina. No one player can win a team a trophy , especially in the international stage.

[@tarunreddy2031]

​@@karmaascendant3936 not even close. When belgium were good from 2013-2018, hazard was easily the best player. It wasn't close

[@TomBruhh]

@@tarunreddy2031 So for the past six years, it's been... KDB.

[@allbies]

Same could be said for TAA but even more so. So why are we forcing him into the midfield position when we don't have to?

[@robinkerr3373]

Bellinghams positivity during the interview after the game was a breath of fresh air. Rest of the team should follow suit.. simple.

[@joestanley250]

We dont have to 'get the best out of foden', the system should take priority. Drop him and get gordon in to spread the play

[@doubleophysiquecreation1525]

I can't believe Meeks made this reference to a happy ending at 29:23 😲🤣🤣🤣

[@RobAngus-l6s]

Reminds me of Gerald and Lampard. This time jude and foden. Both play number 10. If Jude at 10 then Foden on the bench. Need to start Eze on the left

[@danielhughes7359]

I'd olay Gordon over eze, I feel he offers a bit more

[@SueMyChin]

Foden started 10 games on the left wing for City last season scoring 6 goals and 17 games on right wing scoring 5 goals. He also started 7 in CAM scoring 7 goals. People are making excuses for him naturally but the idea that Southgate isn't using him right because he's starting on the left wing is doesn't add up. It's only one bad performance but Trippier isn't a great option offering width. If Shaw was playing Foden could play more centrally. In his absence They'd be better off with a natural wide man.

[@mattodonnell7186]

Spot on it’s doing Phil no good, getting pelted for not playing well. He’s trying to hard which makes me sad

[@AbidoShaker-]

​@@danielhughes7359Joker lol actually Eze has so so much more than Gordon. Dont play

[@Outoftheshadow0]

Jude is not a 10 he's better as an 8 if we continue with this we will fail. Its a team game and we need a manger who can get the best out of players, Jude was dire 2nd half as well as everyone else. No direction! Serbia deserved the point we were shite.

[@nichoybent4173]

The setup is beautiful for the pod. And you guys in the same room just adds a bit to the pod

[@dontbewoke]

It was awful. GS never learns. DId the same thing against Croatia in 18 and Italy last Euros after scoring first (and early) and look how those games ended. To park the bus after 25 minutes in a group game against Serbia is a footballing crime. EDIT ; the Denmark game backing my OP even further ; its become embarrassing now.

[@kb5509]

Most teams that win international tournaments park the bus regularly.

[@intenzityd3181]

@@kb5509 I can't think of a single team in the past 15 years that parked the bus to win a tournament. You have to go all the way back to Greece, and they were an extremely drilled team defensively unlike England.

[@monrush]

Do you actually think that Southgate told the players to sit back and not pass the ball to each other.. the players made a number of mistakes and the passing from players like Foden and Saka in the 2nd half was really poor

[@dontbewoke]

@@monrush Have you actually watched England in the last 8 years? Its a running theme with GS to defend 1 goal first half leads and end up getting punished.

[@dontbewoke]

@@kb5509 Not with a 1 goal lead after 20 minutes.

[@DevlinMMA]

Watching you two get slowly more pissed has brightened my day.

[@iLYK2PWN]

Micah says to play Bellingham further back to let Foden play No.10. Disagree, so dont play Englands best player in his best position (whos performing), to accomodate a player thats never performed for England. Part of being a great player is being able to adapt. If Fodens garbage everywhere apart from one specific role hes not as good as people bang on about.

[@chibbyranjo]

Foden and Palmer are a similar profile and there’s only room for one in the team, otherwise you become too narrow. That narrowness is fine as long as you have full backs that involved in the attack, but Southgate’s safety-first approach means that they aren’t as involved as they could be. That means the wide forwards need to be that, out wide, providing width. When you play forwards that want to occupy the channels and half-spaces, you need to let those full backs go. The best moments England had were on the right-wing, with Saka having his man on a plate during the first half. When Walker was involved high up with Saka, we looked really good. By comparison, the left side was narrow and Trippier was not involved in the attack. It’s fine to be imbalanced as long as the right is able to do its thing. Alexander Arnold was missing for long periods, and his big switch was going out to the left where Foden and Kane couldn’t get as energy levels dropped. Foden should have been pulled for Gordon. Bellingham’s influence wained as the game went on, so put Foden in there and put some pace on. Bellingham is a world beater, and definitely so for 60-70 minutes. There’s nothing wrong with bringing him off and moving Foden in. Or starting with pace and changing to the narrow way with Foden late on. MAKE A CHANGE. Do something different. Doing more of the same wasn’t working and personnel alone isn’t enough if you don’t play them any differently.

[@nihlify]

I don't get why he put on Bowen instead of switching Foden to the right bring in Gordon instead.

[@Sam-sd5kb]

Bowen was good when he came on. Why not just take Foden off, he played terribly. And not just because he was on the left.

[@petesmart1983]

Bowen was better than foden when he came on, he was direct and nearly set up a goal ... Bowen is a good option

[@Michael-me6qu]

Bowen and gallagher are not the best players but they know how to fight for a game they know how to press - Gordon too and we were in desperate need of that yesterday

[@stephentaylor2597]

Fresh legs

[@footyball66]

Bowen did a job when he came on....a defensive job.

[@lornasinclair4768]

Like this casual post match 🍷⚽️🍷 nice n smooth. More pre match like this...

[@ayaalnovgorodov8619]

England needs pace, Gordon on the left perhaps, foden sadly to the bench, they have enough tikitaka play from saka on the right and kane in the middle

[@martyn8128]

It’s outrageous that this podcast only has 215k subscribers. Great knowledge along with it being hilarious.

[@seantbuckley88]

Kane's obviously not properly recovered from his back injury. He did well considering, but should not have played the full 90.

[@JamesCM86]

Oh is that the excuse for his poor movement, and lack of ability to run

[@george_fg]

how can you say that when he was deliberately buying fouls all game by using his *back*

[@jimknight5420]

Talented, entertaining and authoritative talking heads in contrast to the plethora of self appointed and vanity projects in this crowded space.

[@petercampbe11]

really enjoyed this, an actual balanced debate on the game

[@rajimus]

No it isn't lol they're criticising the first game whe the players clearly aren't 100% fit. We won. Get over it support the team or gtfo.

[@petercampbe11]

@@rajimus 🪖

[@gollumei]

You are being sarcastic right? 🤣🤣🤣

[@Justinclewes]

Players are playing out of position but at the end of the day we are missing some good players because of form or injury so they are filling in and the main thing is that we win all of our matches and bring the cup home. Then Gareth can become SIR and the players will get MBE'S or a statue in front of there football stadium or home town. Come on England. Love your podcast guys. From Justin in West Midlands, England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿.

[@graemecollie9233]

I feel it is a relatively easy fix in that Bellingham is in beside Rice, Foden where Bellingham was and Gordon on the left with Trent benched. Bellingham can intercept, he's box to box and Gordon will stick to the wing and will protect Tripps which Foden doesn't coming central / roving. Our left will be far more exposed as the tournament goes on and the link up on the left isn't the same as the right. Tripps and Gordon have the club connection, utilise it. I hope Saka's fitness returns, if not then put Eze in. It's a great result but it shows how much improvement there needs to be.

[@jacka8161]

Bellingham played a false 9 for Madrid, won the double and La Liga player of the season, he has not played CM for club or country in a year. He is our best player, you play him in that number 10 role. If he didn't play 10, he may not have been in the position to score that winning goal (Foden would not have been in that position). Unfortunately, Foden is the one you drop and bring him off the bench.

[@troyhewson7907]

​​@@jacka8161everyone's saying not to shoehorn foden on the left wing, and play him as a 10, but that means we shoehorn Bellingham alongside rice, in a position he hasn't played for ages, when he has proved time and time and time again that he's our best player playing as a 10. I genuinely think foden will be better once Shaw is in the team

[@jonmartin9732]

@@troyhewson7907what you talking about, Bellingham was constantly coming deep especially during the second half, he was running basically 2 positions no.10 and no.8 possibly due to Trent being out of position. His influence faded throughout the game.

[@graemecollie9233]

@@jacka8161 I don't disagree however it would appear Southgate wants to play both of them and what I suggested is the only way I could foresee that working. And if it is a question of who plays CM between Bellingham and Foden with Rice, it's not Foden! Bellingham is the more capable of doing that role like that of Gerrard / Lampard.

[@troyhewson7907]

@@jonmartin9732 yeah but he would have to be way more disciplined alongside rice in a double pivot, when he's clearly our best player and needs a bit of freedom in that 10 spot. He would have a more specified role in a pivot with rice, and like you said, he wouldn't be able to have the freedom to be an 8 and a 10

[@wearewon]

More like, how to get the best out of Southgate (if shipping him out is not yet an immediate option)?

[@daviddimmock1044]

I think Southgate’s to scared to drop Kane

[@allbies]

Southgates issue isn't his players underperforming it's that he doesn't know how to use them. No one wants to see your best goalscorer and captain dropped because the manager is incapable of using world class talent.

[@filmobea]

My personal starting XI would probably mirror what Man City do. Pickford, Walker Stones Guehi Dunk, Rice Trent Jude, Foden Kane Saka. To help Rice get forward and protect the back line have Stones step into midfield like at City leaving a back 3 of Walker Guehi Dunk (or even Trippier) we're not going to get width on the left without a natural winger or left back on that side so why not overload centrally or on one side. Jude and Foden playing as two 10s behind Kane, Saka staying wide on the right with Trent playing that inner right channel like Beckham or Gerrard. Unbalanced but it's what we have. Unless Gordon or Eze start don't expect 1v1s on the left hand side. Palmer will want to come inside too. Comments for Watkins and I agree, Kane was painfully slow to watch, Watkins with his pace would've caused Serbia all sorts of problems running in behind AND open space up for Jude and Foden in behind.

[@realtalk8665]

Good to see people having conversations around Foden and Kane who seem to be protected by the media. Cesc remarks on Foden was spot on he needs to earn his England main man statues which hasn't happened yet. As for Kane he isn't a 90 minute player anymore Bayern have been taking him off in champions league semi finals. Watkins and Gordon would of suited the decision to play Trent in midfield

[@MattBax-sy3gk]

O you talk crap

[@realtalk8665]

Man city fan 🤣

[@matthenley3886]

Kane was subbed at 85 minutes in *one* of the semi finals and it ended up being a pretty terrible decision. What absolute nonsense you talk

[@realtalk8665]

After missing a chance to put them in the lead. He isn't a 90 minute player. Will not be surprised when Watkins takes his chance and stays in the team.

[@matthenley3886]

@@realtalk8665 Saying Kane isn’t a 90 minute player because he was subbed at 85 minutes is either idiocy or trolling, which applies here?

[@kevinbailey3384]

As a Welshman who likes England to do well, I am so frustrated that Southgate is so dreary. The talent England have is astonishing, and it just surprises me, that Southgate doesn't tend to understand the difference between picking the 'best players' and creating the best possible team. For me, England drift too much, and instead of making things happen, they sit back and just do not control the game anywhere near as much as they are capable of doing. Bellingham is a phenomenon, watching him is just a joy, he is the most complete English player I think I have ever seen. Foden didn't play well, so I would have brought Gordon on, and I don't get playing TTA in midfield, I think he was a liability. Leaf Davis at Ipswich should be playing at left back, and there is never a good reason for playing round pegs in square holes. After the first twenty minutes, England looked good, but the last seventy minutes was drab and poor

[@leeturton9254]

That headline?...you didn't say any of that on the telly last night?...playing the KZbin game?

[@miken56]

They actually did mention it. They asked fabregas about the comparison with foden against xavi and iniesta.

[@drewdavies3010]

It was a solid performance - you don't need to blow every team away - most consecutive clean sheets in euro history BTW 👌

[@ycanionlyevafind1sok]

No shots against from inside the box. That's pretty impressive. It looked like the 1st game of the season. I think we'll grow into it

[@bythepowerofgreyskull5169]

😂😂😂😂

[@petesmart1983]

No creativity

[@gollumei]

That's called Serbia not taking their chances. The amount of chances we gave Serbia was horrifying. Do that against Germany/France/Spain/Portugal and we'll be losing 6-0. Southgate regretting not bringing Grealish and Rashford. Proven international players who are positive and progressive with the ball. We're stuck with a bunch of youngsters who've never played with each other. Wtf Gareth!?!?

[@ThreeMillion-gi9wt]

Surprised how negative they are being!

[@sluglow6357]

I always look forward to major tournaments to watch the coverage from whoever all these guys are working for ,I don’t care if they’re competing or not watch it all lineker,Micah,Roy,wrighty,Souness,rio,Neville all of them ,I don’t care which teams they break off into it’s like they have a draft for tournaments 🤣

[@niallF96]

I can't believe Micah has got away with saying 'Bellingham ls good at scoring girls' and he's a leader on the pr*ck' live on tv 😂😂

[@jonnystaffs]

What do you mean by "got away with it"? He can't turn back time, and he's not going to lose his job for a slip of the tongue. The fact that you've posted it on here means that it didn't go unnoticed.

[@happyapple4269]

deffo a few shandy's during the game😂

[@niallF96]

Got away with it as in the banter they have on the podcast, hense that laughing faces.

[@jonnystaffs]

@@niallF96 You must be fun and parties, kid.

[@niallF96]

😂 I am, I sit on KZbin comments almost crying defending pundits mistakes when someone highlights abit of banter

[@thomasholt619]

The problem with bringing Ollie on and I’m a Villa fan is that Southgate hasn’t got the tactics to know how to use him. He’s great at pulling defenders out of position by running in behind but the balls just won’t come in for him. Need to play Eze as well if you want something to happen, especially as we haven’t got another good lw

[@Obs1986]

Foden either adapts and thrives or is benched. Simple as

[@Michael-me6qu]

I think he has had his chance. besides being ineffectibve he completely ignored his job of being om the left wing and spent all his time in the middle. bench him

[@martinharper2215]

Have to say the punditry from Cesc and Rio was spot on yesterday. How he spoke about the subconscious mentality by bringing on a defensive minded player over an offensive player and also the analysis of foden needs to step and demand the ball from his teammates as Bellingham does.

[@karmaascendant3936]

Not necessarily defending Foden but there were dozens of points where he dropped in to demand the ball on the half turn just for Trippier Rice and Guehi to turn sideways or backwards. Both Lescott and Onohua talked about David Silva loving the pass on the half turn but it also requires your teammates to trust you and at Arsenal Rice was moved out of the 6 to let Jorginho or Partey do the passing for him. Foden had to drift centrally because there wasn’t any chance the left side of midfield or defence were willing to pass to him.

[@_Goldenear]

Bellingham was dropping too deep, which was isolating Kane and Foden Pickford's kicking was poor in general and we repeatedly lost possession when he went long, despite giving him four or five options for a short pass

[@nige5902]

100% those long balls were won every time by Serbia

[@William_Organ]

Dropping deep because RIce was playing midfield on his own. Trent looked like he won a competition to be there - not a midfielder. No positional awareness, no touch, can't pass, can't tackle, can't cut out passes. Waste of a shirt.

[@southgunner21]

His long ball wasn't accurate too.

[@christinemurray1444]

Southgate likes playing deep with counterattacks. We played like a championship side and Serbia were actually better than us at it. Thank God for Bellingham's early goal because we were on the back foot for most of the game.

[@adzhaz]

Love this podcast. Great to see this up already.

[@connorriddle]

Big fan of Meeks and Gary but Cesc is 100% right, Bellingham owns that 10 role after his performance last night, Foden had his chance against Iceland to seize it and he failed. If he's the player everyone believes he can be then he should be able to make an impact from the left floating in

[@nicholasgage2095]

Great pod thanks. My take is always play the best player you have for that position and however good Foden is play someone who feels comfortable on the left obviously Bellingham is an exception.

[@ChameleonDance]

Gordon on left, Foden in the middle with Rice and Bellingham, Saka on right. That's what this naive fan would like to see! 😊

[@DogstarGaming]

Loving the quick uploads ❤

[@clivehunte3026]

I don’t like it when reporters as players questions that are either loaded or negative. Bellingham dealt with the report I thought. If we want to get behind the players, reporters should be mindful of the questions they ask and not put elements of doubt in their heads. Let’s get behind our team.

[@MattBax-sy3gk]

Win lose just winging, first half best I've seen England play

[@beefybreaker]

Great pod, there's just not enough time on the live broadcast to get into the detail.

[@DrawnInk1]

It’s clear Gordon has to go on the wing, Bowen starts and Foden is brought on as an impact sub to rest Bellingham. I’d do 3 at the back with Rice plus one protecting. Then Foden, Bellingham with Kane as 9 with two wingers. Now to hear your thoughts.

[@Ben-gd4db]

There is no place on the pitch for Bowen to start

[@draoicht22]

Yeah I think Foden as impact sub for Bellingham makes the most sense... At least he's playing in his best position

[@neilgoldsworthy9788]

I love our Gary when he's had a glass of wine ❤

[@leonporter2625]

Bellingham was do majority of the work in Midfield & tired as the game went on..... If Mainoo had played that workload with have been shared a bit more. Point being he was covering often for Trent's lack of understanding the role.

[@WicksyGaming]

Love the pod but the thumbnail showing the team did bad is exactly what is wrong with media and football. They got the win, thats all that matters

[@iamthewalrusable]

Joe Gomez would have done a good job on the left, especially getting forward.

[@lornasinclair4768]

For a long time Jude didn’t start for England now his the darling of football which is well deserved, but Phil Foden is also a great player who doesn’t get to shine 🌟because he always plays out of precision which will dampens your game especially when you love football n would like to play your game. Come on Phil shine 🌟🤩🌟you deserve it!

[@yoelpachuco6875]

Spain and Germany will demolish England…The importance of coaches is undervalued

[@jordancoupe2759]

Jog on mate I'm sick of hearing what other teams are gunna do to us, we'll find out when they play, until then shut up.

[@yoelpachuco6875]

@@jordancoupe2759 typical Southgate fanatic…sack him and you have a chance…Denmark and Slovenia are even more likely to be a point loss than a win…England fans are the most deluded people in all of sports

[@jasonsherratt870]

@@jordancoupe2759yeah and me sick of it did 🇭🇷 sit back against spain no,so much easier to play,am sick of the negative comments.

[@yoelpachuco6875]

@@jordancoupe2759 England fans are so delusional😂

[@Its.coming.h0me]

No they won't, england grow into tournaments they always have, last euro they only won 1-0 to Croatia then ended up in the finals, don't rule us out, we can and will win it,

[@tmithoth8956]

The belief is something that is going to seap into this squad of players as soon as they get a good manager. The trophies and Cup final experience of Trent, Foden, Bellingham and Lewis will be priceless

[@bjh1202]

this may sound weird due to his form this season for city but i honestly think grealish would be an ideal fit on that left hand side, much stronger runner with the ball to draw fouls in dangerous areas and a better 1 on 1 threat against the full back

[@gollumei]

It's almost like he didn't assist both our open play goals in our friendly against Bosnia the week before the Euros.... OH WAIT, HE DID!! WTF GARETH?!?

[@richierich7229]

​@@gollumeiHype over tactics.

[@gollumei]

@@richierich7229 Yep, as the saying goes, class is permanent (Grealish), form is temporary (Eze, Mainoo, Wharton, Toney). The team is massively lacking in experience and team chemistry. We're not quite the same team we were during qualification, or in the Christmas world cup 1.5 years ago.

[@zirbto5749]

​@@gollumeibut England fans only want Players in form. Maguire should have been dropped years ago even if he was one of if not Englands best Player (he was in the team the Last 2 tournaments )

[@gollumei]

@@zirbto5749 Team selections should always be a balance of experience and form. Unfortunately Gareth prioritised form. No one would be complaining if they'd been performing well in friendly's building up to the Euros. If the euros had been last summer when we beat Italy 3-1, and beat Macedonia 7-0 instead of drawing 1-1, we'd be rolling. But it's not, and ultimately we've won 2 of our last 6 games (Serbia and Bosnia), scored 3 open-play goals (assisted by Grealish and Madison), and conceded 5 goals since November 2023 (against Macedonia, Iceland, and one of the worst Brazil teams we've ever seen). Currently our squad is suffering due to injuries (Maguire, Shaw, Stones, Sterling) and Southgate choosing players who had a decent end to the season (Mainoo, Eze, Toney, Wharton) instead of proven international consistent performers (Grealish, Madison, Rashford, Henderson). There are too many unknowns at the moment. Grealish would have brought a bit of known quality back into the team. He understood how to link up with Kane, Saka, Foden, Trippier, Trent, etc... I think we'll be lucky to finished 2nd in our group. Probably gonna end up looking like this: 1) Denmark 2) Slovenia 3) England 4) Serbia I'm an England fan btw, but I think our best days are behind us if Southgate stays in charge. Hopefully he resigns soon, in which case better days might be ahead of us... Unfortunately there are no obvious replacements.

[@BeatsDownGaming]

Rice was superb, as well as Bellingham - although a bit selfish at times. Main problem was the complete lack of intensity after the first 25 minutes after starting so well. Also, when we had loads of possession in their half, nobody was making any runs forward, so possession was simply wasted.

[@garythurlby7341]

Their manager had a plan B and C….We did not 🤔🤔🤔🤔

[@damiengriffiths8934]

Clearly not, they lost...

[@julian-eu3xh]

Plan of fouling the opponent each minute that pass, wow great plan dude and they got a loss.

[@audreyhall8644]

Gazzas new bestie micah was spot on after the game. Very knowledgeable pundit.

[@GIBBO4182]

All we ever seem to do as a nation is focus on the negatives! We won and we kept a clean sheet, let’s just take the 3 points and move on

[@enemywithin1295]

Germany beat Scotland 5-1 (and Scotland only had one because of an OG in the 87th minute). Spain beat Croatia beat 3-0. We beat the mighty Serbia 1-0. And it was close. We have some of the best players in the world - that is not good enough.

[@rowly1985]

We've seen how this story ends three times now mate. Forgive us for being fed up with it.

[@Set451]

Cause you want to win the tournament. And for the whole of the 21st century England have only been able to progress in tournaments beating relatively weak sides and lose every time they face a challenging team and fans want to see a change with their most talented team, possibly, ever.

[@GIBBO4182]

Thanks for proving my point guys 👍

[@HeaRtllesSs]

The simplest way to put this is this. You have the components to Perform like a Lamborghini but your output is that of a 10 year old family vehicle Massively underperforming

[@neiljones5133]

Gareth has no plan B or C. As soon as the Serbs went man for man they went straight back into the default retreat mode. We’ve seen it before with Italy and Croatia in recent years. Kane starts dropping deeper picking balls off midfielders toes with nobody running beyond. As poor as Rashfords been, at least he’s direct. Runs in behind and gets the team up the pitch. Would have liked to see him change the front 3 at 50-60 mins. You’ve got Watkins, Eze, Gordon, Bowen all with pace that like to run in behind who can dictate the press and get the team back on the offensive. He doesn’t react to what’s happening quick enough. Defensive mindset and will come unstuck again in the latter stages. In my mind, the only players he really needs to interchange are the 10 and the front 3. With Shaw, that back four ain’t getting any better and Rice and Bellingham have to play. Foden was about as effective as Scholes was when they pushed him out left. If he doesn’t start 10 then he doesn’t play. Stick somebody out there like Gordon who is direct and bring Foden on when you need to unpick a team. Same with Palmer. Would love to see what a Pep or a Klopp would do with this side. They wouldn’t be hanging on against Serbia for 45-minutes with that talent at their disposal

[@althain1988]

The England shirt weighs a tonne with expectations. Put that team in any Premier league shirt and they are smashing teams in an attacking fashion every week. I think that's what's hard for fans to grasp when they see these players playing week in week out differently

[@fazman72]

This has nothing to do with the performance. It's almost entirely down to Southgates tactics and team selection.

[@intenzityd3181]

There's way more expectation at elite club level. Not a good argument.

[@althain1988]

@@intenzityd3181 than a country that hasn't won a tournament since 1966 and has some of the world's best club players

[@32446]

They also have decent managers in the PL who know what they’re doing.

[@DG-nn8zt]

I was talking with someone today and the first half was decent. The second half failed because Kane changed his play. The first half he was pullling players to him and out of position, the second half he tried to come short and get the ball (because he wanted to be on the ball more), sometimes a striker needs to play off the ball for the betterment of his team mates.

[@internationalrtg5602]

I love the podcast guys, but it’s obvious to everyone that Southgate plays revolting cowardly football and is a perpetual loser. Time to stop playing nice and call him out.

[@paulnelson7698]

The title is perfect Gary.

[@KobeManuPetro]

They were not underwhelming at all! They were surgical and got the job done. This was a good performance for a first game at the tournament. And that's coming from a French...

[@rajimus]

Media having to slag them off no matter what it's appauling.

[@Ben-gd4db]

It was underwhelming when you consider its one of the tournament favourites setting up defensively and playing long ball with no control of the game when you're 1-0 up. England played like the underdog trying to secure the points

[@KobeManuPetro]

@@Ben-gd4db a clean sheet is always a good sign. I think they will play each game better and better. It's not how you start the tournament, but how you end it...

[@dunngyllite7883]

True for the first half. Second half Serbia came really close to a (well deserved, imho) draw. Still, first game, no harm done, so let's see what England offers in the next game.

[@danieltomek1701]

As an outsider (i'm not english) i would say that you guys are making the same mistake you did with Gerrard/Lampard/Scholes. All of them are obviously brilliant footballers but shoehorning them all into the same XI just meant that the team on the pitch was unbalanced. I think it's a similar case with Foden - he is obviously a fantastic footballer but doesn't quite fit anywhere at the moment. Left wing is not for him (especially not without left footed LB to hold the width but even with Shaw it's not ideal), Bellingham is king in the middle and Saka is much better choice for a right wing. Foden should be on the bench with either Gordon/Eze/Grealish starting on the left (since Rashford isn't in the squad) or Saka LW/Palmer RW combo. Also get Trent out of the block in the middle of the pitch - he is one of the best passers in the whole world. Look at Germany and what positions are Kroos and Kimmich taking up on the pitch - either deeper or wider. He would be able to spray passes all over the pitch instead of facing his own goal when he recieves the ball.