England were beaten 2-0 by Belgium last night and as a result, won’t make it to the Nations League finals next October
Gareth Southgate’s side travelled to Belgium last night in need of a win if they wanted to progress to the finals of the Nations League. They came into this one off the back of a 3-0 win over the Republic Of Ireland on Saturday.
England had seven points from a possible 12 going into this game. They had already beaten Belgium, but a draw and a loss to Denmark meant this was a must-win.
Southgate started his usual formation of 3-4-3 with two full-backs and defensive midfielders making up the midfield four. England fans aren’t a huge fan of this as its seen as a very defensive way of playing football, especially when England have such good attacking options.
The game got off to the worst possible start with Belgium scoring after just nine minutes. Eric Dier played a sloppy pass out from the back to Mason Mount who was beaten to the ball. The ball then fell to Lukaku who heald it up and set up Teilemans on the edge of the box who fired it into the bottom right corner. Pickford got close but wasn’t helped by the deflection of off Tyrone Mings.
England went searching for an equaliser and nearly got one minutes later through Grealish. Things went from bad to worse for the visitors. Napoli forward Dries Mertens converted a free-kick from the edge of the box into the left corner of the goal beating Pickford with ease.
England spent the remainder of the game trying to find something to spark a comeback but they never really came close. Kane saw a header cleared off the line and then passed one into the arms of Courtois late on in the second half.
This result dumped England out of the Nations League and put more pressure on Gareth Southgate. His side has scored just the one goal from open play in five Nations League games. The other two goals coming from the penalty spot. Southgate will need his side to reply on Wednesday against Iceland.
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Is Southgate Still The Right Man?
If you go back to the 2018 World Cup people were lining the streets literally singing Southgate’s name, however, it now appears that this is changing. Over the past year, England have been lacklustre, to say the least. Southgate is playing questionable formations along with starting players who maybe don’t deserve to be.
With Euro 2020 on the horizon, many fans are suggesting that it might be time to cut ties with Southgate and have someone new come in. England have a lot of good players to choose from and are also the joint-favourites to win the competition at 5/1 on Betfair, along with France and Belgium.
Sean Dyche is the current favourite at 4/1 to be the Next Permanent England Manager. Personally, we don’t see this as a good choice. Dyche doesn’t have experience of dealing with top players or playing a style of football that can beat the best teams. England need to use their best players in their best positions and under Dyche, this wouldn’t work.
At 7/1 is Eddie Howe. He has been linked with the job for many years, but the fact his side got relegated lat season may hinder his chances. Howe plays nice football though and is good at working with young players.
We do like the look of Arsene Wenger at 14/1. The ex-Arsenal manager is at a high price probably due to his age and the fact England aren’t actively looking for a new manager, yet. Wenger knows how to play against the very best teams and has coached some of the very best players. He knows how England want to play football and an international job would suit him as its now a whole season job.
Were not sure whether England will give Southgate the Euro’s to prove his worth or not. A loss to Iceland on Wednesday with the fact there is not more International football until next year could be the end for Southgate.
