RE: bonker14 Jul 2018 19:10
Totally mate but the potential/likely level of improvement over time is being exagerrated hugely imo - they're young but they're not kids and have all likely topped out already.
The kind of things we say about our 22-25 year olds "they're still learning", "he'll learn lessons from that" etc must have foreigners peeing themselves with laughter because that's what they say about their 15 year olds and if they haven't "learned" by the time they're 18 then they're out of the game but we'll keep ours cos they run around a lot or have big arms.
What we've seen, imo, are players who've been exposed to the (much) higher levels of ability of foreign players (technical, physical, mental) in the PL and have raised the bar in those respects but we're talking about a 10% improvement here overall and to get a seat at the top table (consistently) we need to raise it by 50%.
That, at best imo, is a multi-generational timescale you're looking at there. If the money keeps coming into the PL (it won't at current levels - that bubble will defo burst at some point) and attracting more foreign talent on/off the pitch then perhaps we'll get there in 30-50 years time via monkey see, monkey do.
Ultimately, Southgate got these guys to show the most disciplined, composed and professional first half performances I've ever seen from an England team but they were all on their knees after an hour in every proper game except Sweden because their heads and legs had gone with the pressure.
That consistent collapse after an hour points to only one thing imo - post-adrenaline fatigue. These guys, via our mixed Celtic genes no doubt lol, probably have their hearts pounding in their chests the very minute they arrive at the ground which means by the time half-time arrives, they've been on a massive adrenaline spike for two hours+ and NOBODY can keep that going without a sudden and severe collapse.
Our major problem is a mental one imo without doubt but 80% of that will come from our culture where it's always about aggression, conflict and running around shouting a lot cos that means you "care" etc. Just contrast the expressions on our player's faces compared to pretty much every other team's poker faces, no matter what the circumstances. Everyone else is putting their effort into playing a disciplined and professional game and making the right decisions, ours is all about if I can only run a bit quicker or kick the ball a bit harder etc lol, it's just bloody nonsense and will never work :)
In short - compare Silva, Iniesta, De Bruyne or Hazard to Henderson, that's it right there, brains over brawn.
We've caught up on the technical/physical fitness side for sure but when it comes to the stuff between their ears we're nowhere still, over two halves of football at least :)
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