Came up on Twitter that we have won just 3 of our last 18 games in this Tournament! Least the youngsters will be prepared for disappointment with the first team. Although we did well in Russia but the draw was rather kind to us.
Watching Boothroyd with England reminded me of watching Ivic with Watford. Playing a style that doesn't fit the players available. McNeil is not a wing back for one, so why put him there? Not sure what the obsession of 3 at the back is all about. Just screams "don't lose" rather than "let's win" and you look very stupid when you end up losing 1-0.
The Russia draw was better than "rather kind". It's almost as though god (no, not that one) was playing a joke on us by giving us an easy route to the final on the occassion that we had a no-hope team just to show us how poor we were. Lost the 3 times we played a decent side and needed pens to get past Colombia.
Boothroyd now reminds me of someone who has entered a cult and has been brainwashed. I don't remember his speech being so stilted when he was with us.
Of course they let a World Cup winning manager go to Swansea rather than try to keep him and maybe promote him. Or maybe it’s just the way football is now. Club comes over country even for managers.
They have a history of keeping managers on after failed tournaments I feel. Sven (ok he did better than most but never really improved over time) Capello (Kept on after the 2010 World Cup only to leave after the John Terry row) Keegan (I know he quit later) Hodgson Even our own GT some might argue given what happened in Euro 92 albeit in a tricky group and the World Cup failure was unfortunate. Guess they were hoping for the Bobby Robson affect where went go from losing all 3 games in the 1988 European Championships to World Cup semi finalists in 1990. In fact the FA don't seem to sack any managers apart from Big Sam and Glen Hoddle for his disabled comments . They'd wait for the manager to quit. For the Under 21s Stuart Pearce kept his job for along time and David Platt too I think. Note neither of them have gone on to be good club managers.
International management must be tricky with the lack of day to day involvement with the players. I would presume it is suited to either an older manager or someone with other areas of work,irons in the fire.
Don't think it will be too long before Boothroyd leaves the job. Lots of unhappy noises in various places. Bursik whose grandad is a hero in Czechia is still available to them for selection at some point.
Feel for the lad. Played twice in a back 4, looked good, gets dropped then doesn’t get a sniff for 3 months. T-E doesn’t fill me with confidence, stick Ben in next to Sierralta. But judging from the bench Kabasele and Cathcart are both above him in the pecking order too.
Ben has ‘liked’ about a dozen tweets saying the club have disrespected him, he needs to leave for his own good, it’s a joke he’s not had more game time etc. Hard to argue with that. Can’t blame him at all if he decides he’s done with this club.
I've not witnessed anything yet for me to say he will come good and be a mainstay in defence. Number one is hes simply not strong enough. Big problems if you're a CB.
I can't argue with that, he has been here a while but he has never looked anything special IMO, maybe he should move on as it does not look like he is going to make it here, probably famous last words
Needs to go on loan with guaranteed playing time. Then we could properly evaluate him. But I agree he doesn't strike me as anything special atm.
He's been a bit unlucky in the last two years, he's been at Swansea and now us who had two of the best defences in the league, needs a loan to a mid-table or play-off chasing team where he'd be guaranteed games, then hopefully he'll come back and be properly in contention for us the season after, whatever division we're in. He's a good Championship defender already, and he's only 21, so there's still hope for him, although he does need regular games sooner rather than later
He's been around so long I thought he was older than 21, in that case maybe I was a bit harsh on him, and another loan might do him some good.
Is he good enough to be a top 6 Championship player? Maybe, but it turns out the likes of Guehi and Sierralta who he's had to fight with for a place in the team over the past two seasons are a cut above, we just have be to smart about who we loan him to, who will be up there, who will be looking to play a passing style from the back, but where he'd definitely be able to get into the first XI for. Maybe someone like Reading? They'll need to sell to meet FFP regulations, yet have the core of a good Championship team
https://twitter.com/robin_sarge/status/1391146343343734789?s=19 Safe to say Ben's a little cheesed off at his lack of gametime
Not a powerful CB, but he does seem to read the game really well and get his positioning right. He did alright in the back 3 but was always on the left and looked uncomfortable when dragged out in to the channel. I think in a back 2 he’d he much more comfortable but we’ll probably never see it now. And he was much more adventurous carrying the ball out of defence and playing passes through the lines than any of our other centre backs. When Wilmot plays it’s nice to watch a defender whose thought process isn’t: can I give if to my CB partner? If not then can I go back to the GK? If no again then let’s lump it up field.
Article on Wilmot in the Athletic: https://theathletic.com/2549480/2021/05/11/what-next-for-watfords-ben-wilmot/ A summary of the main points for those not subscribed: Contracted until 2022, but with an option to extend a further year Club want to assess him in pre-season A number of clubs interested in signing him (including former club Swansea, where Andy Scott who signed him from Stevenage initially now works) Watford understood to be open to a loan or a sale He's definitely not ready for the Prem, and probably wouldn't have been ready even if he'd played every week, but boy have we messed him up since Xisco took over
Tbf who right now is a better defender, Troost or Wilmot? Wilmot has potential but we couldn't afford him the game time over a more experienced player.
The Scott link with Swansea seems the most likely option. Lots of things lining up there, though if they stay down can they afford him?
Think the most likely scenario would be another loan, especially as with Guehi out of the picture at Swansea, his route to regular first team football will be much clearer. Of course, all this is banking on them not going up...they can't, can they?
That's genuinely an interesting question, neither Wilmot nor WTE are without fault, but they are both good defenders at this level. Wilmot certainly isn't as much of a disaster with the ball at his feet (even on the left side of the defence), although WTE's leadership skills probably gave him the edge over Wilmot who after all, is still only a youngster
They won’t want to sell another young player who has time and effort invested in him so agree a loan is the most likely .
Whose choice is it to extend the contract? I suppose if he has a say in it, we will have to make some assurances to him that he will have a route to the first team in 2022-23 (whatever league we're in) or else we risk losing him for peanuts, but if he's satisfied, a loan is best for all parties