[Football] England squad announcement - Lewis Dunk RECALLED!

[hans kraay fan club]

I was there at Franchise. Looked assured for such a young player. Disgraceful that he hasn’t been part of the England set up for the last 5 years!!

I was there, with my two lads, sat behind a big bald bloke, who turned out to be Dunk's Dad.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Congratulations to Lewis Dunk. Terrific performance and made the step up look effortless.

He made the 'step up' look effortless, simply because there IS NO STEP UP.

He's spent the last six years playing against better forwards than he faced last night, week in week out, and more than holding his own against just about all of them.

 

[seagurl]

Nah. Peak Gazza would win games on his own.


Yes, he is.

 

[Mellotron]

He made the 'step up' look effortless, simply because there IS NO STEP UP.

He's spent the last six years playing against better forwards than he faced last night, week in week out, and more than holding his own against just about all of them.

This was one of the most annoying things about the questions in the media - whether he could make the "step up" from playing against the likes of Mo Salah, Cristiano Ronaldo, Erling Haaland, Harry Kane over the last few years, to facing the far more fearsome

Che Adams and Lyndon Dykes.

How will he cope?!

 

[Machiavelli]

People have probably forgotten he was part of Poyet's team that played possession football, or that Gus gave him his debut up at Milton Keynes.

Poyet didn't use Dunk much. Greer was a fixture at CB, and Al-Abd was favoured until Upson arrived. It was Oscar that picked Dunk regularly.

 

[Machiavelli]

I think the issue is a lot of English fans haven't seen what Bellingham did for Dortmund.



If you've got a bit longer:



And that's all as a teenager, playing multiple positions, sometimes as captain for one of the biggest teams in Europe.

Gazza's best league goal return was 9. Bellingham got 8 last season and has 5 in 4 games already for Madrid. It's hard to compare players but I'd back JB to have a bigger impact and certainly more longevity.

Thank you for embellishing the point so adeptly. I also agree that comparing players across eras is difficult, but am confident that JB will outstrip PG. One poster said that for four weeks PG was the best player in the world, which is a more difficult claim to dispute, although I'd encounter that he was up against Maradona at that point.

 

[Deportivo Seagull]

You can't have it that when England do well it's the players and when they do badly it's the coach. It's just inconsistent and shows bias. It's always a mixture of training, tactics and how the players react to and use them.

We played well partly because it was a very British game, like a top Premier League side against a very average one or even Championship team. The good news for Euro 24 is that there's no Brazil or Argentina or, indeed, any good teams except us, Portugal and France. If Bellingham and Dunk can do it against those two - and, yes, if Southgate lets them - then maybe the trophy really isn't that far off. If he'll only let us off the leash in comfortable games or if the players freeze against bigger opposition then the knives will be out, no doubt.

The big takeaway from yesterday was the change in transition. Normally it’s slow and ponderous however yesterday it was quick with a lot of one touch football, which is very unlike Southgate. Now whether this was down to Dunk’s ability to pass the arse off the other CB’s on offer is open to debate, but we will cause better teams than Scotland trouble if we play like we did. That sort of play if executed properly wins trophies.
interesting that all the pundits said it’s the best crop of players ever and we should win trophies and so that will be down to Southgate. If he sticks to ‘tried and tested’ we’ll win buggerall but if he’s willing to take risks then he’ll bring home silverware.

what was stupid was replacing Ghuei with Maguire when he had Timori on the bench. The own goal was an own goal from a player who hasn’t played enough football and shouldn’t be on the pitch. For Southgate against the old enemy to do that is just unforgivable. Southgate is complaining about the criticism of Maguire and to a certain extent I agree with him but not for the same reason. He shouldn’t have put Maguire in that position in the first place, he has a duty of care to a player who is under a great deal of pressure at his club and isn’t match ready. Yes, he has produced in the past but clearly hasn’t recently.

 

[One Love]

Southgate wants Maguire and to a lesser extent Phillips in his squad next summer.

So if they don't play regularly for their clubs, get used to them playing nearly all the available minutes in internationals until then to keep them match fit.

 

[Seagull58]

Bellingham is much, much better than the heights Gascoigne reached. He's already one of the best players in the world.

This is simply not true. Yes, he's already one of the best players in the world but so was Gascoigne from 1990 to 1996, despite his knee reconstruction and his issues with unsuitable friends and marriage.

 

[deletebeepbeepbeep]

Southgate wants Maguire and to a lesser extent Phillips in his squad next summer.

So if they don't play regularly for their clubs, get used to them playing nearly all the available minutes in internationals until then to keep them match fit.

All credit to Phillips as I think he looked decent, shame he didn't get a loan move out of Man City in the Summer.

 

[Seagull58]

I think the issue is a lot of English fans haven't seen what Bellingham did for Dortmund.



If you've got a bit longer:



And that's all as a teenager, playing multiple positions, sometimes as captain for one of the biggest teams in Europe.

Gazza's best league goal return was 9. Bellingham got 8 last season and has 5 in 4 games already for Madrid. It's hard to compare players but I'd back JB to have a bigger impact and certainly more longevity.

Bellingham may well have more impact and longevity than Gazza. It's no secret about Gazza's poor choice of friends and mental issues. The point I strongly disagree with is that Bellingham is already better than prime Gascoigne. IMO this is simply not true. It is tragic that Gazza didn't play in the '94 WC (because England didn't qualify) or the '98 WC (because his demons got the better of him) but prime Gascoigne was arguably the best player in the world. Some of his performances for Lazio were just sensational. There are video clips of him beating 5 or 6 players to score goals IN THE ITALIAN LEAGUE IN THE 90'S. There were defenders there who would decapitate you to stop a goal.

 

[Seagull58]

Judging by his maturity and seemingly being well advised, Bellingham will almost certainly have a much bigger impact and longevity than Gazza. Have to remember however that peak Gazza was literally a 4 week period in the summer of 1990 and he was an absolute joy to watch. And although he had a decent season with Spurs straight after, the distractions of fame and that knee injury meant it was neve replicated over the long-term.

If Bellingham can match the level Gazza reached in 1990 over the course of the next 5 tournaments, then us England fans are in for a treat.

You weren't exposed to Gazza at Lazio. There are some clips of him doing unbelievable stuff there. He was absolutely loved and worshipped by the Lazio fans. He even headed the winner against Roma!

 

[Pavilionaire]

I think it’s almost certain Dunk will be in the euros squad , even Southgate can’t not include him now ..

The ironic thing is that by Maguire not playing for Man Utd he won't therefore make any mistakes, whereas Lewis is about to come up against tough European opposition in some of the most partisan stadiums in Europe and could easily drop a clanger or two. If Maguire was playing in those matches he'd be dropping a clanger or ten.

 

[Curious Orange]

Poyet didn't use Dunk much. Greer was a fixture at CB, and Al-Abd was favoured until Upson arrived. It was Oscar that picked Dunk regularly.

Not quite sure what point you are trying to make there, he made over 50 appearances under Poyet playing possession football.

 

[tstanbur]

He made the 'step up' look effortless, simply because there IS NO STEP UP.

He's spent the last six years playing against better forwards than he faced last night, week in week out, and more than holding his own against just about all of them.

There’s definitely a step up in pressure and expectation. Plenty of standout premier league players have been picked for England and not handled it.

You need an elite mentality for international football to play as well as you do for your club.

 

[Bakero]

You weren't exposed to Gazza at Lazio. There are some clips of him doing unbelievable stuff there. He was absolutely loved and worshipped by the Lazio fans. He even headed the winner against Roma!

He was, and indeed still is, loved by the Lazio fans. He had moments of absolute mercurial brilliance there, as he did throughout his career. When it comes to technical gifts, there haven't been many better in world football, certainly not from England. The dribbling, the passing, the shooting was all top, top level. His game did have its flaws and he lacked consistency, partly due to reasons already discussed.

As I suggested before, comparing players is a fool's errand and ultimately pointless. We can all remember the joys of Gazza and marvel at his highlights on YouTube. With Bellingham, the story is just beginning. Whatever happens, both will be remembered for years to come.

 

[slimes]

5 years..
It was England's loss but Brightons gain. If Dunk was 27 and playing consistently for England we would of lost him.
I think Southgate took his critism.. has found a new dynamic and a different playstyle.. that first half was exceptional for England.. have to say the Palace defender Guehi played his part extremely well too!

 

[AZ Gull]

Poyet didn't use Dunk much. Greer was a fixture at CB, and Al-Abd was favoured until Upson arrived. It was Oscar that picked Dunk regularly.

You've got your facts mixed up somewhere there - Dunk only started 4 regular season league matches under Garcia.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

I was there, with my two lads, sat behind a big bald bloke, who turned out to be Dunk's Dad.

A little add-on to this story...

(Mark) Dunk obviously remembered our brief encounter and chat, on what must have been an enormously proud day for him, because about 6 months later we randomly found ourselves sat a couple of seats away from him again, at Peterborough (the "we're f***ing brilliant" game), and even though we'd not spoken or acknowledged each other at all, he came back from the kiosk at half time with a bar of chocolate for my 11 year old.

Dunk himself didn't even play that game at Posh - he was with the team, but not named in the squad.

 

[Bakero]