Branthwaite overlooked again as Bellingham spares Southgate successive Wembley defeats

I feel for Branthwaite who would have wanted to start. Good for us but not for him,

I have a passing interest for international football.

My OCD kicking in. If England wear white why are they wearing black at home? And if Belgium wear red, why are they wearing blue?

Apologies!

He basically receives the ball from his centre-back, controls it and passes it backwards.

I could play left back for England if that's all that's expected.
On the other side – I wish we'd signed Jarrod Bowen!

Absolutely shite and our lad sits on the bench.

Let's hope United take deadbeat Southgate and we get a proper tactician in. Like watching paint dry, sideways and back sideways and back.

Southgate is miles off being a top manager but he speaks nicely and wears the right cloth. FA yes-man who never speaks his mind and always very conservative in his views.

Knows how to keep a cushy job in the gentleman's club which is the FA.

Was never a top player and will never be a top manager.

Has some very special players at his disposal but doesn't seem to know how to use them effectively. One plan playing his way or it's the highway.

This team set up the way he puts them out will win nought as his previous record shows.

It just looks odd.

Keep Branthwaite off the pitch.

Sorry, I'm just scarred by losing players once England taints them.

I support Broadbridge Heath FC. They play in blue, the guy on the gate is an Evertonian, and it's 10 minutes staggering door to door!

UTFT and UTFB (Bears)

Hopefully he will go to the Dark Side.

Even better, Stevie Gee.

Mark. Lard, You'll have to explain to me!!! See you soon mate.

I don't know the origins of it but apparently Horsham fans call themselves the Lardy Army and take a pack of lard to all games. There are three blokes, the “leaders”who dress up in yellow and green butcher's aprons / lab coats who place the lard on the dug out roof and do an incantation along the lines of “All praise the Lard…”

I was in a local pub when Horsham played Barnsley in the cup recently and didn't realise there was a game on. I was chatting to some Barnsley fans telling them how I nearly got crushed at their place back in the 80s. I went to the bar and these three blokes, dressed as above, came in and put a block of lard on the bar and started doing this stupid incantation. “All praise the Lard, the lard is good” etc.

I told them they were fucking loopy and acting like kopites and they accused me of disrespecting the Lard! Fucking knobs the lot of 'em.

The Barnsley fans just took the piss relentlessly though I later heard that most of them were ejected before half-time. Not surprising as I was in the pub at 3 pm and it was a 7.45 kick off!

I think I may be doing Onana a disservice when I say he's not putting it in for Everton. He's a good player but he's not putting it in for Belgium either. I don't actually see what he brings to the game.

Maybe I'm over-critical but he's just a talented technically gifted player who just doesn't seem to actually enhance, nor weaken, a team?? Am I being unfair??

Poland and Wales into ET. 0-0.

England have to stop thinking everything has to go through Bellingham. Use the space he creates by drawing players to him.

Tielamans MOTM and can't get a game at Villa !

and then Hey Jude delivers !!

Do pointless international friendlies matter?

Pickford coming out of his box more. Why can't he do that for us? Tactics?

Onana, although not everyone's favourite and not the most creative has a great recovery tackle on him.

Sorry, I just don't do England.

Should be playing for Ireland.

Declan Rice is a very good player.

I wasn't sure to start with but he is a midfield enforcer.

Declan Rice very underrated. The type of player Catterick and Kendal 1, would have bought in a heartbeat.

Wales looking like it's going to penalties.

I am happy Jarred didn't play at this time as his time will come and Everton need his presence right now.

A pity Picks and Onana got the assists on the Belgians first goal but I would prefer picks to screw up for England than Everton.

It's quite obvious that Southgate picks players that get press mentions at club level and he wants the support of the press. He should have quit last year when it was expected.
Some players despite good club form cannot step up at international level.

The wins that elevated Southgate were usually against much lower rated opposition but he rarely does well against the upper echelon teams.

Just hope Onana is okay for the Bournemouth game.

Pete, that's how Sarah describes me. Except she never says "whilst."

Do you mean step down to international level?
Most half-decent teams qualify for the enlarged finals tournaments these days. England's problem is that, as soon as they come up against a decent team, they lose.

I saw a stat before the last World Cup that England have never beaten a Top 10 ranked team in any tournament played outside England.

Such a shame for Wales. What a crowd. Such brilliant support.

Had they not been playing I would probably have watched reruns of A Place in the Sun rather than England. Ridiculous that Branthwaite didn't get at least 20 minutes but at least he hasn't been injured.

Onwards to Saturday and return of angst.

Neil #48, I had the commentary on subtitles – believe me, “Wales will want to win this one” comes out just as feeble.

About 10 years ago, I was commissioned to write a series of articles for a major US Newspaper and my editor like you was a Chicagoan.

I submitted my first article and received a curt response that simply said “whilst is not a word.” I sent a lengthy response and so began a very brief very antagonistic professional relationship which quickly saw us both reassigned to a different editor and writer.

The curtness you cited is uniquely Chicagoan. So, I presume, were some of the names he called you.

Nonetheless, the editor was technically correct. In both the AP Stylebook and the Chicago Manual of Style, the two Bibles for American journalism, "whilst" would be flagged as erroneous.

What were the articles about?

I'm certain because it won me a bet with a friend in the San Francisco over-35 PAPY league. I bet him $20 against a real Argentina national team shirt.

I still have the shirt, and I'm confident in its authenticity because the friend was Nicky Kempes, Mario's cousin. He was incandescent with rage, convinced -- as I presume he remains to this day -- that the game was fixed by the referee. Some towering, bald, bug-eyed Italian whose name I can't recall.

I don't care if Branthwaite played for England or not. I just hope he's ready to play against Bournemouth on Saturday.

Welsh hearts broken. I have a soft spot for Wales having served there for four years.

It'd set his development back a couple of years.

Southgate is
out of the same mould as Dyche and Moyes and I wouldn't
want him anywhere near Everton.

What I should have said is that, in the 11 World Cup Finals England have taken part in since 1966, we have never beaten a team that was ranked higher than us – in the knockout stages.

Apparently we have lost three times to Germany, twice to Argentina and once each to Italy, Brazil and Portugal.

We have only managed to beat Denmark (ranked 20), Senegal (18), Columbia (16) and Sweden (24) in the latter stages of the competition. We were also beaten by Croatia (20) in the 2018 semi-final.

I also recall a UK bookmaker, before the last World Cup, saying how much the betting industry enjoys England drawing a top-ranked team in the latter stages of the World Cup.

Another example of how the game now is anything but fair and honest. Does anyone really think Maguire would be playing every game if he wasn't at Man Utd?!! Or that Mainoo would be straight in if he wasn't playing there too?

Previously Tottenham were the FA's favourite unwarranted pick for internationals; now it's Man Utd.

Bellingham must be amongst the best midfield players in World football. Also, I was very impressed with Mainoo, nice to see him looking to carry the ball forward. Foden is a class act might, he not have had his best game but he is so talented. And I have been saying for a while what a good player Bowen is, no doubt he will replace Salah in the summer.

Defensively we looked weak but I can understand why Southgate didn't bring Branthwaite on, and instead tried what he thought were tried and trusted Premier League defenders. I felt a bit sorry for Rice as it would have been hard to lose a game England dominated.

The Hero of the Greek Police "Do you know who I am" Maguire can't buy a game at Man Utd yet he is played in both games!

If I was Branthwaite, I'd check for grandma's and grandad's past holiday destinations or else ask Pep or Carlo to adopt him.

If you look back, Howard Kendall never played a senior match for England and Colin Harvey played once. Against Malta.

Before my time but even when successful, we have never been popular.

I think the only time was when there was a significant Everton presence was against Argentina in Mexico 1986.

Four players in the lineup. Okay Lineker was on his way out and poor Peter Reid was chasing a lost cause trying to catch Maradona.

I think Bob Latchford only played a handful of games. We just aren't liked despite the quality of player.

I sound paranoid, but even as a youngster, I never connected with England. I know I've mentioned it before, but after a family event this week, I was talking with my relatives. Second generation Liverpool-Irish on one side. Northern Irish and Scottish on the other. All eventually landed in Liverpool.

I just don't feel the connection with England. I call myself British.

Anyway, at least Branthwaite will be available to play for Everton at Bournemouth. That's more important to me.

Bobby Robson had Reid right down the pecking order, even though he was the best English midfielder around that time.

He's another who, like you say, went down the England pecking order because he didn't play for Manchester United or Liverpool.

I imagine Paul Bracewell's few England appearances were blighted by injury otherwise he surely would have appeared more? I liked watching him just behind my obvious.

I hope Branthwaite does well and goes on to succeed for his country and Everton. I just get nervous when Everton players go to the England set-up.

Right now, starting Saturday, I'll just enjoy Branthwaite whilst we have him. A joy to watch. So calm and composed. You wouldn't believe he was 21.

Most I speak to don't think we'll hold onto him.

My hope is that his dad is apparently often in the Winslow and said he's going nowhere.

We'll see. Just get the winner in the derby, Jarrad.

The task of securing survival and getting as many possible points, in view of what Masters may sanction, is the most important aspect for Everton.

Survival this season and onto better times. That would be a great day.

A real shame that Jarrad didn't get any time as he could have been back at Finch Farm with the lads instead of being chatted up by Foden and Maguire.

The idea that he did not get on the pitch because of some fecking conspiracy or anti-Evertonitis is just utterly silly and makes us look utterly silly.

Who does Pickford play for?

As in, do the opposite to those two oil tankers.

To me, it highlights just how good kids coming through the likes of the City academy are – and why, sadly, we massively overestimate the ability of players coming through the vastly inferior academy at Everton.

It is no surprise that we have no-one in the U21s set up (and indeed no-one other than the GK Lukjanciks in the England youth set up all the way down to U16s).

I've made myself unpopular on the Harry Tyrer thread and I'll repeat the unpopular opinion here that I'd be surprised if our next homegrown first-teamer is currently older than 15.

That said, we might certainly do well to pick up the likes of Brooke Norton-Cuffey, James McAtee and Callum Doyle if available over the summer. And the same can be said of a bunch of younger academy players at other clubs who are all out of contract in the summer.

I agree. It will have been a good experience for him being on the training ground. And observing that even at 21, he is far better than Dunk and Maguire. Let's enjoy him while we can.

Robert Tressell, you made me think about U21s. Not just Everton, but England. I believe it is getting better, but it doesn't always translate and the step up is huge.

I remember John Ebbrell coming through. England youth captain and hailed as the next greatest thing. I think at the time, given what we'd been used to, we were clutching at straws.

He had heart and spirit, but just not what we had been used to, although in fairness, we had been used to Reid, Sheedy, Steven and Bracewell. He was a decent player, but never quite lived up to expectations in my opinion. Obviously that depends on what your expectations are.

There are countless examples – that many I could roll off… Tony Grant springs to mind.

I think Man City have a good model, but they've built a framework under the stewardship of Guardiola.

Guardiola has certainly benefited, not only with the likes of Bobb, Foden, Lewis and others being regular first teamers - but also from £378m generated by academy player sales, which has increased his transfer kitty massively.

Perhaps because managers used to run the whole show years ago, I think they are credited still for things that clubs are doing.

For example I saw a comment recently to say that we should thank Ancelotti for bringing Branthwaite to the club. Branthwaite was signed while Ancelotti was in charge but the manager had nothing to do with the signing. In fact I'd be surprised if Ancelotti had ever heard of a 16-year-old playing in the English 4th tier – since he had apparently never heard of Doucouré (an established Premier League first teamer).

It's the same with the heavy recruitment to the City academy – none of this has anything to do with Guardiola.

The manager is the figurehead, but it's what goes on behind the scenes that builds the framework. The manager can give direction, state what he wants, but it's down to those in the background that make it happen.

I don't think it has ever been different.

This can only be achieved by having a specific style of first team football (backed up by effective and consistent club management).

Both clubs' managers have been in control for about 8 years so those 13/14 year olds are now starting to blossom and to be available for the first team having been in and around that constructive atmosphere for all of their post-pubescent years.

How many managers have we had in that time?

No wonder our academy struggles to produce even a player who can come on for the last 10 minutes to ease tiring legs.

Guardiola is a visible figurehead for the first team at City – but he doesn't run the very extensive show of operations beyond the first team (the tie up with Girona, the scouting network in South America, clubs in Australia and the MLS), the academy etc etc.

That all happens irrespective of manager, because it's the club's strategy, led by the less visible people who really run the show and to whom Guardiola is accountable for the bit he does run.

Waldron has/had a massive amount of influence and also a very big scouting network, whereas Brands would have been brand new, considering he was coming to work in a different country.

You have got to try and align rather than isolate but my own repetitive view is that the standard of coaching has got to really improve, imo.

They can all run, they can all shoot, they have all got a good first touch (otherwise they shouldn't be there) so go and do something a little bit different, and maybe we might even reap some rewards?

When I coached, I wanted to mentor and teach players to improve. I got dismayed at some of the so-called coaches who I stood alongside screaming with rage at kids. Some of the coaches couldn't kick a ball.

I'm not suggesting I was the best player, but I could at least step in, demonstrate and coach, bring out the best and improve players.

So my prediction that our next regular first-teamer from the academy is currently no older than 15 might have just been scuppered. He might now be no older than 14.

Unless we do sort out the academy big time (and the club as a whole), it is going to be really difficult to retain our most promising players. If Rooney was coming through now, he'd probably have been coaxed away by Man City when he was about 11.

In some respects, the good news might be that City's academy produces so much Premier League and International quality talent, but it still isn't good enough to actually play for Man City. Just from their academy, about a dozen regular England, Scotland and other youth internationals will be out of contract June 2024.

Pick of them is Micah Hamilton, who could be a great signing for us. He's a 20-year-old left winger / Number 10 and their U21 captain. Played and scored against Red Star Belgrade for them in Europe but unlikely to ever make the grade there. I suspect he'd walk into our First XI.

But there really are loads more. I was going to list them out but there really are about 12 or so just from their U21 team. All regular youth internationals, but most (maybe all) never going to come close to making it at City.

Coaching, Danny, plus the overall philosophy of the whole football club. Be humble and have respect, but once you cross that white line, it should always be about winning.

Sorry I'm gonna mention Liverpool, but winning is ingrained into the culture of that club, and they don't give a fuck how they do it.

Surely the point of friendlies is to try things, yet it's the same players getting in.