England

Quoted from KingstonMariner

Thought they were a bit sloppy. Play like that against a good team and we'll come unstuck.

I agree. In fact, we weren't great for a lot of the game on Friday. The scoreline then didn't entirely reflect the performance as we had a bit of luck in most of the goals. Rose in particular had a really poor game last night which was a surprise as I rate him highly.

That said, we've definitely got some very talented young attackers coming through. Neither Sancho or Hudson-Odoi look the slightest bit fazed in possession though I think both need to be a bit less casual at times, especially when we play more capable opposition. Barclay has done well since he came in but I'm still not convinced by our midfield in general and ultimately, neither Henderson or Dier is up to it at the top level. Rice was surprisingly sloppy in possession during his performances, I thought, though he otherwise read the game well and got his foot in where required.

Kane a very classy player even when he has a relatively quiet game but we need another striking option available because we can't rely on him to shoulder all the burden of leading the line as his gradual decline last summer showed. Not sure if Rashford is that type of a player as it stands.

Henderson isn't up to it at the top level, the captain of a team that is getting to champions league finals and challenging for the premier league title? I agree about Dier though. Our players have great cutting edge qualities, which is good because we don't have to play that well yet score 10 goals in 2 games.

In Sterling whom I have slated venomously in the past they genuinely have a World Class talent along with Kane who will tear teams apart for the next 5-6 years at least. The way he has upped his game to fulfill his early potential at Liverpool in the last 18 Months is nothing short of sensational.Last night albeit against limited opposition he ran the game and showed why for me he is easily the most improved player in World football and will go on with the likes of Hazard to take over from Messi and Ronaldo.

Baffled by the criticism on here in relation to these two performances especially after the pain we have all suffered over many years watching England grind out results. Short memories as we actually knocked Spain out the Euro league albeit we won one and lost one.

Hudson-Odoi is on these two showings the brightest prospect since Rooney and looked so comfortable on the ball. It was his first start, as it was for Rice, so being a bit sloppy is probably to be expected. Don’t we say just that about our own Harry Clifton and these two are younger than him so let’s give them some slack. Until the World Cup I was no fan of Henderson but his performances during that time and since have convinced me he is good enough.

I think the commentary said 14 players unavailable last night so that would include Stones, Gomes, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Rashford, Lingard, Sancho & Shaw so add those guys to the mix and I believe there is every reason to be optimistic.

Ten goals in two games and Kane only scored two of them is another plus as shows we are not going to be reliant on his goals and for the first time in years we have real pace and should Kane have to miss out for any reason a front three of Sterling, Rashford and Hudson-Odoi would be pretty frightening for any defensive set up to deal with.

Quoted from Lincoln Mariner 56

Baffled by the criticism on here in relation to these two performances especially after the pain we have all suffered over many years watching England grind out results. Short memories as we actually knocked Spain out the Euro league albeit we won one and lost one.

Hudson-Odoi is on these two showings the brightest prospect since Rooney and looked so comfortable on the ball. It was his first start, as it was for Rice, so being a bit sloppy is probably to be expected. Don’t we say just that about our own Harry Clifton and these two are younger than him so let’s give them some slack. Until the World Cup I was no fan of Henderson but his performances during that time and since have convinced me he is good enough.

I think the commentary said 14 players unavailable last night so that would include Stones, Gomes, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Rashford, Lingard, Sancho & Shaw so add those guys to the mix and I believe there is every reason to be optimistic.

Ten goals in two games and Kane only scored two of them is another plus as shows we are not going to be reliant on his goals and for the first time in years we have real pace and should Kane have to miss out for any reason a front three of Sterling, Rashford and Hudson-Odoi would be pretty frightening for any defensive set up to deal with.

The proof will come in a while when these young players are a bit older and more agent savvy. Just now they are like kids on a summer camp with their teacher but once they become “stars” life seems to change. Rooney was tremendous when he first came into the England side as a lad at Everton remember. Then the lure of the big time came along. I’m not saying this will happen to them all but the test of the manager will be what he does when he has to balance off field matters with the football on the pitch.

I'm not going to analyse the games or performances. All i know is that for the first time in a very long time, i actually enjoy watching England play. We may or may not win a major competition, but we certainly are back in the elite group of countries on a world and European stage now, which looked miles away when we lost to Iceland with the same dull, boring, predictable fare. We have just swept away two sides that in the past we would have struggled to break down. I think last time we played there it was 1-1, so we can't complain too much. I also think we are only going to get better, so i'm going to enjoy it while it lasts.

There was a period from about 60 to 80 minutes where we absolutely outstanding last night. Sancho is the one that really excites me though.

Let's wait and see how they get on in the Nations League semi against the Dutch in June first.

Nothing wrong with being critical of the things which weren't done correctly even if a lot of goals have been scored. You would expect that Southgate and his coaching team would be saying the same thing with the view to cutting out the mistakes.

It's all very well giving relative minnows a drubbing without playing particularly well, but you need to aim to to get into the habit of performances with as few errors as possible because the better teams won't let you off the hook if you cough up possession cheaply time and again.

I think we've got some decent enough defenders (when on form), some good young attackers, so the key area is getting the midfield sorted out to make us into real contenders for trophies.

I think Barkley has probably done enough to get a place in the team in the last two games and you can't complain about much of his play. He certainly has the ability as well as the physique and it is good to see him actually getting some game time at Chelsea after disappearing off the map for a year due to injury. On the other hand, Dier is one I wouldn't want to see in midfield as he's just a little too cumbersome but I do think he could certainly be a capable central defender. I'm not fully convinced by Keane or Tarkowski at the back - they remind me too much of Cahill who was never quite up to it at international level. However, if Dier isn't playing at the back for his club, he shouldn't be playing there for England.

Henderson is a decent player, just not one who can quite hack it at the top international level - in my opinion, of course. He's now won 50 caps for England (many against 'minnows') but has yet to score. Even though he plays a relatively defensive midfield role, this isn't a good return and he's only scored a couple of goals in European competition as well. I'd say he's similar to Milner - he'll always put in a shift, show one or two good bits of play and make few errors, but it's not quite enough to make him a high-level international player. That said, I think he's probably worth his place at present as we don't really have anyone much better to play, but I think we'll need more in the longer term.

Edit:  Forgot to say, I agree that it is almost unbelievable the degree that Sterling has improved. For many years, he never looked as though he would score goals regularly but he's developed into a really good finisher. A surprise, as I have always thought good finishing wasn't something which could be 'learned', being more of a temperament. It has turned him into a really good player and it was noticeable that he didn't chuck himself to the ground in his old manner in either of the recent games.

Quoted from Ipswin

Let's wait and see how they get on in the Nations League semi against the Dutch in June first.

I agree but for once there have been parts of games to enjoy from an England side so fair do's to them.

It is such a pity that they have to be in the PL, a lot of them would do much better to go abroad and they would get more game time there. The money in the PL is so overpowering and job security for managers so poor that nobody wants to risk giving young players game time for fear of losing games. So all they get is the less important cup games and they have to pretend to be happy with it. Foden for sure should get away from Manchester asap and be a regular somewhere. Likewise Hudsonhyphen, these lads should be starting first XI games and playing 30 a season by now.