Rico Lewis 21:14 - Nov 20 with 3177 views | BlueNomad | Is he really better than Leif? |  | | |  |
Rico Lewis on 21:19 - Nov 20 with 2869 views | Scuzzer | No...he had been woeful...but will probably score the winner. |  |
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Rico Lewis on 21:35 - Nov 20 with 2781 views | waveneyblue | He plays for Man City reserves, therefore Gareth doesn't need to compare. It's been the same for years, the best players don't naturally make the England squad. See Marcus Stewart for full details |  | |  |
Rico Lewis on 21:55 - Nov 20 with 2663 views | bournemouthblue | I imagine if we got to the Prem, Leif would have half a chance and a greater chance if he was simply a squad player at one of the 'big' clubs, even if he was never playing. That's the sad truth of it. |  |
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Rico Lewis on 23:33 - Nov 20 with 2427 views | Nutkins_Return |
Rico Lewis on 21:35 - Nov 20 by waveneyblue | He plays for Man City reserves, therefore Gareth doesn't need to compare. It's been the same for years, the best players don't naturally make the England squad. See Marcus Stewart for full details |
Love Leif and hope he goes on to play for England but let's not change history here. The best players do play for England and the squad. There is a bit of debate around the fringes of the squad (ward prowse for one has been unlucky). Rico Lewis has played over 30 games for Man City. Arguably the best team in the world. He has been impressing immensely over the last 12 months. Playing at a higher level. I don't think Leif would look out of place but it's not a 'madness' decision. |  | |  |
Rico Lewis on 00:05 - Nov 21 with 2367 views | StNeotsBlue |
Rico Lewis on 21:35 - Nov 20 by waveneyblue | He plays for Man City reserves, therefore Gareth doesn't need to compare. It's been the same for years, the best players don't naturally make the England squad. See Marcus Stewart for full details |
He's a teenager who is becoming a regular at the European champions. You're being more than a bit dismissive about someone with incredible potential. Leif is quality and will play in the Premier League with or without us, hopefully with us. |  | |  |
Rico Lewis on 07:49 - Nov 21 with 2064 views | Herbivore | Lewis is clearly an outstanding talent, hence getting a good amount of game time at Man City at the age of 17/18. That said, I don't think he's a conventional left back by any stretch and whilst inverted full backs work at City, for England they further slow an already ponderous side who tend to get over-congested in central areas. Leif is very much a modern wing back who gets up and down and gives you as much going forward as he does defensively. The Euros will come too soon for him, he won't get in without having played in the Prem, but I expect him to get a call up next season and I'm going to stick my neck out and say I think he'll be England's starting left back for the 2026 World Cup barring injury. |  |
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Rico Lewis on 07:52 - Nov 21 with 2057 views | BlueRaider |
Rico Lewis on 23:33 - Nov 20 by Nutkins_Return | Love Leif and hope he goes on to play for England but let's not change history here. The best players do play for England and the squad. There is a bit of debate around the fringes of the squad (ward prowse for one has been unlucky). Rico Lewis has played over 30 games for Man City. Arguably the best team in the world. He has been impressing immensely over the last 12 months. Playing at a higher level. I don't think Leif would look out of place but it's not a 'madness' decision. |
There is a definite big club bias, look at Kieran Richardson and Wes Brown, England regulars at United, but never really good enough, move clubs and don't get picked again |  |
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Rico Lewis on 07:54 - Nov 21 with 2051 views | waveneyblue |
Rico Lewis on 00:05 - Nov 21 by StNeotsBlue | He's a teenager who is becoming a regular at the European champions. You're being more than a bit dismissive about someone with incredible potential. Leif is quality and will play in the Premier League with or without us, hopefully with us. |
To be honest I don't know a lot about him. But there is and always has been favouritism shown to the big 5 when it comes to England call ups. Some valid, others not so much. Saying that, I can handle that better than players who don't even play for their clubs getting call ups |  | |  |
Rico Lewis on 07:57 - Nov 21 with 2036 views | Herbivore |
Rico Lewis on 07:52 - Nov 21 by BlueRaider | There is a definite big club bias, look at Kieran Richardson and Wes Brown, England regulars at United, but never really good enough, move clubs and don't get picked again |
It's not like there's no logic behind it though, if you're good enough to get regular game time at one of the best teams in England (and thus usually one of the best in Europe) then the chances are you're a pretty good footballer. There's also an argument that having a number of players who play together week in and week out for their clubs is good for team and group cohesion for the national side. |  |
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Rico Lewis on 08:05 - Nov 21 with 2010 views | GeoffSentence | Lewis has come through all the England Youth levels. I think that plays a big part in player selection. Not sure if it was a tactical instruction on Southgate's part, or just the way Lewis plays, but his tendency to come inside and play a central role when England were attacking did not work last night. Could really have done with someone stretching the defence on the left hand side rather than clogging up an already congested middle part of the pitch. |  |
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Rico Lewis on 08:56 - Nov 21 with 1876 views | Matt_Netherlands | I love Leif but let’s not let blue tinted glasses take over…. Leif easily has the better stats and impact for his club this season and last, but Lewis has played 30+ times for the European champions, has champions league experience and experience playing against a much higher calibre of team. From what I saw last night I think Leif could easily have matched his display, but if we talk about overall player potential and suitability for he England set up, then unfortunately there’s only one winner. |  | |  |
Rico Lewis on 09:18 - Nov 21 with 1800 views | _clive_baker_ | I really rate Davis myself, but any talk of him being even remotely close to the England squad is fanciful at best. There's no way Southgate should or would select from the Championship right now when you consider the depth of quality available to him, even without Chilwell or Shaw. Trippier can play on the left and has done for England, Colwill is playing regularly for Chelsea now and can play there, Lewis is getting in and around the Man City squad at 18 which is no mean feat and clearly someone we'll be looking towards in the future, Rico Henry is doing well for Brentford and played at youth levels for England, he's one I would be interested to see given a chance. Then you've got the lad at Palace, there's also Dan Burn although not sure he really suits our style there. I doubt Davis is even the 1st left back in our squad that would be called up to be honest, given Williams' premier league experience and the fact he's at a big club. If Leif gets 30 good appearances at Premier League level under his belt then he might start to ask questions, but even then it'll be tough. Look at Cressy, he's been a regular in a decent premier league side for most of the past decade until the last 18 months or so and he's barely been given a chance for England. |  | |  |
Rico Lewis on 09:33 - Nov 21 with 1747 views | Bluefields |
Rico Lewis on 07:52 - Nov 21 by BlueRaider | There is a definite big club bias, look at Kieran Richardson and Wes Brown, England regulars at United, but never really good enough, move clubs and don't get picked again |
Wes Brown was a superb player. |  | |  |
Rico Lewis on 09:34 - Nov 21 with 1743 views | Bluefields | Yes , a long way better. He clearly wasnt asked to play wide but to move in to central midfield when in possession. Terrific talent. |  | |  |
Rico Lewis on 09:34 - Nov 21 with 1738 views | BloomBlue | Leif is great but he isn't getting into the England team until he proves he can do it in the Prem. I'm not even convinced if he was in the Prem and still with Ipswich he would be selected for England. Its always been about the top 4/big clubs. You only have to look at Ward-Prowse, the current highest assists in the Prem and instead of him, we played with a fullback in the midfield. |  | |  |
Rico Lewis on 09:51 - Nov 21 with 1681 views | monty_radio | He plays some sort of hybrid role for City, according to reports. Last night he seemed to be deployed similarly. One thing he wasn't was either a left back or left wingback. Added to which, the cry has been for Shaw/Chilwell replacements. If that's really what Southgate wants, why choose someone who was so obviously right-footed? |  |
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Rico Lewis on 06:33 - Nov 22 with 1163 views | PioneerBlue | Can we buy him for c10 million and sell them Leif for c20 million to solve all the problems and sort England at the same time. (I don’t really want to sell Leif and values are used only as examples). |  |
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Rico Lewis on 08:19 - Nov 22 with 1047 views | Powrigan |
Rico Lewis on 21:19 - Nov 20 by Scuzzer | No...he had been woeful...but will probably score the winner. |
I didn’t think he was too bad. |  | |  |
Rico Lewis on 08:25 - Nov 22 with 1040 views | Herbivore |
Rico Lewis on 08:19 - Nov 22 by Powrigan | I didn’t think he was too bad. |
He was fine. Anyone describing him as woeful probably falls into the same camp as those who called our performances between the last two international breaks "poor". |  |
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Rico Lewis on 08:33 - Nov 22 with 1023 views | Kieran_Knows | Are you talking about the same Rico Lewis that is a fairly regular starter for one of the best teams in world football, with one of the best (if not the best) manager in world football currently? Lets take the rose tinted glasses off shall we? |  |
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Rico Lewis on 08:59 - Nov 22 with 967 views | tractorboy1978 |
Rico Lewis on 08:33 - Nov 22 by Kieran_Knows | Are you talking about the same Rico Lewis that is a fairly regular starter for one of the best teams in world football, with one of the best (if not the best) manager in world football currently? Lets take the rose tinted glasses off shall we? |
And who one month ago, Pep described as one of the best young players he's ever coached. |  | |  |
Rico Lewis on 10:41 - Nov 22 with 856 views | Nutkins_Return |
Rico Lewis on 09:33 - Nov 21 by Bluefields | Wes Brown was a superb player. |
100%. Without injuries Wes Brown was absolutely top class. He played at a time England had outstanding options at CB and he was still getting in. He would be first pick in current England team if still fit. Was a really odd thing to use Wes Brown and Kieran Richardson fas evidence of club bias. They havent played for England for 17 and 13 years respectively!!! Southgate has been picking players from Palace (multiple),Villa (multiple), Brighton, Leicester, West Ham etc just off the top of my head. He's left out players like Sterling, Sancho (even when he was playing for Utd regularly etc. Yes there are a few odd choices like Henderson (which also doesn't fit the big club rhetoric) but it's really not true a out only picking players from big teams. As someone else pointed out the. Correlation is more that the % of best players play for bigger clubs (obviously). |  | |  |
Rico Lewis on 11:37 - Nov 22 with 798 views | ArnoldMoorhen | Leif is an exceptional attacking Full Back, is still young, and can improve all areas of his game further. But if Southgate's scouts were at the wrong game then they would have seen that sometimes he is suspect defensively, especially under the high ball just beyond the far post. That isn't the end of the story- he can work on that, and I am sure that he will- but it is possible that Southgate or his team feel that either that weakness would be exposed in Internationals currently, or that risking exposing it now could set him back, given the scrutiny mistakes by England players receive in the media. There's no rush, and he hasn't been tested against top quality players yet. |  | |  |
Rico Lewis on 11:54 - Nov 22 with 760 views | ChampionsofInnsbruck |
Rico Lewis on 23:33 - Nov 20 by Nutkins_Return | Love Leif and hope he goes on to play for England but let's not change history here. The best players do play for England and the squad. There is a bit of debate around the fringes of the squad (ward prowse for one has been unlucky). Rico Lewis has played over 30 games for Man City. Arguably the best team in the world. He has been impressing immensely over the last 12 months. Playing at a higher level. I don't think Leif would look out of place but it's not a 'madness' decision. |
Yet the second he pulled on the England shirt and played under Southgate he went from a young and exciting prospect to another dullard in a bad Nike PE kit with the rest of them, and immediately over hyped by our awful and unrealistic press. We're wasting yet another generation and tournament rather than appoint a real manager. The guys been a fluke since he arrived, his selections are laughable, his tactics are almost designed to take the fun out of football and the second we ever come up against any resistance we get beat. The fact that this dreary caretaker has got us to a final when Robson didn't is a travesty, but Robson came up against better opponents earlier than Southgate did. Oh.............. Davis for England! Give that lad a call up, he'd do just fine. |  | |  |
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