The Lowe-Down

International breaks. We’ve become accustomed to them interrupting the flow of the season. And for what, routine England wins before we yearn for the restart of the Premier League campaign? Well, yes. England won both games. 2-0 the scoreline in both. Normal service resumed. Except this time, it was different. The first time we hadn’t seen Gareth Southgate’s England. This time it was Lee Carsley’s England. Yes, that doesn’t sound right does it? Well, with two wins to his name, a glowing England U21s record and ultimately a lack of available alternatives, we might just have to get used to it. So, with that in mind, how did we arrive here and what does “Carsball” have to offer? After Spain’s convincing final win against England, Southgate called time on his England reign. His tenure had reached a natural conclusion. An overall success, given the position he has left us in, and yet a nagging feeling it could have been better. And of course, no trophy to show for his efforts. The attenti...

And we’re back! 4 weeks on from our Euros heartbreak, the Premier League returns. I didn’t embarrass myself too much in my predictions last year so without further ado, here’s my 2024/2025 predictions. Relegation: Last season was an anomaly in that all three promoted sides went back down. The second time in Premier League history that has happened. Unfortunately such is the wealth gap between the Premier League and the Championship, I feel all three promoted sides will go down again. Leicester have lost their manager, talisman and face a potential points deduction. Southampton have little Premier League experience and I can see a scenario where we’re calling them and their coach, Russell Martin, naive when they’ve conceded another goal from playing out from the back. Ipswich I have most hope for, and I believe they have a chance. I certainly don’t think their coach, Kieran McKenna, will be dropping back down with them if they are relegated. I could make a case for one of Forest, Brentf...

  How was the game vs Netherlands? And, what about that Watkins moment? Alex: The Watkins goal was just brilliant. He’s shown his clinical instincts for Villa over a number of seasons now and the finish he produced last night was well worthy of winning such a huge game. I’m really pleased for him and Southgate too, who acted decisively to introduce Watkins and Palmer in the 81st minute in place of the tiring Kane and influential Foden. Southgate has been criticised for his lack of proactive changes, but you have to give him credit for making such a bold move which ultimately won us the game. The match itself was, if you’ll excuse the cliche, a game of two halves. We produced our best performance of the tournament during the opening 45 with Foden excelling in a central role. The overall tempo, intensity and fluidity in our play was everything that had been missing from earlier lacklustre performances. However, the tweaks Koeman made tightened the game up in the second half ...

With the group stage over, I caught up with the pundits to get their thoughts on England ahead of the last sixteen clash with Slovakia. What have been thoughts on England so far? Alex: Dull, uninspiring and lethargic. England’s Euro campaign has not been on easy watch thus far. The lack of balance in the side and signs that Southgate doesn’t know how to use the attacking players at his disposal have created a huge amount of talk over selection, tactics and the manager himself. Personally, I feel a few minor tweaks can turn our fortunes. Josh: Underwhelming. Anyone you ask will give you the same answer. That said, it’s never straightforward to top the group as the French kindly demonstrated for us. So in that sense, job done. The rose-tinted spectacles say “there’s a lot more to come”, the pessimistic side of me says “we’ve been here before”. A grim knockout stage loss beckons, or we’ll kick on and go the distance with a favourable side of the draw, there’s no in between Lowe-...

Euros Euphoria Part 2 – Is it coming home? And as promised, the blog where we give our predictions on the winner of Euro 2024. Part 2 is dedicated to England. What can we expect from the three lions this summer, what would we do if we were Gareth, and is it coming home? YOUR ENGLAND STARTING XI: Alex:                 Pickford   Walker Stones Guehi Shaw            Rice Bellingham           Saka Foden Palmer                      Kane The team I’ve selected is pretty offensive, as I feel that we need to utilise our attacking strengths. Foden was outstanding for City in a more central position, so I would have him as a 10 with Bellingham slightly deeper. This then allows the inclusion of Palmer, who I would grant a free role to. He con...