God Preston are a tough team to like. Probably worst footballing side we've seen. Tight in their defence though.

Midfield balance of the side looks a lot better, and we are dominating the ball. But can't really say we look look any more like scoring than Preston. Gallagher to be fair to him has been decent. We're obviously trying the "false 9" system with Armstrong dropping off with Brereton and Gallagher getting in the box. Makes us quite narrow though. Don't think Douglas is getting up enough on the left to give us the width. Wharton has been defensively decent.

Reckon we will see Brereton, AA and Gally swap quite a bit. That's happened everytime Gally has played.

I guess Gallagher got the goal so Mowbrays given him a start. Can't really figure out how we play 433 with him though. Elliott retains the ball well and supports a passing game, Gallagher certainly doesn't. Will be interesting to see if we just boot it to him or try and move it around.

Interested to see how Trybull plays with Johnson out. Hopefully in that sitting role he can look the part. Not been convinced by him at all recently. Kaminski Nyambe. Lenihan. Wharton. Douglas Holtby. Trybull. Rothwell Elliot. Armstrong. Brereton Subs : Pears, Bell, Carter, Grayson, Downing, Buckley, Dolan, Davenport, Gallagher

Overall this is why I am concerned about Douglas in our system. We expect our full backs to get up and down and cover a huge amount of ground. I am not sure Douglas can do it...

Really hope Holtby is back for this one and we drop Trybull. If he isn't lets play Buckley.

Well as expected the balance of the team was all wrong with Trybull and Johnson both out there. Trybull a very very conservative player, and Johnson was expected to run up and down the inside right channel which he clearly doesn't have the legs for. In the 433 we play it's crucial 1) the two wider central midfielders have exceptional workrate to link the forwards and midfield, but can recover to defend if we lose possession, 2) we play a high back line to get the midfield close to the forwards. Today we played about 10m too deep and were really static in midfield till Trybull came off, then we improved a lot. Honestly think we would have won if we'd started Buckley/Johnson/Rothwell across the middle. I'm stunned Buckley didn't come on at all. Have to agree this is shaping up to be another 8th-13th season. A real shame as the squad is a top six squad.

He's not going to increase the amount of ground the midfield covers though, which I would say is our primary problem at the moment.

Yes and if one of them isn't available Buckley is next best shout.

Reckon poor display a direct result of playing both Trybull and Johnson in the middle imo. Means we just can't cover the yards and the midfield is ineffective. I'd bring Trybull off for Buckley and get Johnson in the sitting role. Wish Holtby was available. Also Wharton has been good. Not convinced by Douglas, seems too slow for the role he is being asked to play. I would dare to say Bell offers more..

Not convinced by both Johnson and Trybull in the midfield. Too static. Otherwise good team.

We've got quite a decent squad now, especially when Dack and Travis are back. Good rule change for us.

Yes Kaminski is critical. If he, Rothwell and Johnson, Armstrong all start we've got a very decent chance.

Mowbray has said Holtbys out.

Really worrying the ifollow figures are so low, I thought they would be decent as you would have the fans up and down the UK and internationally as well as local fans. Also we started the season well, playing attractive football and have a decent team. To only sell 2k or so is very troubling. Have to say future of the club is looking pretty bleak.

Team above would be my first choice but from Mowbrays comments likely to not have Ayala, Williams, Holtby. Kaminski touch and go too... Probs will end up Kaminski JRC Lenihan Wharton Douglas Buckley Johnson Rothwell Elliot Arma Brereton Really should be a win for us.

Yeah. I don't think the Brazillian, Spanish, French or Germany press and fans are any kinder than our lot. There were riots in Rio and when Brazil got thumped by Germany, and the press in all those countries write horrendous stuff about the team, manager etc when things go poorly. I think the difference seems to be the FA doesn't take it on the chin and just move on, rather it seems to try and mitigate the risk up front by making conservative. Sure that happens in all countries FAs, but maybe more so in the UK. Last "attacking" manager was probably Hoddle. Allardyce, Woy, Capello, Eriksson, McClaren all managers who built their careers on creating solid sides. Southgate hadn't really even had much of a career before taking over.... I could understand it in the periods where we didn't have many good players, but we do seem to have an exceptional crop in the offing at the moment. I think we should be more adventurous, and if we take a hiding live with it.

I reckon we have as much chance as about 10 clubs, so we can dare to dream. But only a little bit really...

You could argue that teams like Germany, Netherlands and Brazil do well because they do take a lot of risks, and as a result take a drubbing time to time. Liverpool another example. If i was to level a criticism at England is we have generally always prioritised not getting beat, and I think a lot of that is how browbeaten the FA is by the press and the fans. Losing is not an option.... When was the last adventurous England team? If you put the experiment with 433 to one side with Southgate you have to go back quite a long way.

Probably our best performance for years.

Genuinely think it's pretty good. You get the top sides in Europe playing one another regularly. Before between tournaments you basically had no idea how the team is shaping up. Obviously it's a poor third place compared to World Cup and Euros, but loads more interesting than qualifiers or friendlies. I suspect qualifiers may be faded out entirely in favour of the nation's league in the longer term.

Fair enough. That explains Southgates thinking. Pretty depressing though, suggests we will prioritise not conceding, and as a result be a very dull team to watch. For me the "champions don't take risks" thinking is a bit flawed.... Liverpool who have been very successful take a shedload of risks. What about Brazil? Hmmm. In effect we are playing the likes of Dier and Rice ahead of Sancho and Foden which seems daft to me. Not only are they more attacking players they are simply better... Realistically it's hard to see Southgate losing his job before the Euros, but have to say outlook is not promising.

Reading back through the thread this caught my eye - where did you get this impression from? Quotes from Southgate or staff? The whole 343 thing with two holding midfielders is crackers. Looking forward to going back to 433 as you suggest.

I like the nation's league as you get competitive games like today where you can measure where you are against top teams as opposed to loads of pointless friendlies which tell you nothing. And today showed we've got a long way to go still. It really feels like we are playing this system to manage the opposition rather than play to our strengths. It's daft as we've probably got the best set of young players we've had in 20 years. What's the point playing three at the back, 2 full backs, Henderson and Rice in the midfield? So very conservative.