While I agree in the raw talent stakes we are a long way behind other major football nations one sliver of hope is this world cup and the last Euros suggest you don't actually need the best talent to be in with a shout. The beauty of knockout football.

Devastating summary that!

My money is on him probs dropping Alli and bringing a passer in to sit alongside Henderson. Lingard then becomes a single player in the hole behind the strikers. Alli has really offered very little at this tournament. Not looked fit or clear on his role. Lingard in fits and starts has looked very promising. Worth a place for his running and movement alone.

All formations are trade offs. He went 3 at the back to help us retain the ball, play from the back, give the full backs licence to get forward. I think he's been totally vindicated on that decision. It worked very well. If we'd gone 4 at the back I think we would have seen the same old England struggling to pass and build. On playing the quite odd midfield system and two strikers I think it's been a bit hit and miss. Worked well against weaker sides, and initially against Croatia and Colombia, but they both ultimately figured it out and took control. It leaves the middle of the park extremely thin, essentially Henderson on his own. So if you lose the control of possession you get battered. I think we went with it because he thought shoe horning Alli, Sterling and Lingard in was better than playing Dier or Deplh, and I have to agree with him. Though as others have said he could have made changes mid game quicker. Anyhow, by even going into a World Cup with such an unusual and untested system Southgate has shown his ability to make radical and broadly successful decisions based on careful thought. I think he'll tinker around to get the balance right where it is weak. To help him out we really need some promising midfielders to come through. I'm sure if we had a decent central proper central midfielder to partner Henderson we would have played them, but we didn't. Maybe Shelvey will get a go in the Autumn games to see if it helps that balance. That's the best alternative we have atm. Ultimately based on the quality available to him we did well at this tournament

Quite looking forward to the 3rd place playoff. I think both Belgium and us will want to win it. We need the experience and confidence from a good performance, so not play a second string. Not against a couple of players coming in for injuries, but don't want wholesale changes.

It's partly cultural - we don't like playing abroad - but mostly financial. Foreign clubs don't want to pay transfer fees and wages over the odds for English players. And even if they do make an offer the likes of West Ham or Leicester will beat it and the player ends up churning it out mid table rather than champions league. Very depressing.

It would have been a major risk to go to a four at level terms. We've only played as a three with that side. It would have created a lot of confusion I think. When we did eventually go to a four in extra time we didn't look any better for it. Fortune favours the brave and all that, but it would have been a radical move that could well have backfired. Over the next couple of years a key objective for Southgate will be to implement tactical flexibility, but ultimately that will need better quality and options in midfield to enable it.

Not really sure what Southgate could have done to be honest. No real personnel available to wrest back control once they settled their midfield.

One way to think about it is if England were a club side who would you change across the team. For me I think really only four players. Walker - huge credit to him coming in and doing a decent job in unfamiliar role, showed incredible recovery pace, but ultimately got shown up as a full back playing at CB. There's a lot of decent centre backs coming through so we will have options. Young - did far far better than I thought he would at the tournament. However is now 33 so end of his international career. We need to bring in a new left back. Again lots of options coming through so not a massive concern. Lingard/Alli - I would say realistically we can't play top teams with both of these on at the same time. They are number 10s, not centre mids in a midfield three. Plus in the final analysis they are just not of the highest quality. If we genuinely want to be competitive at the top table we need a midfielder (or ideally two) who can mix it with Modric, Pogba, Kroos, Kante etc. This is a huge problem for England as there isn't anyone coming through who even remotely fits the bill. Shelvey is probably the most promising of a poor bunch, but he's miles from the top players. Oxlaide-Chamberlain is a worker like Henderson. Would make us more solid but wouldn't raise the quality. Sterling - for a striker who scored no goals had an okay tournament. But it's pretty clear if we had someone who could finish as well as the pace and movement then we would be a far more successful side. The obvious candidate is Rashford but his goal scoring record is as poor for England as Sterling's. To kick on he needs to move away from Utd - ideally abroad - to where he can be the main striker and prove that he can do it. Outside of him there aren't to many top options. To sum up key things are to find a couple of midfielders and a striker. We can definitely build and improve for 2020, but unless we can find real first rate talent in those positions we will always be a second tier nation in the odds.

The stats tell a pretty damning story. I have to say I am surprised just how much in favour of Croatia they are. It looks like were totally overwhelmed. http://www.skysports.com/football/croatia-vs-england/stats/385230 Bizarrely I might watch the game back in replay. Why I'm not totally sure.

I don't think anyone had it down as an easy win for England unless I missed something?

Walker was having a stormer right up until the goal. Then he ended being at fault for both.

Personally I think he's been great with his running and movement. Hardly Pogba, but I'd take him over Dier any day of the week.

It was a 50 50 game today in terms of quality so no shame in being shaded out over a 120 mins. We controlled it till they scored then it was all Croatia. In reflection I think Southgate has done magnificently. Only Kane, Sterling and maybe Walker were considered top players before the tournament and we made the semi final (albeit with a luck draw). He had a lot of players considered weak links previous to the tournament like Pickford, Stones, Young. Others like Maguire virtually untested. And he's made stars out of Trippier and Lingard. So to get as far as we did is a huge credit to everyone involved. What I would say is we shouldn't focus too much on this individual defeat, they happen. Great sides like Spain got knocked out by Russia for example. The real issue is why the likes of Spain, France or Belgium have such a large volume of top players we have so few. When you get to the final analysis it comes down to so few off our players playing top grade champions league fooball. Key talents for England like Maguire, Lingard and Rashford will sit on the bench for their clubs or play mid table football, rather than move abroad to find CL clubs where they get regular games. And without that experience they cannot progress. We really need to change that if we want to level the playing field internationally. As long as out best players would rather stunt their careers by staying in the premier league we are buggered. But with all the £££s floating around it's hard to see how that changes.

Nah, theyd be daft to sit back as our main threat is set plays and crosses. They'll fancy on the front foot Persic and Rebic will batter us down the channels and they can get Modric and Rakitic to dictate centrally with the space in midfield. I reckon both sides will come out hammer and tongs. Neither side likes defending. It'll be frantic I think.

I don't think anyone really saw Rooney as anything other than a very promising player outside of the English press. He, like Beckham, was someone who was picked up and ability was estimated above their performances merited in this country. He had a great Euro 2004, but in the same way Owen had a great WC 1998 or Villa a great WC 2010. A top player but not the highest grade. Mbappe conversely is absolutely first rate and will certainly join Neymar, Messi and Ronaldo at the top table. He's got a ruthlessness that Rooney just didn't have at any stage. What's I find interesting is Kane is kind of an anti Rooney/Beckham. His allround quality gets consistently under estimated despite already being a better player than both those mentioned. Its something about the unspectacular way he plays the game. He always looks less effective than he actually is. He's a very unusual player in that regard.

The thing France have is options. If for whatever reason plan A isn't working they can switch up. Strong on set plays, counter attack, can score from range, can get the ball in the box, can control the ball and play a possession game. Every single player in their team has goals in them and they defend as a tight unit. It's hard to see how any team can manage that. The main hope for whoever gets to the final is that the weight of expectation will trip them up like it did in Euro 2016. Their fans are quick to get on their back so if they are frustrated or concede early it could be possible to get the psychological upper hand. And ultimately it's only XI against XI so there's always a chance.

Though he lost I thought the best player was Hazard. He was let down by Lukaku and De Bruyne. Mbappe looks fantastic too though. If they get their tactics sorted this France team could dominate like Spain did 10 years ago. Only weak link is Giroud and they have the talent to replace him easily.

That's basically my assessment. If you had a combined England France XI only Kane and Tripper would get in it. The rest all French players and by absolutelu miles too. It's a real shame that tactically Deschamps is so conservative as off the leash that is some team. If we make it through to the final I guess we'll just have to go in defensive and hope to get something from a set play. If we attack them on the front foot they will absolutely crucify us on the break.

I'd take Belgium too. Fantastic forwards but we're setup to handle them better than Frances midfield. Henderson, Alli and Lingard against Kante, Pogba and Matuidi. Gulp...

Player for player there is not much between us, but if anyone shades it it's Croatia. Theres about a 50/50 chance they'll knock us out. That's a fair assessment in my book. It's a very even game.

I respectfully disagree. That Argentina were crap was indeed a significant factor, but also a significant factor was the back three allowing Persic and Rebic to absolutely annihilate their centrebacks in the channels, while loads of room was also afforded to Modric and Rakitic in front of the defence. I do agree Southgate is likely to stick with the same team. I just think the Croats will have a big advantage with the way they line up.

Tactically Croatia are very very tricky for us. The only play one up, pack the midfield, have great talent in there. Theyre perfectly set up to disrupt our 532/352. They absolutely battered Argentina's three at the back. Conversely they struggled against Russia and Denmark's flat back fours .... If we had more time changing to 442 or 4231 would make sense. The current 532 gives them an extra two men in midfield which could be lethal... and I don't think we really get any advantage from our system to be honest. The oppo playing 451 is our kryptonite I think. Very tricky situation for Southgate with so little time to change things. My guess is he will stick with our current system, but get Sterling to drop off and pick up Modric when we don't have the ball, and brief Alli and Lingard to drop in tight alongside Henderson when we are defending. When we have the ball we should have the luxury to play out through Maguire and Walker who will have a huge amount of space with only Manzukic up front for Croatia. Should be a very open game, as I think both sides will see offence as the best form of defence. Got a feeling we might well be under the kosh for long periods. Edit - the more I think about it the more I think Southgate might do a Martinez and suprise everyone and change the system. He must know Croatia are perfectly set up to hurt us, so he may have a plan B. Maybe go 4231? Not sure we really have the personnel for it though... -----------------------Pickford Trippier-----Stones----Maguire----Young ------------------Delph---Henderson ------Sterling---------Alli-------------Lingard ------------------------Kane

Well all I can say is Alli, Young and Lingard hardly put a foot wrong yesterday. Player for player it was a weak Sweden team but they put Italy and Netherlands out and ran Germany very close. I think the only reasonable question is do we have better players to swap them out for, and I would say definitely not for Lingard and Alli. Maybe for Young and Sterling. Will France or Belgium have a better midfield than us if we reach the final? Absolutely. Enormously better. But since we don't actually have any superior players to put in ahead of Alli and Lingard then I wouldn't fret too much about it.

For me Lingard is a certain starter. Hes a critical part of the team with his running and passing. I don't understand this stick he gets at all. Hes a top player. Alli has the goal now so definitely will keep his place imo. The expectation will be with a bit more fitness now and confidence from the goal we should see an uptick in his performances. Certainly there is little on the bench you could argue is better than him. Young and Sterling are interesting ones as we do have other good options to bring in. That said Young's delivery yesterday was excellent (Maguire scored from his corner), as was his covering down the left so he's not going to be dropped for Rose at this stage. Which leaves Sterling who is very frustrating. Throughout the tournament his running off the ball has been superb, and he's been solid dropping in and defending. But his final ball and finishing has been very very poor. He could have had a hat trick yesterday and a couple of assists, but they all came to nought. I think he will definitely play, Gareth has shown he wants to stick with the same team, and I guess the manager really rates his off the ball work. But if any of those four players were to be swapped out Raheem would be the one.