A great 3 points. Were Norwich bad? Rovers good? Probably a bit of both. Either way, quality was lacking across the board. Rovers worked hard without creating many chances. Norwich never looked like scoring. It's halfway through the season and Rovers lie 3rd in the table. I don't think anyone on here predicted that would be the case. Rovers are an odd team. They've not drawn a game and have looked worse than abject in some of their losses. Score first and they win, concede first and they lose. JDT needs to sort out what he wants and go with it. So far, for me, he is an improvement on Mowbray.

I'll be watching. It may be a bit of comedown after weeks of World Cup matches. I completely forgot about the PNE game but it surely can't be worse than the second half at Turf Moor?

England played well enough to beat France with the players on the pitch. Some iffy refereeing, and a missed penalty cost England. It wasn't down to not having James Maddison Griezmanning his way around the park.

Against England and now Morocco. I've never seen Lloris play like that for Spurs. France 1-0 up. Could be 2 or 3. Giroud hit the post hen missed when he probably could have had a touch. Morocco have to attack which hasn't been their game plan. Their right side is dangerous.

Maradona and Messi are both genius footballers. I can't pick between the two. Maradona gets vilified because he handballed England out of a World Cup. That rankles a lot of people who saw it as it was only a few years after the Falklands war, and in 1986 that type of play was something only "cheating foreigners" did. The Champions League has all but ensured a standardisation of how top level football is played globally. Players from all nations now engage in subtle and not so subtle acts of gamesmanship.

Rovers will play 46 league games this season. At current pace they'll lose 23 of them. I believe that you do feel more for Rovers, but that's a lot of defeat to absorb. Anyway, back to England. I think that Southgate will stay. Most of this team will be around for the foreseeable future. They like him. He likes them. I do think that some changes will be made behind the scenes. His substitutions are a bit odd at times, and he needs to advance his tactical nous.

Rovers have a chance to rectify that defeat next weekend. England have to wait 4 years. I know plenty on here disagree with my views on England v. Rovers but England's defeat stung. Rovers losing is unfortunately a common event which doesn't bother me. Kane missed a late penalty, it was tough to watch. Not too long ago George Hirst missed a late penalty, I barely batted an eyelid.

The better team lost. I can't fault the performance. The first French goal was a good strike, the second a superb header.

Their midfield 3 tortured England in 2018. The Croatia players manage to get so much more out of themselves playing for their country. Lovren looks like Franz Beckenbauer. Neymar is such a talent but such a pain in the neck.

I'm going to again repeat my claim that walking, shuffling, step-stepping, and duck strutting up to take a penalty is a good way to miss it.

Messi and Ronaldo have had all the plaudits over the past decade or so but I think Modric is up there with them. A completely different player, but never gives the ball away and is always available.

Quite right. Good players but all known entities. The 2002 team had Ronaldo, Cafu, Kaka, Ronaldinho, and Roberto Carlos. All also very European but much better than what they have now.

I wasn't dissing Sterling. I too think that he does well for England. My point was that I don't think even Southgate would start him tomorrow after missing training all week.

I'm going with the same team as last time out. Even if Sterling is a Southgate favourite he's been absent all week. Mbappe is special but CL teams don't change their entire gameplan when playing PSG. I don't think that England should either. Kyle Walker is a capable full back.

They are as dull as dishwater. They had over 1,000 passes against Morocco and very few chances to show for it. I enjoyed watching their all-conquering sides from 2008-12. They passed teams to death but they had extras current team iterations don't. David Villa and Fernando Torres were excellent goal scorers. David Silva and Cesc Fabregas provided a bit of spark with an ability to break lines. All backed up by Xavi and Iniesta who kept the ball in Spain's hands.

I did but can see it be read other ways. Low lasted too long. Flick is having to deal with that legacy.

It reads like you are agreeing with me. They were unlucky. They should have beat Spain too. My comment was a counterpoint to Darrenbot stating that the German team didn't have quality players. They do have quality players, it's the set up that isn't working. The German mentality isn't there.

Germany's starting 11 against Costa Rica play for; Bayern, Bayern, Bayern, Real Madrid, RB Leipzig, Bayern, Man City, Bayern, Bayern, Bayern, Bayern. They have quality players, they just aren't clicking. I think Jogi Low stayed on for too long (a bit like Wenger at Arsenal) and now the system is in need of a reboot.

Might I also add that bringing players on late into extra time so that they can take a penalty also doesn't work. Spain brought on two, Morocco 1. All three of them missed. See England 2021 too.

Awful penalties from Spain. Who decided that walking up to take a penalty makes it easier to score? Having said that if Morocco's 21 could shoot they'd have lost too.

A mate of mine was at the England-USA game. His view of it in person was that Southgate set the team up not to lose, and with it progression secured. USA wouldn't have scored if they played for 3 hours. England do look confident. 1 goal conceded from open play (the second was never a penalty), and more chances being created.

He is. He makes other players better. He's not flashy at all. He has been on the right of the 3, which if where he plays his best football for Liverpool. He does a lot of covering for TAA. If Southgate keeps the same team (which I hope he does) he can help with Mbappe. I think that Rodgers and Gerrard would have had a league title if it wasn't for Henderson being sent off against City a few years ago. They were lost without him.

Well said. I am glad I stay off here during the games. It was obvious after 10 minutes that England were by far the better team. Pickford's save made them wake up, then lo and behold it was 2-0 and game over at half time. Lots of posts moaning about Saka. He scores again. Henderson; a title winning and Champs League winning captain is thought of as a complete plodder. It's completely lost on most that he can play. I say again and again that this board is anti-England, and is certainly pessimistic at the chances of winning. Of course history plays a part but it's gamblers fallacy to think that there is no chance of victory. The Germans are out again after the group stages, Italy are missing their second straight World Cup. I also think that a lot of it comes down to the mentality that pervades East Lancashire. Predicting the worst and being right is easier than hoping for the best and being wrong. Finally, as to Maguire struggling against Mbappe; the last time I looked he played on the left side of England's defence, and Mbappe on the left side for France. Maguire will be responsible for Giroud. Stones and Walker will work on Mbappe. Think big.

One lad was offside but wasn't involved. Lovren was deemed to be because the edge of his shoulder was past the defender. I think that they used the wrong VAR. I don't think that Carrasco touched the attacker's foot. Belgium look old.

You and me both.