I'm with you. Southgate didn't rest players to try to finish 2nd. He did it to give his key men time to recuperate, and the others in the squad valuable World Cup match time. Every game is hard. As a fan I'd rather not play Brazil and France, but England's record against Sweden and Switzerland isn't great either. All concentration should be on Colombia. They are a very handy side.

What an odd experience that game was. I was all in on England winning, saw the team sheet and thought the same. Yet with 10 minutes to go I was hoping that England wouldn't score as not only were England going to the softer side of the draw but I now have an afternoon of drinking to look forward to, followed by July 4th. The game itself was akin to a preseason friendly with players auditioning for a contract. A genuine bit of skill form Belgium won the game. I've been calling for Rose to paly ahead of Young but ironically he would have stopped Januzaj's shot as it would have been on his good side. Rashford should have made it 1-1 though. It's hard to say that any player was poor. I will say that Southgate played this one well. Few people knew that he was going to make wholesale changes. He kept his first 11 fresh whilst, now, letting the rest know that they must improve to get a chance. Onward and upward.

Serbia look technically proficient with little end product. They knock it around well but have to lump it high for Mitrovic as he can't do anything else. Brazil haven't impressed either.

I'm of the opposite opinion. A win builds momentum, something that England never get at tournaments. Most fans complain about England's defence. Another game playing together will do them good.

There's some good old fashioned BRFCS negativity going on after the Panama game despite the great result. England slowed it down in the second half as they didn't want to get involved in any antics that the Panamanians were trying. Cooper, I think, elbowed both Lingard and Maguire. Others were rolling around like they were on fire if an England player touched them. It was disgraceful from Panama. They were much inferior and resorted to idiocy. Kane may have scored a fortunate 3rd but his 2 penalties were taken with real confidence. Hard to take that away from him. Be happy with what commentators you have. Fox have the World Cup in the USA. I had to listen to ex USA women's international Ally Wagner during the England game. There's also Dr. Joe Machnick who provides referee analysis periodically. He's modelled on their NFL coverage, and is useless. Studio insight is provided by Alexi Lalas, who is a first class goon.

Portugal - Spain was a classic, the Germany game ran it close. Intense from beginning to end. Sweden should have had a penalty, and with better decision making could have had another. But the Germans win for a reason. Kroos has won it all at every level. that mentality keeps them moving. I was surprised that Gomez wasn't their starting striker. He will be after today. Werner is good but he doesn't fit into the modern German team. Gomez is the latest big man post Klinnsmann. They've had; 20+ years of them; Bierhoff, Jancker, Klose., Gomez. If my memory serves me Klose didn't start the first game in 2014. As soon as he did they started winning. Come on England.

If Tito would have lasted a bit longer or the former Yugoslav's managed to get along a bit better they could have own a World Cup. Genuine talent everywhere. Red Star Belgrade won the European Cup. It all fell apart after that.

I'd drop DI Maria back so I could play either Aguero or Higuaín up top. Goals galore there. It was a great game. I wonder how it would have ended if the Argentina lad (Meza?) hadn't missed an open goal? Modric and Ratikic are an outstanding pairing. As good a partnership as Uruguay's Giminez and Godin. The latest England gossip has Sterling being dropped. I'd wager that few would argue against Rashford and Loftus-Cheek starting.

They do. Messi is lost. The pressure is too much for him. I doubt they'll get through. Their game plan is give it to Messi and watch. That's not working. Add that lack of a game plan to Caballero in goal, protected by Otamendi and his band of bang average players equals an early exit. Iceland have a tenth of Argentina's talent but have all the confidence in the world.

I've been having this debate myself. France are a hard team to figure out. They are through with 2 wins yet look utterly unconvincing. They are stocked with talent but don't seem to know how to best use it. Giroud starting has to be concerning. If they do click they'll be up there. If they keep plodding they'll be out sooner rather than later. I also agree with DE"s point regarding finishing. There are only a few teams with players who look like they can score. Fortunately England have one of those players. In World Cup's gone by shots from outside the box were commonplace (Mexico 86 was fantastic for long range goals). I've not seen many players even trying to shoot from 20+ yards out.

I think that it's been a good world cup. Yesterday's 1-0's may have looked dour but both Morocco and Iran played very well. Spain - Portugal was a classic. Australia - Denmark was a bit boring, and the draw means that the Aussies need Peru to beat France or they are going home.

Morocco are out. They are a hard working side with no cutting edge. They outplayed Portugal, but couldn't finish their chances. It's being reported that Dele Alli won't be fit for Panama so Ruben Loftus-Cheek will be given the nod.

It was the Telegraph; Rose and Young to battle it out From the article; If Rose is fit he should play.

Lingard was indeed busy, but his host of missed chances unnecessarily made it a close game, hence me giving him a poor grade. His scuffed first chance was awful. His last was a shout for Rashford to leave it, then he got the ball stuck under his feet. I do think he should start the next game though. He deserves a chance to improve. I'd do the same with Sterling too. Give him another opportunity. Dropping him won't do his confidence any good. Conversely Kane was anonymous for large portions of the game, but scored 2, and won the game. I read the other day - Daily Telegraph I think - that Southgate sees Rose as his starting left back but was worried about his fitness in the heat so was giving Young a chance to impress.

A win is a win however hard it was. Their penalty was soft, especially when England didn't get any. Decent; Kane (largely anonymous but goals win games), Trippier, Stones, Henderson. Fair; Maguire (mistake tarnished a good display), Walker, Pickford. Poor; Lingard, Sterling, Alli, Young. I'd bring in Rose for Young against Panama and stick with the rest. Young was wasteful, got caught out a few times, had poor delivery, and consistently slowed down play when he had to cut back onto his right foot. Dier, Rashford and Loftus-Cheek could easily replace the other poor performers so they need to improve. That competition should hopefully beget a reaction. England don't have a free kick specialist either.

As a US resident I am very happy that North America has won the 2026 bid. The USA will host 60 games, Canada and Mexico 10 each. FIFA will make a king's ransom off a USA based tournament, probably why it won. England deserves another chance to have a World Cup. Cheating and bribery were the reasons behind the 2018 loss as England's bid was the strongest. Spain's mess gives people another reason not to like Real Madrid.

Sonny Pike was another child prodigy who amounted to nothing; Hero to zero.

There are players that didn't make it and those that didn't crack on. A few from Everton; Barkley, Rodwell, Jose Baxter, Billy Kenny spring to mind. The latter 2 moreso. Man U; Ben Thornley, Chris Casper. Class of 92 members who were both derailed by injuries. Lately Berahino, Luke Shaw - although he has a chance if he leaves Mourinho.

Sterling deserves his place in the starting 11. He flopped at the Euro's, but they all did. He has been class all season. I still don't get the Shelvey love in.

For those who didn't click; Pickford Walker Stones Maguire Tripper Henderson Rose Lingard Sterling Alli Kane I can justify Rashford being sub. He won't complain, and will cause havoc when he comes on. I didn't see the friendlies so don't know how England played with only one holding midfielder. My impression was that England would play with 2 covering the back 3, with Dier being in for another attacker. My worry in that team is Trippier. Could Lingard do Trippier's job, and have Dier in there too?

England definitely have the attacking talent to beat teams, but shakiness and inexperience elsewhere will be their undoing. I'm with the majority opinion on here that Southgate will pick 2 from Sterling, Rashford, and Alli to play behind Kane. I think Sterling is in; he's played well all season, and has a World Cup under his belt. Rashford is dynamic, but Alli plays well with Kane. Colombia won more games at the last World Cup than all their previous appearances combined.

Another 80's 90's stalwart Steve Bould only got 2 caps as well. Both in friendlies too. For years England had access to quality central defenders; Butcher, Adams, Des Walker, Mark Wright, Martin Keown, Sol Campbell, Rio Ferdinand, Ledley King. Pallister had a mere 22 caps.

My guess is that Germany will play as they usually do; back 4, 2 ball keeping central midfielders, 3 "free" midfielders, and a big lad up front. I don't think that Sane was left out because of his ability. Much like Nainngolan with Belgium, he's annoyed the manager.

Shilton benefitted from little competition. Clemence was old. Woods not good enough. Woods was bigger than Shilton, it may have helped in the pens. He wasn't much better at Mexico 86. His lack of quickness contributed to both Maradona's goals.

Usually 1 team runs away with the Championship. Newcastle last year, Wolves this. I know little about Derby but they have created a lot of buzz hiring Lampard. I've no idea if he is any good. Time and results will see to that. On the face of it Derby are on the up and Villa are sinking; both who made it to the play offs. Not to derail the thread (I'll move it if need be) but there were some interesting points regarding Prem era capped England players lack of managerial success. Shearer's 8 games at Newcastle didn't work. Gary Neville's stint at Valencia was a disaster - he was also a part of Hodgson's back room team. His brother is England women's coach. Peter Shilton flamed out at Plymouth. Tony Adams was last seen in some ex-Soviet republic after going nowhere at Wycombe. Sol Campbell can't get a look in anywhere. Rio Ferdinand wants to be a boxer. Beckham is a celebrity. David Platt lasted a week at Forest. Most of the above were England captain at some point. Yet Southgate gets no end of grief, but at least he's willing to try. The FA really need to review how coaches are developed.