DE.

Poor half overall. We need more creativity on the pitch. Plenty of athleticism out there but not enough ingenuity for my liking.

We need to be careful or we're going to get sucker punched. The US are looking dangerous on the counter and we're ponderous outside their penalty area, with very limited creativity to break down their defensive lines. Feels like we're set up to get behind a defence when we really need a locksmith in there.

I think Iran were a bit overawed by us, or perhaps just the occasion in general. They were much more positive and brave against Wales today, and got their rewards. Wales have been poor but could have gotten something out of the game if Iran had meekly sat back as they did against us. Instead they went for it and that was enough to knock the Welsh off balance. Well done to the Iranians and I imagine they'll keep that mindset going against the States.

Looking like Wales are going home early, and based on their performances against the US and Iran it's what they deserve. For all the hype pre-tournament this looks like a team at the end of the road.

I'm comfortable in my stance and thoughts on the matter, but totally respect your view as well.

Canada look good. They'll be gutted if they lose this one. They've had plenty of chances but can't finish. You've got to take the chances they've created for themselves at this level against teams like Belgium. Speaking of Belgium, another team that look like a shadow of their usual selves so far.

The worst thing is seeing the useful idiots parrot the "you have to respect their culture" mantra. No, I don't and won't respect a culture warped by misogyny and homophobia, thanks. Don't get me wrong, all countries have problems to varying degrees, but at least most are giving the impression of trying to improve rather than reveling in ignorance and bigotry.

A bizarre way to go about leaving without a payoff. ETH clearly didn't want Ronaldo there, so presumably the United hierarchy would have agreed to let him go on a free if he'd just asked, as it'd save them £2m a month and get rid of an unhappy player they were unlikely to sell before his contract expired. Oh well.

North Korea beating Italy in 66 has to be up there as well. This is definitely the biggest shock WC result in recent history though.

An absolute shocker for Argentina. Failed to put the game to bed in the first half, hit with a quick one-two punch in the second half and couldn't recover. The Saudis rode their luck at times but ultimately their game plan worked to perfection. You can't judge a team on the opening game alone, but based on that showing Argentina are far from the indomitable powerhouse they've been touted as in various publications.

Yep, US looking like a decent side. Wales been very poor so far. Being tactically outclassed.

Nothing wrong with VAR itself, just the people in charge of it. Not sure what happened to 'clear and obvious errors' but a kneecap being offside ain't it, whereas getting wrestled to the ground is. And yet...

Wrestled to the ground = no penalty, slight shirt tug = penalty. Good to see that as usual the VAR officials are a competent group of professionals.

Lol, so are Qatar just going to have VAR disallow all goals scored against them?

Baresi and Maldini was a GOAT partnership in defence, no question.

Yeah the final was a big disappointment, but even that had the iconic Baggio penalty miss at the end!

1994 was the first world cup I was old enough to remember, I watched the Eurosport retrospective countless times as a kid. There was also a set of Gillette Soccer Special episodes leading up to it which I watched over and over, but I think both of those VHS tapes are long gone now and are pretty much lost media these days as the Gillette stuff I've never seen anywhere, and I've only seen parts of the Eurosport recap uploaded.

In many ways Qatar and FIFA are perfect partners.

Just shows how insanely out of touch those at the top of the FIFA chain truly are. It was like something you'd see on a sketch show as a parody.

I will personally always have ambition and high expectations of Rovers - which is why I'm still genuinely upset when we have performances like Reading, Wigan, Burnley - but at the same time from what I've seen so far I simply don't think we'll finish in the top six and could go into a spiral of defeats/draws pretty quickly if morale dips. I get the feeling there will be clubs who get their act together from January onwards and it'll push clubs like us who are overachieving based on our performances thus far out of the picture. I'd love to be proven wrong and we actually finish in the top six for the first time ever under Venky's, but what I've seen so far doesn't give me the belief it'll actually happen. We'll see though.

Mid-table is about right for me this season. The concern from my perspective is that I simply don't think we'll ever have the budget to bring in the players JDT requires to make his style of play effective enough to get promoted. There aren't many Championship sides without parachute payments who have tippy-tapped their way out of the division (in an upwards trajectory, at least). This 'project' just doesn't seem like it is realistic within our constraints. I desperately hope I'm wrong, mind.

Man Utd becoming a soulless corporate machine has been evident since day one of the Glazers' reign - it only became a problem for the majority of their fans when they stopped winning trophies, and it only became a problem for Ronaldo when he wasn't first choice anymore.

Surprisingly enough, no, I'm not happy that we just got smashed by Burnley in the limpest derby performance I've seen from any team. Shocking but there you go. Being 3rd and in the 4th round of the league cup is scant consolation when I simply don't believe our form will last much longer. Obviously you do so great, but there are legitimate debates to be had about yesterday's capitulation and our previous defeats, and answering "we're 3rd, I'm happy" is simply adding nothing to the debate.

I imagine you were doing the same last season when people were raising concerns over Mowbray whilst we were 2nd. Sometimes perspective is about looking at the bigger picture rather than what is staring you in the face. There are some obvious problems with the way we play, and it's clear if they aren't sorted we won't come close to finishing 3rd.

What's strange is the obvious issue with being told "We're 3rd in the league, everything is great" to "we can't compete with Burnley". I mean, one of these clearly needs to be examined a lot deeper if they are both true as a team 3rd in the league after 21 games should be able to compete with anyone in that league.