Admiral Nelsen

I think he's really effective on the ball. He just looks like he shouldn't be! He creates a hatful and rarely gives the ball away. My point is that he's always been a bit inelegant and relies more on clever movement than pace, so I think we're seeing Harry Kane being Harry Kane rather than England picking an unfit player.

Difficult one this - I think some players become so associated as the 'good' player for a non-elite team, that they eventually become in danger of being overrated in a strange sort of way. I'd put Okocha in that category. Obviously brilliant, but people knew it. And he probably got the disproportionate amount of the credit for what was a generally very strong Bolton side. As much as I loved MGP, he was similar in that he was a quality match of the day player whereas some of our others went under the radar. Dembele is a great shout. Fabulous player.

Tongue slightly in cheek, doesn't he always look a bit like that? He's an amazingly productive player, but he's always looked a bit clumsy and untidy on the ball, even though the end product of his passing is top drawer. He's never really had pace either. So far to me he's just looked like typical Harry Kane.

I don't think a team containing Bale, Ramsey and Allen have the legs to press us like the US did. They'll be well up for it, but we should have too much. Wouldn't have started Rashford. I rate him and I'm glad he has rediscovered some form, but I feel he only really warrants his place against teams who will give him space to run in behind.

He was indeed free. We signed a load of players around that time for less than a million (the Axe, Zurab, Samba) but I think Nelsen was a bosman. An amazing free - but not quite in the Brad category for me (Moran was slightly before my time). Also played a massive role in NZ going unbeaten during a World Cup campaign in a group that included Italy. I remember Sky used to do player ratings around that time, but basically never awarded 10s. When the Kiwis drew with Italy, they gave Nelsen a 10 with the one-word caption, "Heroic".

Cause and effect - foreign managers aren't going to be winning the World Cup if the best teams have only ever employed managers from their own country!

I can get that if the idea is to keep him fresh for the latter stages. Otherwise... That said, I think we'll convincingly beat Wales tomorrow. Their important players can't put in a physical performance like the US could on Saturday. The World Cup has just come a couple of years too late for a lot of that squad.

Agree that those two are the ones with 'unblotted' copy books so far. I still think the the tournament is wide open though. No team stands out to the degree that Spain did around 10 years ago, for instance. Or even France last time for that matter. Randomness and taking your chances are seriously underrated factors in knockout football, so I'd still give all the teams you mention a better than fighting chance (possibly not Belgium after today).

Very close to my view. I really like the off the pitch stuff that Southgate has done to change the feeling around England. He seems to deal with the players very well, says the right things, etc. But - and it's a massive but - there's very little evidence that he has the tactical nous to get the most out of the talented squad available to him, or that he can react when things start going against us. His record in tournaments is far more chequered than some admit. We lost three games in 2018, and were taken to pens by Colombia. Flat track bullies in one of the most fortunate runs to a WC semi that you will ever see. He deserves more credit for 2020, but there too I really believe a different manager makes us more likely to beat Italy before pens.

Spain look handy, but then again they have the potential to be flat track bullies with their style of play. Their game against Germany looks like it should be a humdinger now. Even a draw might effectively knock the Germans out if Japan win well against Costa Rica.

100 percent. They were a hair's whisker away from knocking out Belgium in 2018. You'd obviously back the Germans against them more often than not, but it nothing like the same as yesterday.

I'm still trying!

The VAR decision genuinely took the shine off what was an excellent performance for me. Obviously 6-1 bs 6-2 doesn't make much difference, but is this what we can expect as the tournament progresses? If those sorts of calls are going to be made in the knock out stage you might as well award the World Cup by drawing lots.

And they won the World Cup!

Don't think there's many at this level who do all of those things well consistently, and those that do tend to get snapped up pretty quick.

If Mola is fit (thought I picked up that he was injured, but I could be wrong) I'd play him centre back and play Edun at left back. Leave S. Wharton on the bench. Otherwise I'd probably do something similar with JRC at right back and Carter in the middle. I'd avoid starting any outfield player who's in line to play on Sunday.

We probably wouldn't, but prices are usually inflated in January and teams get desperate. Teams might want to pay a decent fee to avoid having to compete with more clubs in the summer. It's not out of the question that a team throws decent money at BBD.

Partially agree with this, but some of those players were only going to be bit part players. I'm not overly bothered if Phillips isn't fit if Bellingham is playing instead, or that Calvert-Lewin hasn't been on form for a while. Others are more concerning, but (and I'm pinning a lot on this) are going to be playing in a totally different system for England than they do for their clubs. Maguire, despite everything, could easily be a completely different player when playing a deep 3 in the back compared to what he has been asked to do at United for the last couple of years. Grealish hasn't become a bad player either and it's not as though England will be asking him to play the same way as he does for City. Sterling is a bit more worrying as there's nothing about how Chelsea play which accounts for his poor form. Some are coming into good form too. I wouldn't start him, but it's good to see that Rashford is looking more like the player he can be.

I think this would be a mistake, based on what we've seen from the team and the limited bits that we've seen of Dack. But - if JDT has made his mind up - there's little point to keep a player who is probably our highest earner warming the bench, and sometimes not even that.

Completely agree with those saying make wholesale changes. Hopefully gives a chance to the likes of Buckley and Markanday to get closer to the side, although it's not exactly going to be ideal circumstances for them to showcase their talent.

A few wins like this one wouldn't have gone amiss after Christmas last year. We now have around half of what we'll likely need for a top 6 spot - which is an impressive achievement for the management team given the tricky situation they inherited. As a pointless bit of trivia - when you look at our results this season compared to the same fixtures last term, we're 14 points up. Obviously you can't read too much into that, but it's good to see that we're picking points in games that we didn't last time out.

Both of our results today are perfect examples of why next week is going to be so hard to call. If they really click and we don't rise to the occasion there's a pretty realistic chance that they could demolish us. Equally, every week they give teams a chance, and their weaknesses in theory suit us. A team with three centre halves, Brereton and Gallagher should be looking at the chances Sheffield United made today and be licking their lips.

I know we have to drop a good centre half if we're going with a back four, but I hate seeing S. Wharton left out of the side.

I don't think we will get £15 million - probably a lot less. But the circumstances of a January window means that teams might pay a premium. Brereton is showing that last season wasn't a flash in the pan, and any team who wants him will know that they'll be competing with a much bigger group of teams in the summer if he goes for a three.

I'd leave the whole first XI at home for the West Ham game! That's the side I'd go with too, albeit it's harsh on A. Wharton and to a degree, Carter.