Christ Almighty.

Without Kane, Lingard, Henderson, Trippier etc I’d be worried about Japan. Id be worried anyway, it’s the World Cup, anything can happen, and well... it’s England. Iceland seemed like an ideal last 16 tie last tournament.

Or the last minute winner against Tunisia after playing well... what a yawn-fest. Look, we didn’t lose on purpose. We rested our most important players to give us a chance in the next game. I’m starting to think that some of these that are giving Southgate grief about the fact Colombia won their group would be the first to give him pelters if Kane had done his hamstring or Henderson got a red in a match we didn’t need to win. It really is The Impossible Job isn’t it?

Personally, I don't see it that way. He rested the key players in order to give us a better chance in the last 16 game, no matter who it was against. The game was of little consequence really and it would have been a gamble to play Kane et al. We were still going to have to play a difficult knockout game against a decent side no matter the result - there are no 'easier' games in a World Cup and the idea that Southgate deliberately lost the match is ridiculous.

I'm a bit dumbfounded at some of these comments to be honest, England supporters in general need a reality check about how good we really are, especially at the moment. I like Southgate, he's flushed out a lot of ageing bigheads and put a young, exciting team together that have a good attitude and team spirit - if they aren't good enough to beat Colombia then so be it, I would just like to see us go out fighting and playing with freedom. I would hate for him to get the boot and for us to start all this bollocks over again with someone else. Do you think that the Colombian press and fans will be demanding heads roll if we beat them? Perhaps they might, but what have we ever done to suggest that we are better than the Mexicos, Colombias and Croatias of the world? So why do we EXPECT we should beat them? It's been a cracking World Cup and although I'd be disappointed if we went out in the last 16, I wouldn't be angry. We could learn a lot from other countries who are proud of participating within the top 16 in the world and don't kill their teams or chances with misplaced and arrogant over-expectations. That Loftus-Cheek is proper wank though.

Game of two halves this COL v SEN. Fantastic.

No real reason? But I could see a branding agency reckoning it looks a bit dated and needs to be modernised, they'd have a point to an extent. I remember seeing some mock ups someone did on here a while ago and thought they looked great.

Wouldn't be surprised if we see a new crest ourselves in the next few years... hopefully we don't do a Leeds.

Wtf I love VAR now!

Kiss of death but Iran doing well against Spain so far... In other World Cup news, did anyone see Alan Sugar’s tweet before the Senegal game? What an absolute prick.

Tend to agree, but think Sterling needs 60+ minutes more against Panama to hopefully get his confidence up in an England shirt. When he's on it, he's on it, and if he's dropped straight away I think it will do more harm than good to his effectiveness in the (inevitable ?) latter stages of the tournament. I was more than happy with the performance, haven't seen anyone MUCH better yet.

Nice article here - https://www.football365.com/news/the-world-cup-is-pure-just-and-so-very-beautiful

I CAN’T HELP BUT BITE SOMEONE STOP ME RONALDO AND MESSI DON’T WIN THINGS NO MORE

CINEMA

Well, yes. It is. And you can have Aguero if I can have Messi or Ronaldo... I fancy me chances.

Ah right of course. Good argument for him of certainly, as far as “naturals” are concerned at least. But he never played in England though, so obviously I think he was shit.

Enlighten me as to who that was? Genuinely interested. I‘ve said it before, but imagine if more players with a good amount of natural talent (even our own Bradley!) had the dedication and pure drive to dedicate every waking moment to be the absolute best footballer that they can be. The fitness, focus and sheer will of the man makes me personally find him more entertaining than Messi - not that Messi doesn’t work hard of course, but he is such a natural phenomenon that it is a different conversation. I remember when Ronaldo was Januzaj level when he first came through - he carved himself into football history because he wanted it more than anyone else has, ever. Cracking game. And I fancy him, obviously.

In psychology, they call this “projection”.

Play like Portugal? And sign Ronaldo.

An argument that will go on for many years. IMO Messi is technically the best footballer to ever play the game, but CR7 is so... cinematic. Pure drive, passion, and big moments. Can tell the grandkids we saw him on the same pitch as Keith Andrews.

I just don’t believe this. A quote for you @Vinjay17 - “Football, bloody hell.”

Would be very happy with this from what I've seen of him, he's a great prospect and highly rated at Wednesday, but out of contract I believe - can't be true!

Really? The opposite to me! I see it as two advanced wing backs, one holding mid and three quality, positive number 10s (perhaps Sterling is a striker). I wouldn’t expect Lingard and Alli to be in the same team against Belgium, for example.

We don’t need two holding midfielders against Tunisia and Panama. Let’s go for it. Shackles off.

I don't know if getting married at 15 is a particularly good idea but good luck to them. Imagine if Dack was CR7 fit - he'd be on the plane.