Eddie

None taken. Yes, I have noticed that I wrote one and not won.

Well the England v Spain friendly match keeps being brought up and that took place well before the Argentina game. You obviously haven't seen much of him, one of the best left sided players in the premiership.

The English are so great at the doom and gloom. What I believe is that this performance would have been very good against a top nation. The back four look solid and we retain the ball very well. The problem is that against a team with 11 men in their own half that in itself doesn't really help you out in the game. Against a team actually trying to score England would have found that to be hugely to their advantage and would probably have looked more convincing. A lot of improvement needs to be made, but it's results and not performances that win World Cups. The last two world cups have been one by sides that were unconvincing in the early rounds.

What do world rankings have to do about it? I didn't think England's performance today was impressive, efficient and effective, but my point is not to blow your load on the basis of one result. If England beat Sweden 10-0 it won't make me think they are any more likely to win the World Cup. As for Cafu, he was a better player, he isn't anymore. Sorry that came across as being wrong, I just think generally we think of British players as not being as good as foreign counterparts. There are of course exceptions, but I think it is something that the a player like Neville has suffered from. The fact that he plays for United won't help him on this board.

It is just there is no way I can win is there. The fact that Neville is both English and a United player means a lot you don't like him. Throw in the fact that he has also been one of the most underrated players in the Premiership and International football for the past 10 or so years and you will see there isn't a point. He is a very good defender, no one better in the Premiership and I don't think there is really one better in the world. Of course there are other good ones out there, but once you have one of them you wouldn't swap them, England have Neville so there is no one England would rather have. He never makes mistakes (though he probably will now) and he is also very good going forward. How about you come up with a genuine reason why Neville isn't the best in the world in his position?

I thought you didn't need a tv license if you were using a computer?

He's better than anyone Celtic have. I will stand by that there is no right back I would rather have in the England side. My point was actually looking past individual results. Only reason any of you have picked up on Spain is because of one game.

Eh? Thought the midfield did ok, Beckham played quite well. Wasn't a great game for Owen. Always difficult to break down sides that sit back like that.

2-0, job done, roll on the next round.

Same goes for Downing then.

5-0 England. I don't think that T and T can repeat that level of effort they put in for the draw against Sweden, while I also think England won't be quite as wasteful as the Swedes were.

If Reyes is as good as you say he is why isn't he in the Spanish side? He isn't Arsenal's second best attacking player, he is certainly behind Henry and Van Persie and after that I would still place him behind a few of their other attacking options either up front or in midfield, though he has undoubted talent. Think what you like about Neville, but I will stand by that there is no right back I would rather see in that England team. While even if you consider Ferdinand prone to error, which I don't really believe to be true, Carragher is a better defendr than Puyol and I would still take Campbell over him as well. No, Raul is past it, that is why he is no longer holding down his spot in the Spanish side and injuries have taken their toll and his recent record in La Liga isn't particularly impressive. Owen had a better record than Raul when he was at Real Madrid and had it not been for his injury last season I think he would have been the top scoring Englishman in the Premiership this year and we would not have finished sixth. Ronaldinho doesn't have a better delivery than Beckham, no one does. The man's passing is second to none, especially from dead ball situations. Just watch how many corners he wastes compared to other top class players, even if you compare him to someone like Gerrard, who also has a wonderful passing range, when Beckham goes off of the field the quality drops. Ronaldinho is the better overall player, but he isn't the best at everything. Why do I think you dislike the England team? Quite simple really, you never have a good thing to say about our football, cricket or rugby team. We've beaten you in the ashes, won the rugby world cup and now have one of the best sides going into the football world cup and the only thing you can do is have a go at our side. Beckham doesn't run around like a headless chicken, he is very effective at getting the ball. I can name more players than that who are in the top 10 in the England side, including Rooney, Neville, Ashley Cole and Beckham (you find me 10 better right midfielders, or have you not watched la liga lately?). I also consider Ferdinand to be in the top 10 central defenders, Robinson would probably be 8/9/10 on my list of keepers and I think Joe Cole will gradually find his way onto the list though he suffers from the fact that he is still finding out exactly what his position is. You won't agree with me but for his ability to score goals Owen would make my list of top 10 strikers, he may not be able to do 15 step overs have he may not have grown up somewhere warm but when it comes to putting the ball in the back of the net there are few better, as his record shows. I don't think England are dead on to win it, for me they still have a lot of work to do and show just how good they are before I start to get excited, but they can. The thing is that one of 10-15 sides can beat the others on a good day and a slightly off one for the other, so to feel overly confident in a knock-out competition would be foolish. What I will stand by is that England are amongst the top 3 sides in the world, who I consider to be a little bit in front of the following pack, which contains the likes of Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, France, Italy and the Czechs.

Yes I do and yes I would. I think he has been an unsung hero for Manchester United and for England. He never lets you down and is good both as a defender and going forward. If his name was Nevillinho I have no doubt people would clamour to see him. The simple fact of the matter is that peop don't see English players as being as exciting nor as good as their foreign counterparts. This is usually because we either watch them too often and so often don't appreciate them as much as we do players who we only see no highlight reels, or it is because of the nature of the Premier League. Either way I can assure you that last Saturday I was in a bar before the England game and when I told some of them that I was English and supported England the bar suddenly turned into a group discussion of the quality of the England team and they proceeded to list the squad praising virtually every player. Like it or not Neekoy this England team is good, very good.

Nonsense, on both points. You are quite blinded by your dislike of the England team I'm afraid.

Ferdinand and Neville are world class, you'd struggle to name a better right back then Neville even though he often isn't that highly thought of. Joe Cole is improving at an amazing rate and even though I wouldn't put him as World Class now, he soon will be. Crouch I'm not considering to be in the first 11. Owen showed this season in the Premiership and last season in La Liga just how good he is, give him more than a game of football and he'll show it again. Beckham is playing very well at the moment, I have a lot of friends in Spain, several of whom are Real Madrid supporters and they all had him down as their best player this year, I think given who is in their side that makes him World Class. Robinson isn't World Class, but he isn't far off, he is a very good keeper and I probably don't class him at that level simply because he hasn't played enough games in big competitions to prove it. Ashley Cole is the best left back in the world, no two ways about it for me.

Just think they need to change their formation and play two up front, though I would probably still leave Wiltord in the side.

I'm not actually really English, so I can look at it from a decently objective stance. Raul isn't the player he was, Reyes has yet to become the player he could be and based on what they have actually produced for their club sides Downing is the better player, Jaoquin is about as overrated as they come and though a good player I would struggle to choose between him and Lennon to be honest and I believe that Lennon will be the better player, I don't think that much of Canizares but I don't think that much of James either, both are alright, while Fabregas will be a better player than Fabregas I would rather have Carrick now than Fabregas. England's fully fit starting 11 is in my opinion far superior to Spain's and I am not sure that any Spanish player, with the possible exception of keepers would be chosen of their English rival. The only other area I would think of is in central midfield where they might choose for a different combination for tactical reasons, but even there I am not sure. As for England looking the third best team in their group, you are joking right? Which of the other three are the two that looked better? You can't say Paraguay, England may not have imrpessed for most of that match but Paraguay didn't look like they were going to score despite the fact that England for whatever reason chose to sit back in their own half. While Brazil looked pretty ordinary themselves, I actually didn't realise before that game that Brazi wore red and white and not yellow. As for how I can lump England, Brazil and Argentina together it is on the simple fact that basically every position in the England first 11 is occupied by a world class player. There is a very good reason why England are so highly thought of by their opposition and rivals and why even the foreign media think so much of them and it isn't because of British hype. When you break down the top 10 teams in this tournament is very difficult to seperate them when you just look at it on paper. I could easily argue with you that France have a wonderful first 11 and squad and should be ranked up their with the best, but you won't have it, had they thrashed Switzerland 4-0 then maybe you would.

Long way to go yet. If the World Cup was decided in only one match, or even in the group stages, the list of winners would be very different.

Whatever, let's just see who gets further. There is no doubt in my mind that England have the better team, a better first 11 and a better squad. No, the fact that Northern Ireland beat England doesn't makethem better, that is actually exactly my point in terms of this knee-jerk reaction to a decent performance making people think Spain are suddenly one of the best sides. Spain are a good side with some very good side with some very good players, don't get me wrong, but still behind the likes of Brazil, England and Argentina.

Why doesn't everyone wait and see how this world cup pans out and then see who was over-hyped and who was underestimated. No point trying to sort it out after one game. Get over the fact that England are actually one of the favourites for this tournament. If you are English, enjoy it, if you aren't then either turn off your tv or shut up. It is exactly the same hype here in France and exactly the same I'm sure in all the big nations. I'll tell you that they talk as highly here in France of the England team as they are on the BBC, biased frogs. (what happened to the language filter?)

3-1 Italy

It was only Paraguay, which is why I didn't get so excited as to think we had already won the World Cup. The Ukraine are a decent outfit, but after beating them 4-0 in a game that certainly didn't deserve to be 4-0 you aren't suddenly transformed from a good team with a chance to shoe-in favourites for the semis.

Ukraine may have qualified first but you aren't going tell me that you expect them to get any further than the second round? Serbia and Montenegro finished above Spain in qualification and only let in one goal but you aren't going to say that they are one of Europe's finest, nor will you hold it against Spain that they didn't win their group. I still do not think that Spain's squad is as good as England's. They have a very good squad, but I think that England have the better defense and midfield. Very little seperates the keepers and up front I would rather have any strike force with Rooney in it, especially when you throw in Owen.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves. They were only playing Ukraine and everything went their way. Scrappy first goal, huge deflection on the second and a wrongfully given penalty for their third, not to mention the number of times that the Ukraine got through their offside trap only to be incorrectly given offside. They are always a good side, but much like England they always fall short, I think they will do better than usual but I can't see them winning it or making their final, while I don't believe you can say their squad of players is as good as the England team.

They aren't happy here in Paris, I can tell you that.