Does he really have that much talent?

Please, no John Ruddy. Hes past it.

Mbappe is booked in for emergency surgery on his broken nose. He is the one they really need to keep fit because as much as they have good alternatives, there isnt another Mbappe. Usually you see players with a mask on soon after such an injury so I am guessing that is a possibility.

They seem to have moved away from in previous tournaments where they played Griezmann high up off Giroud. Having him deeper and Thuram adding additional pace just meant they had pace right across and especially in the knockout rounds that will be so difficult to stop. They also have Coman, Barcola and Kolo Muani on the bench as well as Tchouameni, Fofana and Camavinga so plenty more pace and energy when they want to change it up. They have the best balance in the tournament with a full squad of players whereby you swap a player and they can carry on as normal.

The issue seems to be with the rule rather than allowing the ref a chance to view it again. I think it was harsh.

The 3 games today again were enjoyable with only the England so far in the tournament being boring. Romania were a big surprise, Ukraine have far better individual pedigree but Romania were excellent. Belgium battered Slovakia for long spells but after that early Doku mistake, it just took a mixture of luck and some brilliant defending to cause a big early shock. And the France Austria game I would say was the highest level of any game in terms of quality on both sides, Germany and Spain have stood out as looking very strong but the former were obviously against a terrible Scotland and Croatia looked very leggy and lacking quality at CB and dynamism in attack.

Ah, the old no one is forcing you to watch it routine. The France Austria game was arguably the pick of the first round of fixtures, an important game in a difficult group that was very interesting. There is plenty of England focus and discussion, and I would understand if Neville, Keane and Wright are desperate to give their take, to see a quick 5 minute debate before then focusing on the actual game at hand. When they do talk about whatever game they are covering, its always a bit of chat about 1 or 2 individuals. France are packed full of quality, yet everything is just about Mbappe. And with Austria, in the absence of clearly anyone bothering to do any research, just a minute on how Sabitzer didnt play much at United. They are a good side with lots of good Bundesliga players, and the form under Austria has seen Ragnick come close to the Bayern job. How about more insight into the actual game they are covering and less repetitive England waffle. I dont get this obsession about comparing everyone to England, it must really hinder your enjoyment of the overall tournament and some really enjoyable matches. FWIW, I thought that France looked more in control against an Austria side who are a level up in quality from Serbia. France never look to dominate the ball but they are packed full of pace and energy. There were questions marks over their defence coming into the tournament with Saliba expected to be a sub but clearly the right call was made as he is a brilliant player and showed that tonight. I was surprised that Kante started but his spell in Saudi Arabia didnt show, looks like he is still playing at the top.

Why would I watch the game back? Once was enough, entertainment was scarce and there are 3 games a day of entertaining football that I can spend my time watching. The game became a stodgy game of long ball, partly because Serbia wanted that as it suits them. But partially because Southgate then clearly authorised a procession of long kicks up to Kane against 3 centre backs. We should have had the conviction to continue to play the ball on th ground because initially Serbia couldnt handle it. I dont really care what Wright said. Im sick of the pre match analysis of every game just a constant discussion about England when I want to hear about the game I am about to see so I tend to stop listening. Even if Trent might or might not (neither of us could possibly know what Slot plans to do) he hasnt played there very much at all prior to the tournament and I dont think it worked particularly well. Its a big ask as its a totally different position. We are struggling for balance in the midfield and that Rice partner is a real issue. I think Wharton would give the best balance but again the question is whether hes ready at that level.

One thing that is a real bug bear in terms of the punditry is why they go on and on about England before every game. We all discuss England to death, but international tournaments are fascinating in terms of all the teams. I would much rather see some discussion about the game thats actually coming on, not a constant borefest of England stuff and maybe a couple of minutes on the best player of each team.

Surely the issue is the rule then, not VAR.

Fantastic deal for Venkys.

I think weve had our use from McFadzean. Short term experience but I would have liked to see us moving away from a back 5 and a deep line just to protect how old he is.

If discussion was as straightforward as just either win, draw or lose, it would be pretty boring. The win is obviously the important part but I felt like the tactics were counterproductive and negative and played into the Serbian's hands. Against better sides, I fear that we could come unstuck. You keep using cliches such as slow starters and comparing Kane to Shearer but using Kane as a battering ram seems again like not the way to get the best out of him. We have technical players in attacking areas yet not long after going one up our tactics seemed to change to just sitting in and going long and it didnt work, making the last hour much more hard work than it should have been.

But again, a slow start isnt something to strive for. Its just a pointless cliche. We didnt win Euro 96 either. If we are as good as we think we are then we wouldnt allow Serbia to have the game on their terms for most of the game. Everytime Pickford got the ball he just smashed it high in the air to Kane who more often than not was outjumped by one of 3 giant centre backs. That is not Serbia forcing their style onto us, that was us for some reason playing to their style. We have Saka who is quick and also players on the bench who are quick who offer a threat in behind, Serbia's defence was slow and not the best on the ball so we should have tried to expose them with quick passing and movement. Its not a case of people being annoyed because the football was boring. It is more the fear that playing in such a way does not best suit these players and will cause issues against better sides. Obviously the result isnt a failure but there are red flags in the performance.

You keep talking about starting slowly as if thats something to strive for. Serbia are a big and physical but ultimately limited side. Southgate's approach of long ball made the game far closer than it ought to be. Had we continued as we started with one and two touched they couldnt cope with it. Would you want to stick with VAR if it was used as efficiently in the Prem?

We have technical players much better than theirs so lumping it long was not the logical approach. Kane struggled because hoofing it was food and drink to their 3 big centre backs. Had we tried to keep the ball on the ground, we would have had much more joy. We have a far better standard of players than Serbia so playing as we did tonight made the game far closer than it needed to be. Direct football played into the hands of a side as big and strong as youll find, we should have played it on the ground and we would have had plenty more joy. Regarding performance, obviously if we bore teams to overall tournament triumph then great. All football is about results. But the reason people are concerned is not because it is a hard watch. But when we face better opposition, we might struggle unless something changes, ie results could well go against us. Serbia are an average side, their midfield is made up of a Fulham squad player and an aging player who was in and out at Sevilla, often at centre back. Thankfully they didnt have the quality going forward and our defence held strong but there was no need for it to be as difficult as it became. Even when Foden plays to the left for City he is so much better than he is for England. Got to look at the manager. Although we had world class players having to try and feed off hopeless long balls for the last hour.

But he wouldnt have got a kick unless the tactics changed massively from Pickford going straight up to Kane.

Hes a great talent and deserves to be in and around it but bias aside, Wharton doesnt make a massive different there IMO. The gameplan was clearly to keep going long regardless of if it stunted our main attacking players.

It isnt a tactic that suits these players to just lump the ball towards Kane, especially against 3 centre backs. Just because there are examples of teams starting slowly in tournaments (not really relevant to us as we have never won this tournament for all those slow starts) doesnt mean we can dismiss concerns heightened by a poor performance even in victory. The win is all that matters at the end of the day but im struggling to see why we are the favourites aside from blind patriotic gamblers.

Only important thing is getting the win on the opening day and we are now in a position especially considering the current format where we have a foot in the last 16 already. But the performance was really poor. We just dont have the ability to control the game. It was just endless hoofing the ball up to Kane against 3 big defenders. Foden is a totally different player when managed by Southgate.

I dont see how the team could be seen as negative. Alexander Arnold is a risk in midfield but in the absence of a stand out choice next to Rice it is an understandable one, certainly not defensive. People keep talking about Bellingham playing deeper but that wouldnt make sense.

Yes, lurks in the background not saying anything. You are assuming that we are a normal club.

He might be proven right and we might have money to spend, but if they havent even decided, then he cant possibly know either way. And to be fair, he didnt say otherwise, its just that people read into a random sentence at the end of a random article as if it was club endorsed statement.

Rovers Trust were told he didnt meet them as he was sorting budgets. Would be typically late for us so sounds reasonable although Suhail does seem keen to avoid interaction and just lurk in the background as a Venkys puppet.

If Suhail only went this week to India to sort the budgets, it proves that what Elliott Jackson said about us having money was purely an opinion.