Cronky

For much of the game, he looked slow and clumsy. There's no obvious alternative though. Fingers crossed, Barkley seems to have come of age in an England shirt.

Delph and Barkley playing really well. We're creating chances, but Croatia look just as likely to score.

I pretty much disagree with all of that. Even the bits about Kane and Sane. Fast players like Sterling with that rapid, short stride are often very good at running with the ball because their running style means they can stay close to it. For me, technique comes into play when they have to kick it. And Sterling often seems to keep running with the ball when he ought to release it. That lofted pass that Barkley produced for the third goal is what I mean by technique. I'm not talking running at pace. His first 3-4 touches, he rarely losses the ball at that point. He can be in a tight space, markers around, his first touch is way more consistent than Sane's at this point. In general, he's very good in tight spaces either dribbling or short passes. Again, he doesn't lose the ball that much for a wide player because a) his touch is good b) generally releases the ball at the right time c) he's good at short range passing. I think that's the reason why Sterling is more guaranteed of a start at City than Sane atm. Better at the quick, intricate, build-up play, better movement off the ball. If Sterling wasn't technically sound or consistently made poor decisions he wouldn't be a key player for Guardiola. I think you're describing Messi there, not Sterling. We'll have to agree to differ.

I pretty much disagree with all of that. Even the bits about Kane and Sane. Fast players like Sterling with that rapid, short stride are often very good at running with the ball because their running style means they can stay close to it. For me, technique comes into play when they have to kick it. And Sterling often seems to keep running with the ball when he ought to release it. That lofted pass that Barkley produced for the third goal is what I mean by technique. Shaun Wright Phillips? Atsu? Nathan Dyer? they didn't have that. He's not a creative midfielder? So he's rarely going to play the sort of pass Barkley did. Technique isn't limited to being able to loft a through ball. Like I said, i'm sure Guardiola has seen plenty of technical players in his time with Barca and he seems to like him a lot. Are you disputing that a short stride makes it easier to run with the ball? Yes, because as literally evidenced above there are plenty of players with short rapid running style who are absolutely awful at running with it. See Hatem vs Atsu. It's your touch that determines how close the ball stays to you when you run with it. See Ben Arfa for further details. If you aren't in control of your touch you can have the shortest running stride known to man and be shit. See Wright Phillips. If your argument was correct then every winger would be sterling's build. That is argument by analogy rather than logic, which is often a dodgy process. Short-striding players find it easier to accelerate, change direction and change pace. That has to be an advantage when running with the ball. It's not the only determinant of how good you are when running with the ball, but it's there.

No offence, but I pretty much disagree with all of your reply to TCD. You can’t just redefine ‘technique’ to only fit one component part and running at pace keeping the ball under close control requires great technique (touch) it isn’t solely about length of stride. I didn't say solely. Obviously a good touch on the ball helps when running with it. My point was that Sterling's ability to stay close to the ball rests mainly on his particular athletic qualities.

I pretty much disagree with all of that. Even the bits about Kane and Sane. Fast players like Sterling with that rapid, short stride are often very good at running with the ball because their running style means they can stay close to it. For me, technique comes into play when they have to kick it. And Sterling often seems to keep running with the ball when he ought to release it. That lofted pass that Barkley produced for the third goal is what I mean by technique. Shaun Wright Phillips? Atsu? Nathan Dyer? they didn't have that. He's not a creative midfielder? So he's rarely going to play the sort of pass Barkley did. Technique isn't limited to being able to loft a through ball. Like I said, i'm sure Guardiola has seen plenty of technical players in his time with Barca and he seems to like him a lot. Are you disputing that a short stride makes it easier to run with the ball?

I pretty much disagree with all of that. Even the bits about Kane and Sane. Fast players like Sterling with that rapid, short stride are often very good at running with the ball because their running style means they can stay close to it. For me, technique comes into play when they have to kick it. And Sterling often seems to keep running with the ball when he ought to release it. That lofted pass that Barkley produced for the third goal is what I mean by technique.

Well... imagine having doubts about a player for 27 games, and those doubts disappearing just becomes he scores twice in the 28th. That's my perspective on it. At international level, there's a premium on technique and adaptability. Despite being a great athlete, I think he's lacking in both.

Some encouraging signs, although I think Spain paid the price for not giving the opposition sufficient respect at the start. Barkley is a very good all round midfielder and should be a fixture in the side. The performance as a whole showed that we don't need two defensive midfield players - Dier or Henderson should start, but not both. I remain to be convinced about Sterling, despite the two goals and his pace. Lingard and Sancho look better options to me. Sterling's decision-making is often poor, and at international level you really need players who are able to use their brain.

According to KK himself, he hasn't been banned. He just doesn't feel that he would be welcome. Whatever the rights and wrongs, when you try to sue someone for £25m, they're not exactly going to roll out the red carpet afterwards. The Modric transfer is a bit of a mystery. I can remember that after the deal went through and rumours of KK's unhappiness surfaced, Chris Mort actually wrote in the following match programme that we had actually outbid Spurs in terms of salary and transfer fee, but Modric opted for Spurs regardless.

He's always been quite error-prone, though there has been some improvements over time. The calls for him to be in the England squad were premature.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/45313122 I think that's the statement from Owen that has got Shearer a bit annoyed. He's practically admitted to conning people for the last years of his career. What complete mugs we were for buying him.

The two signings I was most pleased about were Rondon and Ki, and we've seen little of Rondon and nothing of Ki so far. The whole atmosphere around the club is a worry though, and I think we'll have a situation similar to last season, with every club below the top eight, at some stage or other, in danger of going down. It really depends on how we react to that challenge.

Expectations went through the roof after last week, quite unrealistically. It was down to earth with a bump today, but he can still do a useful job for us. I mean, there are reasons why Chelsea don't want him.

Two poor sides, but Cardiff played with more heart. Ironically, the red card seemed to ease the pressure on us a bit and gave us the jolt we needed. The ref was a homer, allowing the crowd to make his mind up on a few occasions. We seemed to lose out with quite a number of 50-50 situations in the midfield. Ritchie, Shelvey and Diame aren't particularly sharp and I think the balance doesn't look right.

I'm interested to see what Ki can bring to the side. Shelvey and Diame did okay but they're both a bit one-paced.

He'll be an important player for us, because he can create something out of nothing, but I don't think he'll make the grade at Chelsea. That bad first touch which caused him to fluff that easy chance is the weak spot in his game. He often gets away with it because he's so quick and strong, but not always. Still, our man of the match for sure.

Damarai Gray looked ready to fulfil that huge potential of his. He should have a good season. Pogba looked in great nick - I think that's the best I've seen him play for Man U. Sanchez often lost the ball in good situations. He also looked huge, like he'd been overdoing things in the weights room.

Leicester looking good. Man U looking short of coherence and confidence. And is Alexis Sanchez actually as good as his reputation suggests? I have my doubts.

I think the reality is that Rafa is actually more happy with the signings and with the people that he's working with than he was making out during the transfer window. If I'm wrong, and he was as unhappy as he was suggesting, then he should have quit.

I think there's a recognition on Rafa's part that a bad atmosphere off the pitch with the supporters is potentially going to affect the team. Trouble is, Rafa, it's no good using the supporters to turn the heat on Ashley during the transfer window, and then expecting it all to die down when the season starts.

I think there's probably some truth in the story that Rafa was reluctant to sign a new contract unless money was spent, and Ashley was reluctant to spend if Rafa was going to leave after a year. Either that, or Ashley is trying to prepare the club for a sale. Overall, it's very hard to tell how much players are worth, and the greater use of loans, by other clubs as well as us, reflects that. The Neymar transfer has seriously disrupted the transfer market. I'm not convinced that the big spenders like Fulham and West Ham will get value for money, and despite our lack of spend, I think the team and the squad have improved. The limited budget has actually been used well. I'm expecting mid-table again.

I have wondered whether there's much clear thinking behind all that spending of theirs. If true, this link confirms it.

There's no truth in that, because Rafa has every reason to believe even if he signed a contract Ashley wouldn't release funds. So why not quit, or sign and then quit if Ashley doesn't deliver on his promises. Then at least everything can be brought out into the open. The current stand-off won't get us anywhere.

It does look like there's truth in the story that Ashley won't release funds unless Rafa signs a new contract. If Rafa doesn't trust them, then he should quit now. The strategy of not signing, but hoping that pressure from supporters and the media is going to force Ashley to back down, just isn't going to work. We're in for another meltdown if this carries on.