Cronky

I didn't think that Denmark were all that great. Eriksen was the difference between the two sides.

Italy have been unlucky. They get drawn in a group with Spain, and Sweden can be a tough nut to crack. I didn't see every minute of the 180, but Italy did carve out some chances. They'll be a miss. The Italians often play with skill and creativity.

Yes, but he does provide great insight eg 'If you're going to score, you've got to hit the target'. He actually said that twice.

A shaky understanding of the rules, I'd say. The whole of the body doesn't have to beyond the defender, for it to be offside. I know a lot on here don't like him, but it was good to see Wilshere back in action and doing well, albeit for only 10 minutes. It would boost England a lot if he could get back to his best.

We're not doing too badly with Joselu in the side, are we? He's not a strong finisher, but a big part of the lone striker's role is to link up play, keep possession, draw fouls etc. In those areas, he's better than Mitro, Martins or Cisse.

And yet you worshipped Sammy Ameobi. I still think I'm right.

Ugh. Back problems sometimes take a lot of sorting out. He puts a lot into every game, and a longish term injury was always my worry.

I've not seen anything from him yet that's going to worry Premiership defenders. Decent athlete but his touch on the ball looks dodgy is my early impression.

Joselu is a better football than Mitrovic imo. Our style of play doesn’t suit either of them mind. Too bad Gayle still hasn’t recovered mentally from his injury last season. Joselu better than Mitrovic? Not sure about that. Does he better suit the system. Well, he probably does. He also has a much better chance of leaving the pitch when the manager decides, not the ref. For me, that's still quite a factor with Mitro.

Personally, I am quite eager to see how this group performs when they are on loan to Championship clubs in four years time. I was actually quite surprised at the level of technique that our players showed. Their athleticism made the difference between the sides, but they showed some skill. Foden looked outstanding. Normally, players don't come through the ranks at Man City, but I think he'll be the exception.

I'm a bit wary of consortiums or managed funds, which is what we seem to be dealing with here. As we know, despite the money coming into football, it's difficult to turn a profit, because the money tends to get eaten up through the competitive costs of transfer fees and salaries. If you don't join in, you go down. Chelsea, PSG and Man City have owners who are prepared to stick their own money in, regardless of the odds at getting a return, just for the prestige that success brings. I can't see whoever is behind Ms Staveley being up for that. They seem to be investors in the true sense ie they'll want some kind of return for their money, or at least won't be continually prepared to write off losses. If they're not going to get the individual ego rub that success brings, what's in it for them? It looks like it's going ahead, and perhaps they'll be in a position to take more financial risks than Ashley. But let's not forget that for every Sheikh Mansour or Abramovic, there's several other foreign owners who get disillusioned after a couple of seasons and stop writing the cheques.

Sounds great.

It's tough, because in the bottom half, there's little to chose between the teams. I put Palace because their start is significantly worse than the others. Huddersfield and Brighton, because although they've begun well, promoted teams tend to run out of steam in the second half of their first season.

Always thought that if any manager could put Ben Arfa straight, it would be Hughton. He seemed to play a big part in the signing, but didn't get the chance to work with him for any length of time.

This'll make a few people happy - https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/4735369/newcastle-transfer-news-hatem-ben-arfa-paris-saint-germain/ Only the Sun, of course.

Certainly I think Palace ought to be doing better, given some of the players they've got. I was a bit worried about this fixture, particularly given the threat of the pace of Zaha and Townsend. A win and a clean sheet is a good result which we shouldn't take for granted. There's been a big improvement in the quality and confidence of our passing. We have our limitations, but we do look like a team, for the first time in a while.

Yes, because he can't play football. Take him out for a pizza. Harsh but funny.

I can see where Dyer is coming from here. He was around when Sir Bob guided us to 4th and 3rd places, and then get the sack when we didn't reach the group stage of the Champions League and finished 5th the following season. The supporters, the local press and the Chairman all turned against Sir Bob that season. I don't think most supporters see us as a club who should be regularly in the Champions League, but there's no question that expectations have been raised as a result of Keegan's first spell, and Robson's stint. The long years of failure have also added pressure, and in the football world we do have the label of the big under-achieving club. So it's all quite understandable. It is what it is. I usually switch over from that programme after a few minutes because the opinions tend to be bland and predictable. I didn't expect anything different last night, but Dyer surprised me. He had sensible, original opinions on a number of different subjects.

Highly rated among his fellow professionals, not so much by the public. Maybe he was a bit of a flat track bully. Playing for Liverpool against weaker sides, he was very effective. Playing for England was a different story.

This is just a rank bad decision, isn't it? Leicester have had a difficult run of fixtures and the owner is making no allowances for that.

He looks a bit overweight to me. Maybe he's not able to train properly due to concerns over his hamstrings.

It sounds to me that there's at least one buyer, and by going public he's hoping to start an auction. I think this time it'll happen. He must think that this is the right time to sell. The team are back in the Premiership, with a good manager and doing reasonably well. He's probably fed up with the hassle and doesn't want to take the risk of things going tits up again.

Yeah, we still waste some good opportunities to counter attack by hoofing the ball rather than passing it out. We're not Man City, but I think with a bit more confidence we can do better.

Yeah. Should have cleared the lot out and usually would. But went in a bit half hearted for some reason. Agreed. Lejeune was suckered into a bad challenge, but Lascelles was at fault too. When he first came here, Lascelles often looked a bit indecisive, and prone to getting caught in no man's land. He's improved a lot in that area, but there's still a bit of work to do.

Looked good on YT. Very good.