Cronky

I'm surprised he's changed the full backs. There's a case for keeping a settled back four, and defenders aren't usually as much in need of rest as attacking players. Resting Rooney makes sense, and it would be good to give Wilshere some game time. He's unlucky to be missing out and might well make a case for a start. We haven't seen the best of Alli so far, so again giving him a rest might help. Henderson I don't rate very highly, but he's a better bet than Milner. Giving the Sturridge-Vardy-Lallana combination is an obvious step, in light of what we've seen. So apart from the full backs, it looks fair enough.

With a body fat percentage of only 6%, apparently.

Just watched a recording of the game. It looks like our best side has emerged, and I like what I see. They're able to work the ball in the spaces between the opposition defence and midfield, unlike most previous England sides. Hopefully, we'll get through to the later stages and come up against the top sides, and that'll be interesting. The opposition will be stronger but the pressure will be off.

This thread is turning me into a dirty old man.

Yes, but he is now very fat.

When the teams were lining up in the tunnel before the game, Kane looked petrified. Normally, he seems a very relaxed, confident lad, eager to get involved and not afraid to throw his weight about. We didn't see any of that. Gary Neville was quoted as saying the most nervous he felt as a player was playing for England for the first time in a tournament game. There's a psychologist attached to the squad, and he needs to do some work on Kane. I'd give him another chance, but if the same thing happens, I'd sub him for Vardy. But I think really if that equaliser hadn't gone in, we'd all be saying how promising the performance was, instead of this doom and gloom.

The attempt to stop the cross looked a bit half-hearted. Sterling is so exasperating with his decision-making. If there's a blind alley to run up, he'll find it.

Kane looked nervous before the match, and he hasn't really been able to get into the game. If it continues like that, I'd swap with Vardy. Otherwise not a lot to beef about. With average luck, we could have been 2 up. Apart from breakaways, Russia have looked really poor.

I'd have had Wilshere (if fit) rather than Sterling, and Rooney further forward. But I'd still say that's a decent side.

Not really. A lot of journos and posters on here favour a twin strike force of Vardy and Kane. The difficulty with that is that normally with a twosome - and particularly if you're operating with a target man - one of the strikers has a more withdrawn, creative role, and that's not Vardy's strength. He operates on the line of the last defender. The other problem is you're then back in the territory of 4-4-2, which international teams find easy to counter, and you can end up getting overrun in central midfield. Plus that isn't the way this team has been playing, and we don't have out and out wingers in the squad, unless you count Sterling. If you're going for some version of 4-3-3, you need players who are versatile in the two positions between midfield and striker, because they have to share the duties of both supporting your main striker and helping out their full back. With 4-4-2, those jobs are more clearly delegated to particular players. With a 4-3-3, a bit of flexibility and thinking on their feet is needed. Personally, I'd go for Rooney and Lallana.

You haven't grasped the point that Pardew was making. It's not just that Kane is a good player. It's that he is the player , in that role, that we should be building the attack around. Kane is a precious commodity among strikers in that he is both a good target man and a good finisher. A player like that can solve a lot of selection dilemmas. He is an automatic choice in that role, and everything should flow from that decision. That will mean asking others to take on roles that are not ideal for them, but we shouldn't be asking that of Kane, like Hodgson did against Portugal.

The point is that in the last game, we didn't play Kane as a number 9, and suffered. Putting him in that role then effects all your other choices, and you then may have to sacrifice Vardy, at least as a starter.

Each their feed of the premier role ... totally disregarding the fact Papiss was hopelessly useless in that position. This guy really is a piece of work. A glimpse into the horrible job he would do for England. Putting aside the Pardew agenda for a moment, he is right on one point - that you pick Kane to play as a number 9, and then work around that. He's actually very good in that role, and defenders - even good ones - find it very difficult to keep him quiet.

There is absolutely no way that Arsenal are going to pay £20m for Sissoko. Or £2m for that matter. He doesn't fit into Arsenal's style at all.

Yeah, Leicester's counter-attacking style was ideal for Vardy, and as we can't play that way, there's not much of a case for him starting. As others have said, he'd be a useful sub against a tired defence though.

It's not about that, it's that the team being picked and likely the one that starts the Euros should be nowhere the team that actually plays. Tonight was incredibly telling, no one really passed to each other and a lot of the players lack technical ability. We technically have a team which could do kind of well i suppose but Hodgson actually has to pick the right group and i have zero confidence in him doing so. England managers are under a lot of pressure and I've seen in the past how that can affect their judgement eg Eriksson deciding at the last minute to pick 17 year old Walcott, who had never played a game for Arsenal. I worry that Hodgson is succumbing in a similar way. No-one expected to see Vardy, Rooney and Kane, all in a line across the pitch, with Rooney in the centre, and the other two on the wings. Ian Wright is not my favourite pundit, but he was right in saying that there's no point in even trying it. Hodgson was probably in a panic about our defending, and we did stop the opposition from playing, but it was completely at the expense of any creativity when we had the ball.

It was a rather nervous selection by Hodgson. He's not sure whether Dier on his own can do enough to protect his back four, and so he tried Milner. Trouble is, I don't think Milner or Henderson offer us enough. Maybe Drinkwater would have been the better option, but that ship has sailed. He also wants to find starting places for both Vardy and Rooney, but that didn't work either. Looking at the front six, I'd personally definitely have these five - Dier, Wilshere, Alli, Kane and Lallana. The other place I'd give to Barkley or Rooney, and adjust the formation depending on which of those two are picked. Barkley's not had a great season, but he's a class player who can come good.

The first hour was like watching England of old. Playing in rigid lines, no improvisation and predictable. For the last half hour, we loosened up and looked a lot better, so there is hope, providing Hodgson learns his lesson. Okay, we may then be more vulnerable defensively, but we were so hopeless up till that point, that it feels we've got no choice but to take the chance.

The main consolation is that the front three of Vardy-Rooney-Kane was so bad he can't possibly try it again. Vardy-Kane is a combination that you feel would best suit a traditional 4-4-2. But we don't have wide midfielders and we also have the issue of where Rooney would fit in (if at all). I thought Milner's England career would be over after the last World Cup. He's done well to survive, but there are better options. Wilshere is a major talent and should play. He has the ability to create chances through the centre. Lallana is a clever player, he adds guile and movement, and gets involved. I'd start with both of those.

Milner's in there for his experience, but if fit, I'd rather have Wilshere or Barkley. Lallana's unlucky to miss out too - we seem to play better with him there.

Sterling has his moments, but in most respects he seems to have gone backwards. It's always bad for a career when a young player has a big money move and then struggles.

Refreshing to see an outbreak of (almost) unity. Let's hope it lasts - no good reason why it won't. I think, over time, Rafa will attract a better standard of player.

He's been given hundreds of billions from what I understand. Why think of billions, when we could have..... millions? http://robertkaplinsky.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/drevil_cover.jpg

Squires will miss LVG.