Cronky

The refereeing could have been more objective, but we were well beaten. I'd not seen Sanusi before. A real talent, by the looks. Harrison also looked promising. I'd forgotten how bad Lewis is. Until half an hour into the second half, I'd forgotten he was on the pitch. He never seems to want the ball.

There's a problem because Hall has been given the licence to get more forward and more central, but Joelinton isn't covering the gap that he leaves. Perhaps he doesn't really have the mobility to do that, but their goal arose from that problem, and it wasn't the first time that the problem arose. Barnes has wasted a few opportunities due to poor technique. Yokahama look the better side, but they're already match fit and are more used to the conditions.

On a youtube scouting, he looks big and fast. Not the complete package, but that's a useful combination to have around.

I call your Declan Rice and raise you Roy Keane.

I saw these comments from the Mag from Eddie Howe on Sandro - “Sandro Tonali has come back really fit and focused. “You can see a change in his demeanour. “There is definitely a change in him, in terms of [how he is] feeling as he is closer to playing. “It is very difficult when you have that stretch ahead of you and you are not going to play competitively for such a length of time. “He now looks ready to play, ready to make a difference. “He does feel like an absolute new signing and somebody who we desperately missed last year. “He will feel like he has got points to prove, objectives to hit. “He came here with very clear motivations to be successful. “He is a deep thinker and someone who wants to do very well. “I have no doubt he will.” I always felt there was something missing from Sandro's performances last season (understandably in hindsight) and I've been one of his doubters. I find these comments very encouraging.

Chelsea had a lot of new, young players and I suspect that the atmosphere around the dressing room was a bit immature. If I remember right, he wasn't the only one fighting to get that ball. Madueke is not going to behave like that with the likes of Schar and Joelinton around. Overall, yes I think this lad probably does need a bit of straightening out, but Eddie has a good record of improving players.

I'm all in favour of Madueke - a talented player whose career hasn't quite taken off yet. We've made a success of that sort of signing (eg Isak, Gordon, Joelinton)

It’s somewhat premature, but interesting nonetheless. On paper, Chelsea and Man U look a level above the rest, but games aren’t won on paper. Villa have a better squad in depth than we had, so they should cope better with the Champions League. They will do well to make top 4 again though. The competition is tough. Spurs will need to recover from last season’s collapse, and I’m not sure they will. As for us, we have gaps in the squad that need filling. But we do have the best manager in the league (bar Pep) and he’s worth an extra 15 points to us.

I don't think this is anything to do with the England job. He likes a fair measure of control, of feeling secure, and one of his main strengths is his ability to work with and improve players. I don't think he is status-driven, so I can't see how it would suit him or why he would want it. I think Eales and Mitchell are out there with the team, so hopefully there's plenty of opportunity to straighten things out.

We gotta problem. And just when things were going so well. However you may dress it up, this is a public threat to resign. Eddie is normally very discreet when it comes to keeping things behind closed doors, so this is right out of character. Presumably he's already made the powers that be aware of his concerns privately - if not, they have a right to feel annoyed. It all seems a bit pointless. It's not going to encourage any prospective players to join us if they get the impression that the Head Coach is liable to change. It also means that Eales and Mitchell will be either walking on eggshells or keen to assert themselves, neither of which will help. Those two have come across as sound people with a genuine regard for Eddie's abilities, so I imagine they'll be a bit taken aback. I think Eddie is used to working within an intimate working environment where he has some considerable influence and access to the decision-makers above him. He joined a bigger club in us, but his close contact with Amanda and Mehrdad, who were running the club from somewhat ill-defined roles, allowed him to exercise the power that he felt he needed. Our structure is now more typical of a major club, and he's feeling very insecure. But it's difficult to know why he hasn't decided to keep quiet and just see how things pan out. Looking at his career, I think he likes to feel that he's on familiar ground, with familiar people. He was very anxious to keep his coaching team with him, when he came here. Excuse the amateur psychology, but there may be insecurities from his early years that have been exposed. People of exceptional ability can be vulnerable like this. It's what drives them. I'm worried, because going public like this is unfair on the people he's working for.

The stat I would like to see is how many times Alan Shearer said the word 'quality' during the game.

Rice is not international class in that anchor position. The trouble is, we don't seem to have anyone else at this precise moment. Spain deserved it of course, but when we equalised I could see us going on to snatch it. Kane's departure seemed to lift the team mentally as well as physically. It looked like one tournament too many for him. And I never seem to see him talking to his team-mates, which for a captain is a bit worrying. The wait goes on, but at least we have some good young players coming through.

I suspect Southgate is going 4 at the back. He'll be worried about the two Spanish wide players, and might not want to rely on wing backs.

I really like Gnabry, though he seems too old at 29 for our usual transfer strategy. I think he's a great talent who hasn't fulfilled his potential. Eddie has a knack of getting something extra from a player, so I'd be very happy if this went through. With Gordon and Isak, we've had success in scooping up players whose standing seems to have dipped after an indifferent season. I'm hoping this could be another one.

Best players of the Euros, I'd say. No chance.

Someone I know has 2 tickets for the Euros Final. He paid £300 each including accommodation, but he didn't realise when he bought them months ago that it was going to be the same day as his wedding! If you are interested, he is looking for someone to take his place! It's at St Helens Registry Office, at 4pm and the bride's name is Hannah.

In the last four tournaments, we've reached 3 semis, and 2 finals. However, in 3 out of the 4, we've been very lucky with how the draws for the knockout stages have worked out.

Hang on. He was late. He attempted to play the ball and didn't get it. The fact that most of the energy came from Kane's boot is irrelevant. Kane got the ball, the defender didn't.

To be frank, I think what’s confusing the issue is that the defender didn’t prevent Kane from getting his shot away cleanly, and so the offence seems less serious. Say in another part of the field, a defender clears the ball into touch but a late challenge from an opponent leads to the defender’s foot colliding with the opponent’s foot. No question in my mind that’s given as a foul. There has been a convention that giving a pen requires a foul to be more serious than would be the case in other parts of the field. However, with Var, that seems to be loosening. Maybe in the early days of Var that incident may have failed the ‘clear and obvious’ test. But in order to get consistency, some rules are being tightened. So I think the decision was fair enough.

I thought the pen was fair enough. The defender was making a challenge for the ball, rather than blocking the shot. He was just late.

I've been wanting Southgate to pick Watkins. That sort of goal is his trademark. He creates just a bit of space for himself in the area and then hits the corners. I don't think there's any chance of his starting ahead of Kane in the final, but hopefully he'll come on a bit earlier.

I think there's room for improvement with Madueke, and Eddie has a way of bringing out the best in players. The talent is there. Bowen is 5 years older, and I think has already peaked. Good athlete, but not particularly great on the technical side, would be my view.

Bowen would cost a lot, and I think he's a bit over-rated. Madueke yes please, but I imagine his wages could be a barrier. Elanga is the more realistic.

I may be the only one, but I thought Van de Ven's challenge on Akaydin deserved at least a yellow. He jumped in and had no chance of getting the ball. I was quite surprised at the referee expert's opinion that it was a fair challenge.

The danger was created when Trippier got beaten by Schar.