Cronky

I agree. Ghana are dangerous.

Just very relieved to have got through. It would have been a terrible feeling if we'd failed to qualify from that group. The Germany game will be an even contest. I assume we'll play better now that the pressure is off, so I'm quite hopeful. If we'd ended up with Ghana, I could see us getting jittery again because the media would be saying (incorrectly) that that's an easy tie.

Played a lot better today, and that was the major factor behind the team playing better. Still not mentally all there though. He was very greedy for one chance in the first half, where he should have knocked the ball right to Milner.

I'm afraid you're deluding yourself if you think there are any good old days to look back on, least of all with Sir Bob. England teams have always had a problem with the more technical side of the game. Keeping possession is about all 10 outfield players being comfortable on the ball, and we tend to have defenders and even midfield players who are very limited in that area. This current team is actually much better technically than any other that we've had. In the Algeria game, we weren't playing many long balls and were trying to keep the ball on the deck, building from the back. The trouble is, we weren't playing with enough pace and confidence to make that work. Sir Bob was a great club manager but struggled at international level. It didn't really suit his style. Thanks to a lucky draw, it ended well with a place in the semi-final, but he lost his job for a reason. That semi final has tended to define Sir Bob's period in charge in the public eye, but for most of his 8 years, we were poor.

Terry seems to be a bit thick. You shouldn't try to side with the media against the manager anyway, but to do that without having any support in the dressing room is really stupid. He doesn't seem able to think more than one step in advance. I thought he should have been out of the squad when the Wayne Bridge issue came up. He survived because of his quality as a defender. If it had been Upson then I suspect that Bridge would have been in the squad. Capello didn't grasp the nettle then, and it sounds like he's paid the price for it.

I was running back into my own penalty area, the ball came at me unexpectedly, I didn't adjust and scored an own goal. No disaster, but I suppose I was at a self-conscious time of life (16), and was playing with older lads. Eventually, someone had to tell me to stop apologising.

I don't know about that, but the ref certainly will.

Bit worrying that he's a good mate of Carroll's, but apart from that, he'd be a good signing.

I can remember there used to be a lot of difficulty for British players moving to Italian clubs and having to adjust to the 'boot camp' style of preparation. They're also used to their managers being less authoritarian in style. It may not be a problem when you're away for a week, but for longer periods, there may be more difficulty. This might be a problem that's solvable with a little bit of mutual adjustment, so there's no need to panic. Stuart Pearce would have a role to play here.

At last, someone who really does seem to know what he's talking about. With shots and crosses, players control the ball through imparting spin, and in making the ball more aerodynamic, they've made it more difficult to impart spin. In a lot of the slow-mo replays that I've seen, the ball doesn't seem to be rotating as much as I'd expect. I wonder if the problem for goalkeepers is that the ball is travelling through the air quicker, and they're being caught out by its pace, rather than its swerve.

That is only through Capello's choice. I don't particularly rate either Walcott or Agbonlahor but they are useful players to bring off the bench purely due to their pace which can stretch a game. Likewise, Adam Johnson's direct style and ability to whip a cross in would have made a much bigger impact than anything SWP (who has been shit since he signed for Chelsea years ago) can offer. I've been saying since Capello took the job that his squad selections are awful. We needed to bring on trickery from the bench, not pace. Pace isn't that relevant when the opposition are funnelling back in defence and there's no space behind them to run into. Besides, Defoe and SWP aren't exactly slow. I'm not sure why Capello hasn't used Joe Cole though. He may see him as not a wide player, which is fair enough, his trickery is more useful down the middle. He may see him as more of a sub for the likes of Gerrard, Rooney or Lampard which would be a very bold decision to make. But of those three, I'd see Lampard as dispensable in a game which is going like that. It doesn't matter what he can do in other situations, if he's not getting involved, it's a waste of a shirt.

Unfortunately, I think it's the wrong game to play that formation. Slovenia only need a draw, we need to win, so it'll a matter of trying to break down their defence. We won't be able to go through them so we need some aerial ability. I'd play Crouch rather than Heskey, because he's more likely to win some clean headers in the box and is a better finisher. His lack of pace won't be important in that game. Having said that, no formation is going to work unless Capello can free the players up mentally.

Capello is an autocrat, so I'm not sure this will happen, but what we could do with is a clear-the-air players meeting. Where's Alan Smith when you need him, eh?

I actually think we'll play far better against a decent side. The mental inhibitions will go.

I noticed that as well. I know if you're right footed, it's easier to pass the ball to the left, but on two or three occasions, Johnson was in loads of space in the second half, and they moved it the other way. As with the USA game, we looked more dangerous on the right, so I couldn't understand that. Again, maybe it's unrelaxed minds at work.

Exactly. The problem came in the final third, where instead of taking our opportunities, we looked inhibited. On three occasions (twice with Gerrard I think) a man had a clear shot on goal wide right and instead of blasting it, tried to pass it inside. That kind of hesitation makes all the difference.

He's not playing like the player he claims to be, system or not, he's lucky that his reputation will garauntee him a place in the next match. He's got to start playing like he play for Manure. You're right. It's the same system that took us through qualification. What's changed is the confidence of the senior players, and Rooney in particular. I just wonder whether Capello has underestimated the effect of all the pressure and hype on the players. This is his first time at a World Cup, after all. Maybe the players could do with some time out with the WAGs to relax. I'm not sure whether Beckham's presence is a help. England's supposed hero and all that. Ferdinand hanging around injured for a week didn't seem right either. Injured players should be back home.

There's been a huge build up to this tournament, and I wonder if it's affected the players. Rooney looks the main casualty, but only a handful of players really look themselves, and interestingly it's not the big names. Just as another point. We're not showing enough imagination at corners, which is a further symptom of how tense we are. Referees are allowing defenders to wrestle their opponents to the ground, and it's virtually impossible to get a clean header straight from the kick. We have to knock it short once or twice.

Barry was fucking hopeless. Carrick. I'd say Barry was our best player. The only one who looked composed and comfortable on the ball, and whose decision-making looked confident. I wouldn't drop Rooney. I know he's not with it at the moment, but we have no chance at all of progressing any distance without him. A change I'd consider is Joe Cole on for Lampard, with Gerrard in the centre. With Barry, Lampard and Gerrard together, we look a bit one-paced.

The main problem that Capello needs to sort out is Rooney, who we've always relied on a lot to get us going. I've never seen him play as badly as he has in the last two games. Normally, mentally he's as hard as a rock, but he looks nervous and keeps miscontrolling the ball in situations where he would never do before. I'm not sure whether he's had the best lead up. There's been all this publicity around him as our big hope and one of the world's best players, as with the Nike advert and all these TV appearances. We forget he's still very young, and carrying the nation's dreams on his shoulders seems to have got to him.

I'd bring him on for Lampard if it stays like this. Put Gerrard in Lampard's position. We look nervous still, though it helps that Rooney is roaming around more.

We still look nervous, though it's getting better now that Rooney is roaming around and looking less inhibited. Lampard just isn't getting involved. If it stays like this, I'd take him off, give Gerrard his position and bring on Joe Cole. We need a bit more trickery in the final third.

I'm not sure about the keeper, but apart from that, it's the team I'd have picked. Back to the shape that took us through qualifying, so I think we should win comfortably. Green v Jaymo is a call that only the manager can make on what he sees in training. I did think Green's error last time was at least part down to nerves, so he presumably he sees James as the safer option.

Listen now, because this is complicated. I was running towards goal to receive a pass. The ball was drilled in quite hard at me, and at about knee height. I stretched my right leg backwards, and took the ball on the volley with the outside of my right foot. It looped over my right shoulder and as the keeper came out, I feinted to take the ball past him on the half volley with the outside of my right foot. He moved to his left, and as the ball hit the ground, at the last second I switched the ball to the inside of my right, tapped it to my left foot and side footed it into the empty net in the same movement. Cue round of applause from both teams. Absolutely true story. Replaying it in my head always cheers me up.

Martins Absolutely.