Cronky

I've watched quite a few England exits from major championships, and I'm usually frustrated at our performance, but on this occasion I feel we gave our best and were just unlucky. It was an even game, and we matched a top side. The first French goal should not have stood and we should have had another penalty of course.

The French have a very good side - the best I've seen this tournament - but they may fall prey to over-confidence. Mbappe in particular looked a bit up himself in the closing stages of the Poland game. We looked good on the break last night, and I think we'll get some chances that way.

If it ends up in pens against France, I'd bring on Pope. Someone who can really fill the goal.

I'm pleased Southgate has opted for Saka rather than Rashford. Walker isn't my favourite defender, but it looks like we need his pace from hereon in. I'd like to see Phillips rather than Rice, but there's probably fitness issues with Phillips. So overall, I'm quite happy with this. I assume Bellingham will be pushed forward into what was previously Mount's role, where he looked very at home against Wales.

I was about to call Mbappe for showing off. Then he does that.

Admittedly based more on a hunch than evidence, but I think Bruno is actually one of that big group of players which include Joelinton, Longstaff, Willock and Almiron, who Eddie has managed to improve. Bruno looked uncharacteristically nervous when he came on. Normally, he looks like he owns the place (in a positive way, of course)

He dominated his era and there was no debate that he was the finest player around at the time. Football was far more brutal at the time, of course. I can remember the 'referees clampdown', some time around the late 60's / early 70s, when there was a flurry of bookings and sending offs. It actually caused an outcry, as though all the courage was being taken out of the game. Even now, you still hear that complaint, ironically.

I think he was the first global star of the game, at the dawn of the TV era. Always hard to compare the greats with one another - Pele, Cruyff, Maradona and Messi - but he was the first.

He did look surprisingly strong, and did well to hold off that challenge and get his shot away. It was very tough for such a young lad, coming in on that occasion, and he struggled to get involved. But that was a glimpse of why we've bought him.

No Eddie, no mojo

I think Southgate will stick with the same side. Pushing Bellingham further forward into what looked like Mount's role seemed to work well. I think there's too much hype about Rashford. Both his goals involved goalkeeping errors. Gary Lineker pointed out correctly that he loses the ball a lot, and we really need to develop more fluency in our combination play. Rashford is a good athlete but with a poor first touch. I'd stick with Saka. Phillips is better at getting the ball forward than Rice, and I'd pick Henderson for his leadership. I don't think Kane is a great captain. So I'd pick - Pickford Trippier Stones Maguire Shaw Henderson Phillips Saka Bellingham Foden Kane

England were a lot better, and Wales were a lot worse, than I was expecting. Pleased that the Americans got through. They deserved it

A totally incoherent selection by Southgate, but I don't think Wales are good enough to take advantage. And yeah, I'd much rather watch Iran - USA.

I started off very impressed by Spain, but the longer the game went on, the more I started to doubt them. They seemed to run out of energy, and their press became very weak. The risks they took when playing the ball out from the back were huge. They actually seemed to want the Germans to close them down so that they could take advantage of gaps that might appear as a result. In the end, the Germans looked the more likely to get a winner. The World Cup is mostly knockout football, and I think somewhere along the line they're going to come unstuck.

I'm really enjoying the game. Spain are prepared to take lots of risks. I wonder whether, at some stage in the tournament, that's going to trip them up, even though they are a great side.

The point I was wanting to make is that even if Southgate gets some decisions wrong, if he were to try to please public or media opinion by going with the flow, he'd end up in an even bigger mess. I'm intrigued by the fact that the mess we saw on Friday was one I've seen before with England teams, and many on here have had the same thought. We saw one group of players acting as a team, and another acting as individuals, seemingly without any collective confidence in what they were supposed to be doing. I watched with my spouse, and even though she only watches one football game every two years, she was able to identify that crucial difference. The remedy isn't for Southgate to start picking the fans' favourites.

One thing I will say for Southgate is he does stick to his own ideas, and doesn't seem to be swayed by popular / media driven opinions about who to select. A lot of previous England managers have fallen into that trap. But then, there's still the issue of whether you as an individual think his judgement is right.

I've often felt that a residing weakness of the British approach to the game is that we rely too much on individuals creating something, rather than something happening from good combination play. That was the striking difference between the two teams on Friday. We seemed to be waiting for someone to produce a spark, which didn't happen. Sterling seems to be there for those hopeful moments when he uses his change of pace and direction to get past his marker. The Americans stopped him from getting the opportunity. It was interesting to hear Southgate talk about the reasoning behind his substitutions. Grealish was on because he could hang on to the ball, perhaps draw fouls, and get us up the pitch where we could get some useful set pieces. Rashford was on for his pace. Foden's great strength is his ability to combine well with his team mates, with speed and accuracy, and despite being under pressure. That wasn't what Southgate seemed to value at that moment, and yet I did feel that he was missing the big picture. I guess if you play Foden, you really need players around him that can play in a similar way, which is the case at Man City. And I think that means a no to Sterling.

Ermm.... what are they saying?

Southgate should use the Wales game to rest a few players and try some different combinations. Even our second string is surely not going to lose 4-0 to Wales.

I'm not sure that Kane is a great captain, but for that role you need someone who is near certain to play when fit. No other candidate fits that particular criterion. Well, apart from Pickford, but for obvious reasons that's a no.

Karen Carney made a good point afterwards that there was no link between Rice, Bellingham and Mount down the middle. It was difficult to tell from the TV, but she said that Rice was very deep and the physical distance between them was a problem. Rice and the CBs ended up playing predictable balls out to the full backs, who usually had no option but to turn inwards and return the ball backwards. Foden is good at retaining and using the ball in tight spaces under pressure. We often seemed to lose the ball due to a heavy first touch, so if Maddison isn't fit, maybe the best idea is to replace Mount with Foden. Grealish is also better at retaining the ball than Sterling so that would be the other change. Southgate seems to see Foden as a wide player, but I'm sure he has the ability to have a freer role.

I've seen so many England performances like that, where our weakness at playing the ball out from the back and through the midfield gets exposed and we end up with a very slow, predictable build up that gets no-where fast. We need to have a bit more faith in our more technically gifted players, so I'd have Foden in for Sterling, who just doesn't use his brain. Rice doesn't show enough confidence or initiative, but with Phillips still apparently unfit, I'm not sure of the alternative. Sad to say, Trippier struggled defensively against the Americans' pace, and neither full back contributed well to the attack in open play. The injuries to James and Chilwell have hurt us a bit. Bellingham had a poor game but all the midfield seemed to be very isolated from one another

We've been outpaced all over the field. I couldn't believe the pundits at the Iran game who said we moved the ball quickly. We have the slowest build up of any side I've seen this tournament. I have to say Tripps in particular has been struggling. We're still in there. Hopefully the Yanks will slow down and we'll get into it more.

Well he wasn't a footballer.