Unbelievable

Good work from Milner..

That´s exactly right.. People just run by him if he gets the intervention wrong, which seems to happen quite a lot..

Not offside ffs!!

I want Barton off for the second half.. He keeps losing possession. Barton off, Enrique on. Midfield from right to left Milner Geremi Butt Zog

I´m worried about Zog at left back. Get Enriqwue on for the second half..

We´ve been the better party so far in the first half so far.. Unlucky to be behind imo..

Good work from Beye there..

Yes, we´re having a go at least..

Bring Emre on now!

Emre preparing to come on already..

Barton's been shocking in possession..

If we'd played a left back at left back he would have probably hoofed it out of the ground though..

Go the grafters!

Ridiculous that the ref didn't see the stretched leg..

We've started brightly.. Shame about their goal..

Nope, from Holland, but feel a bit like an adopted Geordie after having lived in Newcastle for over two years..

You're in denial. Just because you don't know the Croatian players well doesn't mean they aren't better footballers. In fact, based on the technically outstanding display from last week, I'd reverse the question and ask you which English players are technically good enough for their team? I can only think of Rooney. Your style of play is obviously very different, but it is no coincidence that England look especially vulnerable against technically stronger teams..

That's the wrong way to look at this though, surely? International football isn't played on a compare-player-for-player basis. If it was, Spain and England would be higher up than where they are, and so would Newcastle in the Premiership. What matters is not how good the individual players are at playing a style of football that suits them, it's how effectively they combine together against different styles of play. Holland have just qualified from a group with a lot of Eastern European teams, and I can tell you it wasn't easy. We all know what Croatia can do from first hand experience. Ukraine didn't qualify but took France to the last round of matches if I'm not mistaken. Belarus didn't qualify but did beat Holland at their place very convincingly despite taking off their best players at half time. The trips to Ukraine, Belarus and Kazhakstan will be anything from easy from an environment point of view too. Expect bad pitches, extreme cold and a hostile atmosphere. These teams are very decent tactically and technically too nowadays. Are you confident the England players can handle this? Many people here seem to think it was all McLaren's fault, but I believe you need to take a long hard look at your players too, because many of them aren't up to the task at all.

OK, a few would get in the squad, but it's not like they've got a lot of players head and sholders above the England players. Because they don't. England were totally outplayed on their own turf in a must-not-lose match that mattered more to them than it did to their opponents. Technically and mentally the Croats were a class above their English counterparts. The entire qualification campaign proves that it wasn't a one-off either. I think you are in denial if you believe this crop of English players is better than the Croats, whom I believe to be outsiders to win the European Championship, that's how good I think they are.. Also, I have to say I fear for England in the WC qualifiers. People have expressed their delight at a group with Belarus, Croatia and Ukraine, all of which I believe to be very serious opponents, especially away from him. If the England players, like many of the supporters, feel they will walk this group they've got another thing coming and it will only prove they haven't learned the lesson from this last qualification disaster..

Or maybe the expectations were justified based on our setup, but Sam isn't making the best of the cards he's been dealt yet..?

An important difference I've seen when living in England is English boys hardly play football in their free time, and when they play it's institutionalised and on full size grass pitches. In the cities in Holland the culture is completely different. I live in Rotterdam, where there is hardly any space for full size football pitches in the city centre, so youngsters very often play football every day after school and in their free time on small, concrete pitches.. The objectives are completely different too, as it´s not about scoring goals, but about trickery. A goal without beautiful passing, movement and/or skill will be laughed at and possibly not even counted. It´s not until these boys are in their early to mid teens that they get picked up by scouts and start to work on the tactical and physical aspects of the game. In this way in Rotterdam alone in recent years talents such as Van Persie and Drenthe have surfaced. If a player is intelligent and motivated enough playing more effective football, tactics and physical strength can be learned/trained. The extraordinary levels of skill that many players possess are self-thought, and often these players will say they actually played with far more talented players out on the concrete pitches, but these other youngster didn´t have the desire to make it out in the professional world of football.. so why is the dutch league, outside the top 4 or 5 horrible and of a very poor standard ? what happened to the likes of ajax picking up kids at about 8yrs and schooling them ? I don´t think it´s of a horrible standard. The Premiership would be worse without the money and having to rely mainly on homegrown players, as is the case in Holland. Clubs like Ajax and Feyenoord pick up youngsters at a young age and train them for a couple of hours a week, but that won´t stop them playing their own game in their own spare time..

An important difference I've seen when living in England is English boys hardly play football in their free time, and when they play it's institutionalised and on full size grass pitches. In the cities in Holland the culture is completely different. I live in Rotterdam, where there is hardly any space for full size football pitches in the city centre, so youngsters very often play football every day after school and in their free time on small, concrete pitches.. The objectives are completely different too, as it´s not about scoring goals, but about trickery. A goal without beautiful passing, movement and/or skill will be laughed at and possibly not even counted. It´s not until these boys are in their early to mid teens that they get picked up by scouts and start to work on the tactical and physical aspects of the game. In this way in Rotterdam alone in recent years talents such as Van Persie and Drenthe have surfaced. If a player is intelligent and motivated enough playing more effective football, tactics and physical strength can be learned/trained. The extraordinary levels of skill that many players possess are self-thought, and often these players will say they actually played with far more talented players out on the concrete pitches, but these other youngster didn´t have the desire to make it out in the professional world of football..

They claim the penalty was correctly given!!!!?? Would have liked to hear them if England lost a World Cup to a pen like that..

FT

Mike Ashley will be a poor man after this..