Segun Oluwaniyi

This team has nowhere near the attacking talent and depth to be where it wants to be.

Not in anyway a foul on Joelinton, referee helping a soft defender.

It is incredible how low stakes these Champions League group matches feel with this new format. Arsenal play PSG tonight, and I am not even sure of the relevance of this game. Both sides will likely go through with ease and they seemingly aren't even really in direct competition with each other. The previous format was stale, but at least if two teams of this quality were grouped together, one side losing both matches would put them under real pressure in the other four; topping the group was also a real objective they would be competing against one another for. A 36 team group where you play 8 randomly assigned matches to knockout only 12 teams. Who devised this foolishness?

Guehi with ridiculous defending. Essentially ushered him into taking a shot on his strongest foot and never challenged

Tbh, I seriously dispute the idea that England did not have a squad of elite players throughout the 90, 00's and early '10s when the team was achieving much worse results than under Southgate. It is the same with France and Deschamps. These teams are inherently full of high level talent, but the results had generally been messy and inconsistent in terms of achievements before these managers arrived. Both of them are high level managers in the international game imo, but both should also be replaced at this point.

From the outside, it is very funny to see the disconnect between Southgate's accomplishments and the way you English people talk about him.I've watched this team my whole life, and generally, they rarely play cohesive football and generally are not particularly good. Missing tournaments and crashing out early are nothing new to England, despite generally having strong talent. I understand some of the annoyance; I can see the football being played, but Southgate has turned England into consistently one of the best teams in the world with results better than any nation in same time frame. This was not case when he inherited the team. His time has passed at this point, anyway.

It is hard to understand what happened with Kane in this tournament. Does he simply refuse to stop coming deep and play in his proper position? Maybe he is incapable of playing as a true #9 at this point of his career. It cannot have been a tactical decision to have no presence upfront and one of best finishers in world consistently nowhere near goal scoring positions.

Slovenia penalties were all very poor, tbh. Good height to save and little power or deception.

You are always tempting fate when commenting on a player with the goal-scoring ability of Ronaldo, but it is bizarre that he is going to play 90+ minutes here. He has not been terrible, but the man is the least effective Portugese attacking player in this match and looks tired and frustrated.

I don't think that should be offside in a general sense, but I swear I have seen multiple goals ruled out in that exact circumstance? I assumed it would be called off when they showed the replay.

Offside.

I'll never complain about more nations getting to compete in these competitions, and the quality of football has justified their inclusion. However, Portugal '16 and Cote d'Ivoire '24 soured me on the 24 team format entirely. You should not be able to embarrass yourself in the group and win the tournament.

The annoying part of these 24 team tournaments is that neither the Netherlands nor France or in any danger of going out, despite the rubbish they have played in this group.

It feels as though Giroud will once again end up starting for France in the most important matches. Throughout Deschamps reign, they have also looked better with him on the pitch and unfocused when he is not there.

People always massively overreact to performances in the group stage matches of these tournaments, especially the 24-team ones that we have now. Four points in the group is really the equivalent of six in a 32 or 16 team format. England have a simple path to win the group on the last match day, talent and room for group. This is all you would hope for in a tournament.

Dortmund have been disgraceful since they conceded. Just completely gave up on the match and collapsed.

My son is 9 and Man U have been rubbish for nearly his entire life There will soon be teenagers and adults where this is the case. You cannot compare them to Madrid and their unexplainable juju.

Did Hummels try to save that with his hand?

ADEMOLA!! This boy has improved so much in Italy, wow.

I am not sure why Boniface did not start this match in the first place. To leave put your top scorer in a match like this, is over-conplication of football tactics. Play your best players.

I've been given a concussion test while playing basketball before and I am 100% sure whatever the physios give these players is not the full examination It takes several minutes. Football is generally like boxing with these injuries. If you look "alright" they will let you continue.

What is this "not showing the replay" rubbish for an injury that has not even taken the player out of the match? Originally, this was for when bones cut through skin or the player may die.

Abdul-Nasir Oluwatosin Oluwadoyinsolami "Tosin" Adarabioyo Abdul-Nasir OH-LOO-WAH-TOE-SEEN OH-LOO-WAH-DOH-YEEN-SHOW-LAH-MEE AH-DAH-RAH-BEE-OH-YO It's an easy name to pronounce, tbh I am a fan of this boy. Like Kaka, I've been waiting for him to finally drop the England dream and play for Nigeria, where he'd likely immediately slot in as a starter at our poorest position. Good athlete and pretty good on the ball as well. He is a level below the top CBs, but definitely a firm and solid starter in the Premier League. He has room to grow even at 26; the last two years of his career have been his best. He's been improving and maybe will even increase his play at a higher level. Good signing; strong reserve and cover for the oft-injured Botman at the least.

Fwiw, Janelt on Brentford just did the exact same foul as Dummett in the previous match, and VAR was not even consulted at all. Edit: It was Zanka, but the point stands.

Idiotic from Dummett, but that is a "VAR Penalty". Had no effect on the play and was nowhere near the ball. This would never be given as a penalty five years ago.