verlaine1979

I wasn't surprised or angry when he didn't get picked for the squad, but that's probably the one game this tournament where JWP would've made a difference as a sub. Second half we were fighting fires in the midfield and hoping for set pieces, both of which he'd have been better suited to than anyone else in the squad.

Italy camped around our box from about 30 minutes on, and we essentially relied on hoping Kane would win a header against the Italian CB pair as a tactic for the rest of the match. The overload in central midfield was ABSOLUTELY SH*TTING OBVIOUS and Southgate didn't attempt to do anything about it. Maddening.

Walker moved to play as front sweeper. Finally someone recognizes the value of the position.

If you've got £50m to spend on a high profile signing (but only £50m) then you're not spending it on JWP. Outside of the top six, clubs are only spending that kind of money on difference-making attackers, not a safe pair of hands in central midfield.

Going by what Swiss Ramble said during the January analysis of our accounts

Can only see us keeping him if there is very high confidence of a takeover during the next 12 months. I don't see any sign of that, so I think we'll sell him - at the moment we're risking trying to stay up this coming season with an untested new striker, versus trying to stay up the season after with no striker.

Our wage bill is higher than our cut of the TV rights.

England look like saints on the ball. The passes go approximately where they're meant to go, just with less zip and conviction than the opposition.

Chelsea didn't release those players - they paid big money for both of them, and then sold them before giving them a chance, because Mourinho doesn't trust young players. He did the same with Salah during his second spell there. Not worked out too badly for them overall, but I bet Abramovic is annoyed at Mou pissing away the best part of a quarter billion in transfer fees.

This is our level now. We're skint, so rich clubs lending us their bright prospects to polish up is either something we embrace, or watch our rivals use it to our disadvantage. When players like Saliba and Isak are going for £20m + as eighteen year olds, presumably with salaries to match, the days of the 'shop window' transfer are probably already over. On a related note, if we go into next season with Bednarek as a starter, something has gone very badly wrong. He isn't cut out for the style we want to play, and his form last season gives no reason to make an exception for him. He was dire.

Last summer there was some analysis going round of young European CBs that showed Saliba was up there with the likes of Upamecano (I think it showed Salisu being elite in the tackle but less so in the air).

Goku looked a good prospect for Belgium, but I see that he was already out of our price range by the time he was 18. Likewise Damsgaard for Denmark, though he would've been more affordable when he made his first move abroad. Hopefully our scouting system is getting an update from its wait-six-years-and-then-sign-Elyounoussi strategy. Maybe pick up a couple of these gems on their first transfer, as we're clearly too broke to buy either of them from Rennes or Sampdoria now.

You might be right, but I feel much the same way watching England as I do when watching Saints. Because there's no one occupying the central attacking spaces, nearly every move defaults to trying to get the ball wide. Not to disparage the importance of wing play, but if it's the only attacking move you ever make you can't be surprised when defenses find you easy to play against.

No need to talk in code. You can just say they should've taken JWP...

England need someone to connect the defensive midfield and the attack. I thought that was going to be Mount, but on the basis of the first two games, Mount, Foden and Sterling all seem to want to drift wide, leaving an enormous gap where the central attacking midfielder should be in this formation.

Is Sancho injured? He's been one of the most creative players in Europe for two seasons, but hasn't had a minute yet.

Would you buy ten Steven Davises though?

For owners prepared to turn debt into equity, FFP means almost nothing for clubs that aren't playing regularly in Europe.

Players who score a lot of free kicks are always noticed (and usually overrated) by the fans of other clubs because they're statistically so rare. If you did a word association with JWP and non-Saints fans, I bet 99 out of 100 would say 'free kicks'.

The fact remains that an asset bought for c.£20m became an asset sold for c.£300m. No one is getting a 10x return on buying Saints now, let alone a 15x return.

Have there been any indications that Gao is prepared to lose money on this deal? DaGrosa's comments would suggest the price wasn't as low as he was expecting it to be, which could be a problem. It's hard to see the club being worth as much as it was when Gao bought us considering covid impact, the $80m debt and the fact that we still had an asset like VVD on the books at the time. Those last two alone are equal to half the purchase price of the club.

When he left Sweden at 17 his choices were apparently Dortmund or Real Madrid. I'd say he's been out of our league since before he was old enough to vote.

Austria look surprisingly decent. Couple of great deliveries for their first two goals.

It's a bootlicker's anthem - they have the right idea.

What about those of us who don't give two sh*ts about the queen?