edprice1984

The spine of the team is there, we can add in some creative young players over the next two years and try and get a better balance in the midfield. Also need someone who can play alongside Kane up top. We should comfortably qualify for Euro's - I am interested to see how we treat the Nations League. I am going to the Croatia game in November with my 6 year old daughter. Nice opportunity for a little revenge. If I were Southgate, I would use those games as a way to blend in the young players like Foden, Sancho, Sessengnon - get them used to International football. My prediction for the final: Le Foot rentre a la maison.

Ever since the final whistle on Saturday, I have felt confident and calm. Until this morning. Woke up and immediately felt nerves and butterfly's. Almost exactly the same feeling as the Swansea game in May. How can football do this to someone!?

Depending on the fee, Ings is probably worth the gamble. I thought last year he just couldn't get a look in due to Salah's form. Think he was fit from December onwards.

David Cameron offered the referendum to shore up the right of his party. He didn't believe he would win an overall majority and therefore didn't expect to have to go through with it. The great miscalculation was the Conservatives saw UKIP taking their votes, not realising they were taking an equal if not greater share of Labour votes. A complex issue boiled down to a binary answer. Certainly some knew what they were voting for - many, many didn't. Apathy among those under 30, coupled with a disenchantment with main stream politics means we are now left with an almighty mess. Unsurprisingly the EU aren't keen to make it easy. Finally I really hope (although don't expect) that we can stop using the monikers 'Remoaners' or 'Jihadists' etc; it immediately closes down the debate if you start with name calling. As others have said, democracy is an ongoing process - not just a 'one-off' event.

Boris has gone too.

Henderson offers nothing? What game did you watch on Tuesday night? He broke up Colombian attacks, linked well between the defence and Sterling/Lingard. I agree that his final ball can be poor at times but we don't have a really creative player in the squad (Lallana was rightly left at home after having no game time this year and Wilshere would have broken something by now). His direct replacement is Dier or possibly Delph. Alli looked lacking in fitness, but he also was doing a number on Quintero. People forget that occasionally you have to deal with the opposition threats too. I would like to see Rose brought in ahead of Young, only because it gives a more natural balance to the side. We might see RLC in for Alli based on a possible injury, maybe starting Rashford ahead of Sterling (although I thought Sterling had a good game on Tuesday - we need to give him the ball in more space if possible). If you had told me that England needed to beat Sweden and then one of Croatia or Russia to reach a World Cup Final before this tournament I would have bitten your hand off. This is the best opportunity since 1966 and the good news is that the Swedes realise this too. Looking through the squad we have got plenty of players who have played in big Premier League and European games already - check out the Swedish squad. I am not underestimating them, they play to a structure and pattern which is difficult to break down - but so far this tournament no team has had a go at them (other than Germany in the last 20 minutes). Blitz them like Spurs, City, Liverpool do - play at a Premier League pace and see how they cope? I am probably being overly positive, but I do feel that if we play at or near our best tomorrow we will win comfortably.

England did create some chances last night, Colombia also made a number of last ditch tackles and blocks. It wasn't our best performance but when you are playing against that type of nonsense it is always going to be difficult. Felt that the switch for Dier was the right one at the time. I also thought Henderson and Sterling played well last night. I get the feeling that there are some players that fans will always see the 'bad' in. Sterling consistently ran back to collect and move the ball on, offered himself wide to try and stretch the Colombian back line etc. Yes his touch was frustrating but he kept trying and kept going. Henderson was everywhere in the first 75, breaking up play - linking between Kane and Maguire/Stones. I was a little disappointed by Alli going forward, but again he seemed to be keeping Quintero quiet (or that was his job anyway). The key for Saturday is getting an early goal. If England can get a lead, I think our pace and counter attacking style could rip the Swedes apart. They will probably sit in, be compact and organised and try and get something on set-pieces. Despite the penalties awarded to England in the competition so far, we do seem to be on the wrong end of a few VAR decisions still. No red card last night; the possibility of a second pen for tackle on Lingard. (it was a close one and I am not saying it should have been given; rather it could have). I am happy with what the lads have done this tournament, it would feel disappointing if it all ends on Saturday - mainly because I feel that we have enough to get to the final. Winning the thing would be incredible because Brazil, Belgium and France are all excellent teams. Of the three, I would actually fancy our chances against Brazil - they have got away with some very dodgy defending so far; Mexico opened them up countless times the other night but made the wrong choice; played a poor pass. France and Belgium seem to have threats all over and a flexibility which I think we would struggle with. On to Saturday - a win and this country will go into meltdown.

Normally reps who can’t afford an Audi or BMW

Let's be honest here. We all know that we aren't going to win it. But I would rather we win as many games as we can, rather than trying to 'tactically lose'. Pretty sure FIFA would have no qualms in throwing us or Belgium out of the competition if we did try anything anyway. It would amount to match fixing for starters. Any possible chance of hosting a World Cup in 2030 would be down the drain. FIFA could even ban England from entering the 2022 World Cup (see Chile in 1994 - one of the best football stories around by the way). If England get through to the Quarter Finals, that would be a success in my eyes. Any further and I would be ecstatic. I honestly think 2020 Euro's or even 2022 is where we will see the end product of the recent developments in the youth sides. I think we will win tonight, play either Senegal or Japan in the 2nd Round - hopefully win and then it's going to be a one off game against Brazil (likely). Even last night the Serbs had chances, if that had been Kane rather than Mitrovic it may have been a different result. Neymar doesn't look right, Coutinho is currently their key player. I just hope Southgate has got the lads practicing Penalties every training session. No stupid run ups, no Panenka's, just run up and smash the f*cker into the corner a la Kane. Make sure we have 7 or 8 players who want to take them (unlike Paul 'the Choker' Ince). Pickford and the GK team clearly do their homework - before the Tunisia penalty, Henderson had a word with the coaching staff and gave Pickford the info on which side the player was likely to go. On that occasion, to be fair to the Tunisian, it was an excellent pen but Pickford wasn't far away. For those old enough, I remember watching Shilton in 1990 and he never looked like saving a pen. Seaman always seemed to save at least one too. Just enjoy the ride. England has broken my heart too many times but this is the first time in 22 years where I am enjoying watching England in a tournament.

Looking like we could get our first 0-0. France and Denmark both through courtesy of Peru beating the Shackle draggers. The more I see of the french, the less I am worried about them. Disjointed, no shape, their big players either look out of form or knackered. No doubt they will improve, but should Messi manage to rescue the Argies tonight I doubt Deschamps would be looking forward to playing them in the next round.

The ref was poor, but the players need to take responsibility. Diving, play acting, running to the ref etc. Utter disgrace. Can’t decide who I want to lose more, Portugal or Uruguay

If England ever win a major tournament it would be an unofficial National Holiday. Not sure the government could sort it quickly enough to make it an official bank holiday. But it would be full on mental. Can’t honestly see it happening this time round but in two years time I genuinely think we will have a fantastic squad Tadic is having a blinder so far. Playing with confidence and freedom. Really hope we aren’t selling him

Neymar, what a c***

Ah the conspiracy theories are beginning. Firstly Russia have played two of the weakest teams in the competition. Secondly, due to the stupidity of the FIFA rankings because Russia haven't played any competitive football over the past two years their ranking is artificially low. Finally, don't underestimate the effect that playing at home can do for a teams confidence. I expect that they will lose to a savvy Uruguay side and then lose to either Portugal or Spain in the second round. Iceland could effectively knock out the Argies today, while ze Germans have to beat Sweden tomorrow. French were unconvincing again and I am not convinced that Deschamps knows his best team - also think that there is a mental fragility. Belgium have looked most convincing of the big sides, with Spain and England not too far behind.

When fit (and that hasn't been very often unfortunately) Wilshere is a fantastic player. I suppose it depends on if our offer includes clauses based on time played etc. If he gets an offer where they pay him loads of money whether or not he plays (I am looking at West Ham here) compared to say quite a lot of money with bonuses if he plays 30+ games etc, then his decision will tell a great deal about him as a Professional.

You will get a chance to test your theory on Friday when Brazil play Costa Rica. Neymar is struggling with an injury according to reports. I don't think even a fully fit and firing Salah would have helped last night, Egypt were dreadful. Difficult to assess Russia's performances based on how bad the other two teams have been. A similar performance v Uruguay would certainly get people talking. Although having to beat Portugal and or Spain in the last 16 is pretty unlikely.

Becoming a very very open World Cup. As I said yesterday, could quite easily see Argentina and Germany out in the group stage. Colombia v Poland is a massive game now - depending on the Senegal result, it could mean one of them goes out on Sunday.

Panama look awful. Worse than the Saudi's. Just a matter of time before Belgium score. Then the flood gates could open.

England to win 2-0. Tunisia to give us an early scare before we settle into the game and grab a goal midway through first half. Tunisia push for an equaliser and we catch them on the break to seal it with about 10 minutes to go. Might even be time to grab a third if their heads drop/we bring on Vardy to catch them again on the counter. For all the caution most England fans are sensibly showing, Tunisia's best player is Khazri (formally of Sunderland). England SHOULD have more than enough to win the game tonight. Obviously we do have a wonderful ability to f*** things up, but I would expect us to be in the 2nd round on Sunday afternoon with a Group decider v Belgium to look forward to. Interesting to see how important the next round of matches are for Argentina and Germany though, no room for mistakes! I fancy Iceland to get a win against Nigeria, if the Argies slip up against a confident Croatian team, a mutually helpful point in the last game between Iceland and Croatia would see them both through. The Germans HAVE to beat Sweden, as again, Mexico should have enough to beat Korea and then a similar scenario to that in Group D could develop.

1-0 Russia after 13 minutes.

I am not a fan of the Home shirt at all. Hopefully the away shirt mock-up/leak is accurate. However it did dawn on me earlier today the new kit is reminiscent of the 03-05 kit. http://www.colours-of-football.com/colours03/eng/southampt/eng_southampton_1_0305.gif

Only going by the Premier League site. My point is that there has been very few signings. A few of them were players already on loan or signed last year. You also need to ignore the Top four anyway, their business is normally done early and at prices that’s e wouldn’t compete with. If we get to the later part of July with no rumours, no signings etc and the likes of Everton,Burnley and Palace are improving their squads then I might start to worry

Just to clarify the current state of transfers across the Premier League: Arsenal: 1 in; 3 out Bompey: 8 out BHA: 3 in; 4 out Burnley: 5 out Palace: 1 in Fulham: 1 out Huddersfield: 2 in; 7 out Leicester: 2 in; 2 out Liverpool: 2 in*; 2 out Man City: 2 out Utd: 1 in; 2 out Newcastle: 1 in Saints: 7 out Spurs: 1 out Watford: 1 in; 1 out West Ham: 1 in; 2 out Wolves: 2 in; 14 out *Naby Keita was signed last year! The World Cup starts on Thursday, some of our targets are likely to be playing in the tournament. It appears that most clubs are holding off until July before making any significant signings. We clearly have some irons in the fire. Patience is needed.

Or...should we read anything into the style of the zero in the date? Ø (but in reverse) A strange typeface for a numeral zero. It could have just as easily been 15.06.18

The problem in the past was that English players were routinely labeled as less technically gifted or lacking in guile. To an extent we do seem to mistrust players who don't work hard off the ball - see Arsenal fans and Ozil. But compared to previous decades, we now have some incredibly talented kids coming through winning or challenging for trophies. This does give me some hope for the future. I do struggle to watch England games, they can be dull. But with the exception of the glamour friendlies against Brazil, Germany, Spain etc most of the teams we play sit 9 or 10 behind the ball, stay compact and try not to get hammered. Rather than lump it forward to a big man or fire in hundreds of crosses, we try to pass it round them and play football. Maybe not the most exciting but it is probably the right way to do it. I still get passionate about England, but it does tend to be only the crunch qualifiers or the tournaments. Another factor that might account for the lack of enthusiasm is the sheer amount of televised football. 30 years ago, leading into Italia 90 (even Euro 96' unless you had SkySports) International football was the main televised football around. But the lack of any success (Semi finals as a minimum) does appear to have led to a whole generation of fans feeling disillusioned with the National team.