chinapig

Yes. See also the one Ronaldo was given in Portugal's first game and the identical, though much clearer, one not given to Qatar in their second game. Note also that a member of FIFA's technical committee praised Ronaldo for being so clever in winning his penalty.

I agree there are pros and cons but my concern, apart from the fact that Bale can't put in anything like a 90 minute shift, is that younger players might feel they have to defer to him. Their natural game might be inhibited if they are thinking they have to give the ball to Bale all the time in the hope he might do something special. By way of comparison, Marcus Smith at no.10 for the England Rugby Union team is inhibited by having Owen Farrell next to him dictating what he does. The only time he expressed himself was against New Zealand when Farrell was playing with an injury and Smith took control. Bale may be able to make a difference in qualifying games if he is still capable of moments but I'd grasp the nettle asap. Looks like he will dictate when he retires rather than the manager though so it's a bit academic.

• Scott (2026) ?

I'm always sceptical of this argument. Southgate had the sense and the nerve to drop Rooney and rebuild from there with younger players. Rooney would have been a drag on progress not an inspiration. For Rooney read Bale.

I saw the late great Dr John live and his version included both the drowning and morphine references. Multiple artists have recorded the song so versions inevitably vary widely.

Van Gaal didn't take kindly to Dutch journalists saying how boring his team are but they have looked pretty pedestrian. Luckily for them Gakpo is in great form. Imagine the response though if England only beat Qatar 2-0. Instead this is the first England team to score 9 goals in the group stage. Southgate out!?

Were there another 5 locked outside or have they reduced their capacity again?

And Roger Hunt. And playing without wingers. And drawing the first game 0-0. And not celebrating England's 4th goal in the final. And trying to talk posh.?

A memory* of the painful variety. Imagine the stick Sir Alf would have got on social media for the subs he made that day. And he didn't even have Foden in the squad! *Though I do sometimes post something then wonder if it really happened. Old age never comes alone.?

Norman came on as a sub in the fateful defeat to W Germany in 1970 didn't he?

It isn't I agree. But Southgate said afterwards that the USA posed us a tactical problem yet he did not change his tactics to counter that. I'm generally a supporter of his given his record for England but I thought he got a number of things wrong last night and an inability to respond tactically in game is his key weakness imo.

There was an identical incident with a Qatari player yesterday but no penalty was awarded. His fault for not being called Ronaldo I expect.

Southgate said after the game that we couldn't be expected to play with the same energy as in the first game. So why not make 1 or 2 changes?

Maybe we heard different interviews as he didn't mention pace in the one I heard just that he wanted to change the wide players. Point taken though. However pace isn't much use if you have no space to run into. I don't recall us ever switching the play to create that space for instance. So if there is no space perhaps it's better to bring on someone who can beat players as Grealish at least tried to do.

Fair comment. There seems to be a belief that teams win the World Cup playing thrilling attacking football throughout, which tends not to be the case. France won in 2018 yet Deschamps was getting a lot of stick at home for being too cautious. By their own admission the 2010 Spain side kept the ball for long periods to prevent the opposition from scoring. They won the competition with a succession of 1-0 wins; exciting they were not! Whether all that justifies playing for a clean sheet against the USA remains a moot point though.

I was actually confused by his explanation. His argument was that he didn't bring Foden on because he wanted to change the wide players and playing in midfield in this game didn't suit Foden. So is he saying that Foden is in the squad as a midfielder and not a wide attacker?

You make it sound like USA were playing for 0-0 when they were far more positive than us. As soon as I saw the endless passing between Maguire and Stones at the start I concluded we were playing not to lose and hoping we might nick a goal.

In the second half Wales caused USA lots of problems. In this second half we have caused them none. Depressing.

Nah, I blame Zak Vyner.?

Reverting to type rather. Walk around, play a few square passes, lose the ball, walk around ...

No spoilers but mentioned very briefly at around 29 minutes.

Judging by an interview the other day Southgate does. The number of people testing positive in England continues to fall thankfully but the most recent figures I saw from the ONS estimated that 1 in 60 were infected so probably wise to have a little caution.

Jamal Musiala, Germany's best player today imo and one of Europe's most gifted youngsters, could have opted for England. Imagine him and Bellingham together. He's made a bad choice but I blame the parents!?

Fair comment and no doubt you're right. I haven't seen any journalist ask the FA or FAW for any comment but no doubt it would be no comment anyway. As to your first para, I don't think this stuff is politics in the usual sense. It's rather football 'politics' with FIFA at the centre and belongs in Football Chat. But I am probably in a minority.

Yep, I mentioned this in the Politics & Current Affairs thread. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/22/german-football-federation-legal-action-fifa-onelove-armband-ban-world-cup Where's the response from the FA and FAW I wonder? Or is support for the DFB compromised by a potential World Cup bid?