ClaphamFox

We should just take out an ad saying "Mediocre players on vastly inflated wages available now! Don't miss out!!" That should work.

What are you 'saying' about Morgan's true gender?

Morgan will not be a starter this season.

Or alternatively: anybody who refers to him as 'Drinky' is probably such a pathetically loved-up fanboy that their critical faculties (if ever they had any) departed some time ago and as a result they've become completely blind to Drinkwater's clear limitations as a player and his recent injury record.

Well, I'm convinced. Take that, Brighton! Ha Ha!!

The kind of maniac who would prefer not to see the return of an injury-prone, disloyal busted flush who owes his reputation to having Kante alongside him in 2015/16? That kind of maniac, perhaps?

That's as clear a recipe for certain relegation as I've heard.

Andre. On loan for a year apparently.

Lots of Fenerbahce fans on twitter seem convinced Ayew has just signed for them...

Who's saying that?

Not enjoying sitting at my desk - can't concentrate and just clock-watching. Thankfully there are several meetings in the diary that I am down as 'optional' for today, so I'm planning to amaze everybody by actually showing up to them for once. Anything to be distracted.

We want cartoon-level violence - a frying pan to Lukaku's face, a stick of TNT down Pogba's shirt and somebody to wax Griezmann's eyebrows.

Fair enough. I still find it slightly odd, though. If I was living in another country whose national team was performing well at a major tournament, I’m certain I would want them to do well. If I had friends and colleagues who were excited about how their team was doing at a World Cup or European Championship, I’d find it hard not to get caught up in it. Obviously I wouldn’t support them over England, but they’d probably become my second team. I know it doesn’t always work the same way here. I have a Scottish friend, a nice guy, who has lived in England for 12 years. He’s married to an Englishwoman and has many close English friends and colleagues, and he clearly is very happy here. Yet when it comes to sport his hatred of England is so pathological it defies belief – I’ve never seen anything like it. He sometimes says to me, “you’d be the same if you lived in Scotland”, but that’s just the thing – I know for a fact that I wouldn’t. It's bizarre.

This is obviously a widely-held view, and a large part of the reason why there always seems to be a lot of schadenfreude whenever England inevitably crash out of tournaments. Lots of countries, not just our neighbours, seem to love it when we lose. It’s a bit odd, though. The implication seems to be that it’s only the English fans and pundits who get carried away with excitement when the national team does well. In other words, the media and supporters of other countries always retain a sober, realistic assessment of their team’s abilities even when they exceed expectations. I’m just not convinced this is true, though. The media of the other three countries in the semi-finals are all very confident – newspapers in Croatia, for example, are absolutely convinced they’re going to win it. Before the tournament, the German press was saying that their second or even third choice 11 would be good enough to win it. Similar sentiments can be found in the media of many countries. If Ireland, Scotland or Wales were only a semi-final against Croatia away from playing in the World Cup Final, I’d expect them to get a little excited and carried away. It would be an entirely natural response, and nobody would begrudge them for it. Yet when English people are happy because we finally have a team to get excited about after years of dross, it’s perceived as arrogance and entitlement. It’s strange.

To be fair, that quote was from Kennet Anderson, not Sven.

Tomorrow will be very tricky.

Nobody played well because they had clearly been told to avoid injuries and yellow cards. That was the main priority. Vardy worked hard but didn't have much impact. His performance wasn't really any better or worse than anybody else's.

Brazil are playing like they are terrified to lose. They have amazing quality, but they seem shackled by the pressure on them. Mexico have nothing to lose and will attack. I think they'll spring a surprise today.

I actually agree with bluefox76 - I think we should play Vardy instead of Sterling and Rashford. Having the confidence to play with ten men sends a message - the other teams will be proper frit.

They won't.

I agree. I think we could have a first-time winner next month. Or a second-time one

Brazil don't look quite right somehow. Great players, but not quite a team It's becoming a bit of a theme in this World Cup.

Peru will give France a game. It could be close.

That's an extremely presumptuous statement.