WORLD CUP STUFF

3rd/4th PLAYOFF France 4 England 6 First, the bad stuff. We don't like Thomas the Tookle. We don't like his manner. We don't like the way he entered the arena with his arm round Didier Deschamps, or the way he engaged Mbappe in a one sided conversation as they came out of the tunnel. It reminded us of Pep Guardiola fawning over opposition players at the end of a match, playing the Big Shot. Embarrassing. We don't like the way he addressed his players like a frenetic stick insect during the hydration break when no one appeared to be listening to him. We did not like the idea of bringing on Ollie Popkins to counter the predictable French resurgence in the second half. We think Thomas the Tookle is an irrational man who has contributed little to this campaign. Now the good stuff. The match was tremendously exciting. The goals were stunning. Enormous respect to Rice, Saka and Bellingham for being world class. The rest of them we can argue about later. Yes, we know it was low-stakes football, but compare the atmosphere of joy and respect at the end of this match to the toxic aftermath of the Argentina battle. Win or lose , you can be sure that Argentina will poison the final in whatever way they can. Well done England. Second best in Europe, third best in the world. Or whatever.