England v Belgium/Panama v Tunisia, 19:00 BST, ITV1/ITV4.

[Letters]

Not really.

There were still moments. Owen. Lineker. Gazza. Beckham.

There's nothing now. Zero.

My teenage years and early 20s were peppered with "nearlys" - Italia '90, Euro '96, France '98.
In each of those we went toe to toe with the big boys and on another day could have won - Gazza's outstretched boot
Now we're reduced to losing to Iceland. Iceland!
So overall, I agree. The first two results notwithstanding there's not much hope right now.
Through gritted teeth I think Kane is the real deal, I don't think there's much else real quality though. People like Vardy, Rashford and Welbeck being in the squad suggest there's not much depth.

[SMatthews]

Rose tinted glasses about Italia 90. Bobby Robson was a true gent but the football we played in that tournament was awful. England scored 3 goals in the first 4 games of that tournament.

Mexico 86 was saved by Lineker banging in a hat trick in the last group game, and even the game against Holland in 96 doesn’t tell the whole story about that game. That was the only unexpected result in the run to the semi.

What was so great about France 98? Dumped out when it came to a big test as usual.

It all looks good selectively and in retrospect. You don’t need to be the best team to do well in WC. Italy have shown that enough times.

This team have enough about them to stumble their way through to a QF/SM just like teams in the past who had better talent but hardly ever showed it.

[Cripps]

So England win two pre-season friendlies against non-League opponents and then lose the Community Shield against the Belgium Bench XI.

I know it's expected for the English media to be mindlessly patriotic, but how can you infer anything worthwhile from these results? Tunisia's best player is a Sunderland reject and they barely beat them. Panama's best player probably plays for Alaska F.C. and it shows. The fact England barely create anything from open play and still look nervy at the back despite the non-competitive opposition so far should be the biggest worries.

The draw might work in their favour, especially if James is injured. But even Japan would have been a massive step up on the basis that they have a professional setup. England are the same limited, unimaginative outfit lacking the required technical ability of a decent side and a couple of wins against dross doesn't change that. If they show something different in the upcoming game or games, I'll be the first to admit I didn't see it coming.