england v germany it is then

No point playing Crouch. He'd be cancelled out by Per Mertesacker who's about the same height and better in the air. I hope Don Fabio keeps the same side. The only debate would be either start again with Upson or Carragher. I hope he keeps faith with Upson.

As for the others I thought the midfield looked nicely balanced yesterday. Gerrard was pretty creative on the left and hit some magnificent crossfield passes. Milner doesn't deserved to be dropped either. Barry will get fitter and fitter but I hope he doesn't give the ball away as much as he did yesterday. Rooney is almost there I think.

I'm quite confident that we'll beat this German side but we're going to have to play better. I think the experience will help as the German midfield will miss Michael Ballack. Gareth Barry will have a job picking up Ozil. But win we can and win we should.

I see what you are saying Merse and agree to an extent but I do think when he has been playing for England Rooney amounst other players don`t seem that interested in the game. Obvously everyone had a nightmare against Algeria and we seen a little improvement against Slovenia but against Germany we are going to come undone in my opinion. We dont show any commitment or effort and we cant play any good attacking football. Upfront we are useless, Rooney cant score for England and who ever plays along side Rooney dosen`t really get anything else.

We have a great team of individuals but they cant play as a team. I think we could take the game agaisnt Germany to penalties if we are lucky but I dont think it will happen. We`ll probably get stuffed and play poorly as usual.

I think to accuse a player who wears his heart on his sleeve like Wayne Rooney as not seeming "that interested in the game" is an attack on his integrity and ridiculous. Yes, you can easily see when he is frustrated, yes it is easy to spot his disappointment; and obviously he readily shows his anger..................where does that even remotely get confused with "disinterest"?

"Can't play as a team" ? What was that we saw yesterday then, if it wasn't playing as a team?

Not sure what game you watched yesterday, but in the game I watched I saw an England team play as a team, play and work hard for each other and as a result won the game.

I'm not sure if they were playing for the manager or their own personal pride and while there was plenty of room for improvement, they played a whole lot better and with more pride and passion then they did in the first two games.

Even Terry was able to restore some respect in himself with the fans as he threw himself in front of shots to ensure we held onto our one goal lead.

If the team play with the same passion and desire on Sunday we have every chance of beating Germany and I believe we will do just that.

Pappy, YOU need to remember that Aaron Lennon didn't play against Slovenia..................the player you seem to think was Lennon was called James Milner ~ he has the name on his back and a different number; not difficult to spot and you'll need to do better than that to give your argument credence.

Great stuff Stuart.................Frank Skinner's looking young these days isn't he!

Calvin & I are practising "Three Lions" daily and it'll be played just before the game on Sunday. He's got his red England kit already too and I'll post a picture of him on my blog when the game comes round.

He knows something's going on although he can't quite work out what. Just imagine if we won the World Cup and when he grew up he would have been too young to have any memory of it!

We're popping up the road shortly for the Bergkamp ~ Cruyff Trophy Tournament being held on the Cruyff Court in Elthorne Park near our home.................it's held annually; alternately in London and Amsterdam ~ this year it's a four sided 5-a-Side affair with under 11 teams representing Arsenal Advanced Soccer Schools (Arsenal Development) A Class Football Foundation, Islington Schools and Cruyff Academy from Amsterdam.

The court was opened courtesy of a £75,000 donation from Dennis Bergkamp out of his testimonial proceeds as a mark of his appreciation of the people of Islington and his gratitude for the warm welcome he and his family always receive when they are in the neighbourhood. I was privileged to participate in that opening, and drove Johann Cruyff and Robin van Persie that day.

Nice people the Bergkamps........................they retain a home at Goff's Oak, and three of their four children were born in London. Another fine example of the quiet and sincere way many football stars conduct their lives ~ a way that usually goes unreported in the press.

No doubt they will be there today and I'm hoping the great Cruyfff will be there too if he is not in South Africa.