I don’t think starting place always outranks a bench for England

Pre-match postbag o philosophical pondering. According to your French fellow MBMer at RMC Sport, who I d like to think sips on a lovely burgundy throughout the match, Jules Kound has said that France don't have a preference for which side they face. In her shoes I d be more confident about outscoring the English offence than I would be about getting past Koulibaly and company in the Senegalese defence K ri Tulinius.

I think we and various pundits need to move beyond the idea that not playing from the start equates to being dropped. I don't think that s how the game works. If Southgate has a plan for the whole game, that plan should include judicious use of substitutes, probably including Rashford If that plan works, then great. If it doesn't, then the pitchforks come out. Such is life, but the idea that a starting place always outranks a bench seems outdated to Tom Hopkins.

Interesting to know about the intra-African rivalries. On the other hand, with the possible exception of Brazil and Argentina, Latin Americans tend to cheer for whatever one of us is left in the tournament, even if our departure was at the hands of each other. This goodwill extends even to Spain and the United States. Maybe instead of being based in the continent, it is based on a sense of shared identity? I wonder if the world marking us out as Latinos, a grouping with no basis in race or ethnicity, makes it so we see ourselves as one because of the world grouping us this way?