Cornish Steve

Excellent news. It's a gamble, but we can't afford the price of certainty right now.

Freudian slip, me old matey? With the ball, I hope Chermiti past it. We need senior players with a pension for scoring goals.

I didn't realize that Monza are a Serie A team. Well done to Dobbin to score today. It would be nice to see the highlights to understand the context of his goal. I understand the comment about wasting our pre-season by playing Maupay, but who else is there right now? It would be worse, in my mind, to play others out of position.

"BBC Sport understands Gray's preference is a move to Fulham, who require reinforcements in attack." Rather an ironic statement, I thought. Still, I totally agree that we should move him along. He's frustratingly inconsistent.

United just signed an 800m deal with Adidas. Our deals pale in comparison.

For me, the difference between teams (and we're talking fine margins) was typified by Robinson. He was an obnoxious taunt and unrestrained as a batsman, typifying that "over aggression" of the first test. If England could have shown more patience, they could have won this series 3-1 - but they didn't and haven't. Most encouragingly for team supporters, they do appear to have learned their lesson.

The weather is always a factor in English cricket, so it's the job of team captains to adjust. Personally, I would say England lost by declaring too early in the first test and too late in the fourth. Also, the number of extras given up cost the team dearly. More are beginning to realize that the untethered aggression of the first test cost England the match (and Robinson typifies that error by swinging wildly and getting himself out at just the wrong time). But these, on the whole, are fine margins. Both teams had their heroes and both their villains. It's a series we'll remember for some time.

Well done to England. I was almost expecting them to bowl out Australia to make it exactly a tie! Has that ever been done?

Yes Australia is winning the series and England is not. He can't be that inept, can he?

Obvious question: What role would he play in the team?

This is such an exciting series. Once again, either team could win.

We don't need a player who chokes in front of goal.

What we still need is what we've needed for 12 months now: a striker who can score goals. Everything else is secondary. We need a goalscorer - full stop. As others have written, players from Europe see no reason to join an English team that is struggling to avoid relegation, has fans protesting ownership, and who face an FFP inquiry. Why would they? Psychologically, we should now focus, if not too late, on a hungry goalscorer from the Championship. Options remain at Leeds, but who else is there? Any chance of convincing Akbom or Piroe or Bradshaw? (I don't really know these players, but each was prolific last year.)

I totally agree with you. More than anything, I'm highlighting just how poor an option is Maupay.

Doucoure up-front would be better than Maupay. Dobbin will improve with Prem experience.

It's a balance, since I'm guessing FFP is tying our hands. If we upset the authorities, we'll have points deducted, which would again cost us £100 million.

You're right that money is absolutely ruining sport. In the end, though, the Saudis cannot buy atmosphere or history or tradition. Let's hope it's a temporary phase.

It's called patience, and England could learn a lesson from it. As I remember from decades ago, two runs an over was typical.

Yet another really close game. (Reading the BBC commentary online, you'd think England were 1,000 runs or 10 wickets ahead, but Australia are actually a nose ahead.) In essence, it's now a one-inning match over three days.

Look at these goals from Adingra: the first is at 1:26; the second is at 3:50. The first goal was a real beauty.

Here's the Almiron goal. You don't see all of Gordon's run, since he took the ball on the left in his own half. All credit to him for a wonderful run and pass.

I was there, and Adingra was outstanding.

Here's what I learned from watching Brentford play Brighton and then Chelsea play Newcastle. In the first game, Brentford appeared to dominate in midfield, but they rarely took advantage of it. Clearly, they are in a similar position to us upfront: lacking. More than once, players failed to communicate, and they missed obvious chances. To me, despite mostly accurate passing, they looked pedantic and rusty. Brighton, on the other hand, played patiently and relied on a rapid break-away strategy. Their defense held strong, and their offense was impressive. Here's the guy to watch: Simon Adingra. He scored both goals (excellent goals) in Brighton's 2-0 win, he's sharp, he's clinical, and he was the big difference between the two teams. From Cote d'Ivoire and only 21, I suspect he may be a name to watch. I suspect Brentford will struggle this year; it's a team we ought to beat. In the second game, Newcastle played most of their starters whereas about half the Chelsea team were new faces to me. The game ended 1-1. Chelsea opened the scoring with a decent goal from Nicolas Jackson, while Newcastle equalized through Miguel Almiron. Of course, the stadium erupted when Almiron scored since he was the team star when Atlanta United won the MLS league. They made him MOTM, but that's because 70,000 spectators would have booed any other outcome, but I don't think he contributed that much other than his goal. On the Chelsea side, Reece James and Trevoh Chalobah were solid, whereas I was less impressed with Marc Cucurella. Other than one smart shot that was well saved, Conor Gallagher was a waste of space (and deservedly booked). For Newcastle, I thought Joelinton was their strongest player (appears to be built like a tank). Fabian Schar went off injured early on. MOTM for me was Nick Pope. He came on for the second half and made at least three excellent saves to keep Chelsea at bay. Anthony Gordon played the entire game for Newcastle. My eldest son thought he had an excellent first half and poor second half, but I thought he was rather poor throughout - but with one exception: He made the Newcastle goal with a brilliant run from the left, through the center, and a peach of a pass to hand the goal to Almiron on a plate. Gordon played mostly on the left, although he moved more to the center in the second half - clearly because Newcastle (like Brentford in the first game) were rather impotent upfront. Gordon was unimpressive in the center. Across both games, three things were noticeable: (i) all teams played from the back, making what appeared to be risky passes in their own penalty boxes. I strongly suspect this tournament had a rule that goal kicks could not leave the penalty box, but playing from the back is now the norm. (ii) I didn't see a headed shot attempted by any team at any time. Everything was played along the ground. We rely heavily on DC-L's strength in the air, but this is not a strategy being pursued by the four teams that played last night. Almost all the danger came from quick-fire breakaways, not from long balls or crosses in the air. (iii) Other than corners, there were almost no set pieces. Despite one or two exceptions (that were wasted), free kicks were taken quickly before players changed position. The stadium, despite 70,000 people, was boringly silent. The American spectators were more interested in trying to get a wave going than actually watching the game. There were oohs and aahs when shots went close, but most of the time it was strangely silent - no real atmosphere. Other than Almiron's goal, the loudest noise happened midway in each half of both games when the referee signaled a "hydration break". This is a covered, air-conditioned stadium: There was no need for such breaks. It looks to me like advertisers have found a way to add commercials during games. (IMO, one of the reasons soccer has not succeeded in the US is in large part because they can't get funding from advertisers without having commercial breaks every five minutes.) These breaks wreck the momentum of the game, and I hope they don't become the norm. And there was little patience among the crowd for players constantly making a meal of every contact, falling to the ground, rolling around or playing dead while physios rush on the field. This practice is really spoiling the game. I enjoyed watching these two games. The ground staff replaced artificial turf with real grass, apparently an early preparation for the next World Cup, and that really helped. Without an atmosphere, though, it seemed all too academic.

Pretty much all square after the first day.

Two of my sons bought me tickets for Mercedes-Benz stadium in Atlanta this evening (we'll all three be going). Chelsea play Newcastle, and then Brighton play Brentford. I shall write up a report tomorrow.