Dr Gloom

it’s the same story every time one of the “big six” lose, particularly one of the two red clubs from the north west

He played the full 98 minutes in his first game back too - a freak of nature

The main takeaway from yesterday’s game is how important Tino and Hall are for how we want to play. We were like a different team with those two backing up the press and getting forwards. They took so much pressure off the midfield three

At least it keeps him away from taxi stands

(A text I just received from my Liverpool-supporting mate)

Slot out?

Joelinton has been well off it but this might be the game that suits him as we’re going to spend a lot of time without the ball. I thought this might be a game for Elanga too because of his extra pace on the counter attack

I prefer Johnson & Johnson

yup. No surprise at all that their pace was down

Onto the Gabba where I’m sure we’ll be on top

Why have we resorted to leg side short stuff after 10 overs? Desperate stuff

so if he hasn’t trained or played they could consider calling him up? Seems unlikely

tactical move by the club, perhaps

here’s the link I watched, for context Of course you’re not a gammon, but I watched the clip last night and wright struck a chord with me when he talked about pogba and Sterling. I always remember thinking the amount of shit both players got in certain quarters was disproportionate. Coincidence? Or did the colour of their skin play a role? I’m not sure who Wright is talking about at the end of the clip - dunno whether it’s a reporter or a social media troll or someone else who is relentlessly going after Jude.

the ashes

black players definitely get more stick. there are still a lot of people out there who don't like "flash" or "arrogant" black footballers - i think wright is spot on about that, sadly. and it's only a few years since three young black english players suffered appalling racist abuse online for missing penalties in a major tournament. white or black - they all have tattoos, drive flash cars and wear expensive watches but the media made more of it with sterling compared to the other england players. bellingham is playing for the biggest club in the world and is clearly one of england's best players. who gives a shit if he's an arrogant knob? he has to go to the world cup.

hopefully england bat out the day tomorrow for that reason. the bowlers will need a rest - even when there are five of them. crawley aside, whose dismissal was entirely predictable, it only looked like the tail got out to stupid shots. something they can hopefully learn from as the series progresses because they can all bat a bit right down to wood at 11

i still can't figure out how smith has accumulated so many runs with such massive holes in his technique, the cheating crybaby cunt. the two of them can both get in the bin for their ridiculous leaves alone

smith and marnus tried grinding it out and it didn't get them anywhere. perhaps england's aggressive approach was the right one. i'm not excusing crawley - he's turbo gash

What a spell from stokes

England’s day. Unbelievable

Stokes is bowling this session out, guaranteed