Pickford in goal as England draw in Germany

And yes, I know they used to play Christmas Day and Boxing Day, but the nature of the sport has changed. It's now much more about athleticism than it ever was. If we want them to stay out of the red zone during the season, we have to give them a proper rest.

All that said, I'll probably watch. Best of luck, Jordan. I hope you keep a clean sheet, get subbed for the second half, and then the German team gub the England team 6-0.

All I care about is the squad getting the much-needed overhaul it needs and having a hopefully good pre-season to be able to build a strong season that banishes the trauma of last season to the history books.

It's a given how shite England are but shocking to see germans so technically inept. 2 touches where one is required, the ball bouncing off flat footed chumps and simple 10yd passes mis-hit.

England could win this

Followed by shouts of Ramsdale for Pope?!

Update: A redemption save by Pickford.

Even the commentator thought there was a slight deflection but, apart from that, he is not being helped by a poor England side.

Pickford's distribution was poor at times but no fault for the goal, he would've had to have been the best in the world (Neuer) to stop that and not the second best.

I think it's because England are an international version of Everton - historically famous but in a death spiral going back decades.

Only so much hopeless delusion a fan can absorb

If you see the way the striker rolled the ball before striking Pickford was already readjusting, his feet.

It shows how blight the football media has become and scrapping the barrel is Channel 4, with their football shoes.

But actually, not arsed about the England result, all that counts is Everton.

Gonna be a hell of a preseason in the transfer market and trying to understand where Everton can compete in this pre-season.

A poor performance against the Azzurri will see them exit this useless competition.

Both teams seemed erratic, but I thought that Germany, although nowhere near the standard of the team that emerged around 2008, entertained at the 2010 World Cup and won the 2014 World Cup, they still always looked more comfortable on the ball than England.

Pickford has improved these past 18 months, but I don't think there is a better keeper than Neuer in the world. Schalke Academy product. Bayern also took Nubel from Schalke, who came through their Schalke II team. He's been on loan at Monaco, but still a Bayern player. I'd keep an eye on him if we're needing to replace.

I don't even understand this competition, but it's football and can keep me going until August.

Rank Player Goals Caps Average Career
1 Wayne Rooney 53 120 0.44 2003–2018
2 Harry Kane 50 71 0.7 2015–present
3 Bobby Charlton 49 106 0.46 1958–1970
4 Gary Lineker 48 80 0.6 1984–1992
5 Jimmy Greaves 44 57 0.77 1959–1967
6 Michael Owen 40 89 0.45 1998–2008
7 Nat Lofthouse 30 33 0.91 1950–1958
7 Alan Shearer 30 63 0.48 1992–2000
7 Tom Finney 30 76 0.39 1946–1958
10 V Woodward 29 23 1.26 1903–1911
10 Frank Lampard 29 106 0.27 1999–2014

Jimmy Greaves's ratio, for example, of 44 goals in 57 games is exceptional. I doubt there was an Estonia or San Marino goal amongst them. Surprisingly also, is that Frank Lampard is Number 10 all-time scorer. Never knew that!

Without looking it up and relying on memory, I seem to recall England winning 8-0 at Wembley (vs Mexico?) and 9-3 against Scotland. Did Greaves bag any of those goals, I wonder? We certainly wouldn't achieve those scores these days!

Kane has scored

5 vs San Marino
4 vs Albania
4 vs Montenegro
3 vs Panama

Add to the fact a quarter of his goals are from the penalty spot.

He's a decent centre forward but the number of goals don't tell the whole story. He's well behind (imo) these in this order:

Charlton
Greaves
Hurst
Lineker
Rooney
Shearer
Owen

I'm old enough to have seen Greaves play. He was a poacher extraordinaire, without equal but Kane is a better all round player. It's not always possible to fairly compare players from different eras though.

Have a look at the goals Greaves scored. Also, quite often in batches. And in those days, the likes of Switzerland, Norway and Northern Ireland were the whipping boys, not San Marino.

All I would say is Greaves is the greatest British goalscorer ever. His record is without equal. It's always hard to compare across generations, as you say, but of course in this generation, there are two players with similar records: Ronaldo and Messi.

I wouldn't argue he's the best English player ever, he clearly wasn't. Just our best ever goalscorer.

Kane is a good player, no doubt. But if you could pick a top 10 current Premier League players list, I'm not sure he'd make it.

I don't disagree with most of what you say. I guess all I'm saying is that we shouldn't downgrade Kane's achievement because he scored a lot of “cheap” international goals. So did Greaves!

Greaves 389 goals in 579 senior appearences. 44 goals in 57.

Dixie 391 goals in 448 senior games. International record 18 in 16 games.

I am a huge Greaves fan BTW.