Phil McNulty
@philmcnulty
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Chief football writer, BBC Sport. Hon. Doc. Media @solentuni Author "RED ON RED" with @jimw1 updated & out in paperback August 17. …
Oxford, England.
Joined June 2009
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Arsenal did not celebrate like they had won the league. They celebrated like a team who had battled hard for a crucial victory after playing a large part of the game with ten men. And why shouldn't they?
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Just caught the Everton non penalty. Chris Kavanagh should face questions about how he can view that incident and come to the conclusion that is not a penalty. Astonishing.
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An away win?
Arsenal players' plan "surprise" farewell for Arsene Wenger
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Moyes signed contract at Man. Utd. until 2019. In that time he's managed them, Real Sociedad, Sunderland & now West Ham - with a year left.
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And to think the original contract Manchester United gave to David Moyes hasn't expired yet.
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Just get the sense Manchester United and Ed Woodward are building up to spend way over the odds for somebody.
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Did I really hear some booing for Joe Gomez there? Pathetic.
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Pep Guardiola insists on a standing ovation for Gabriel Jesus as he is replaced by Phil Foden and Manchester City's fans oblige.
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Unless my memory is failing me not sure Sam Allardyce is qualified to lecture Unai Emery on tactical approach against Man. City. His Everton side were 3-0 down to City before HT in March & City’s 82.13% possession rate was highest for an away team in PL since stats were kept.
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Frank Lampard will ultimately be held responsible, as managers are, but owner Farhad Moshiri, chairman Bill Kenwright and CEO Denise Barrett-Baxendale must not escape scrutiny for years of appalling decision-making. They are equally culpable for yet another Everton crisis.
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Not sure I buy all this "Newcastle United fans expect too much" stuff. Not heard too many of them demanding they win the title or the Champions League. They just want their club to fulfil its potential. Don't see anything wrong with that.
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Jeering throughout the Germany national anthem. Absolutely abysmal and embarrassing.
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Bets lots of other managers wish they could receive the praise Bielsa and Leeds United are getting if they and their team were 6-1 down
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Since David Moyes was awarded 6-year deal at Man Utd he's got two sackings & a resignation on CV...and still two of those six years to go.
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Aston Villa close to deal for Brentford striker Ollie Watkins. Fee is an initial £28m which could rise to £33m with add-ons.
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@GrantWahl
Should we even bother having the tournament then, Grant? You just tell us who, in your opinion, are “by far” the best two teams in Europe and we can save all the fuss and bother of those group games by shooting straight to the final. The key word here is “draw.”
.
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Surely if you had watched the game you would have noticed Southampton scored and Arsenal didn't?
"If somebody didn't know the score and watched the game they'd say Arsenal won comfortably" 🤔
Mikel Arteta explains
#AFC
's defeat to Southampton - their third Premier League loss in a row 😳
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Carlo "not the right fit for Everton" Ancelotti has now beaten Frank Lampard, Brendan Rodgers and Mikel Arteta in the last seven days and his team is currently second in the Premier League. Surely time for Everton's board to consider the wisdom of the appointment?
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OPTA stats on Jordan Pickford. 43 England caps. 20 clean sheets and not one error directly leading to a goal. Southgate's loyalty is merited and excellent again today. Good record.
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Do not believe there will be any sense of joy among Everton fans at Frank Lampard's sacking. He was admired by a large portion of the supporters for his honesty & ability to engage & communicate with the fanbase in a manner many others at the club have failed to do.
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Everton's failure to sign a player in January is a catastrophic failure by the owner, the board and director of football Kevin Thelwell. This is the club that boasted about a "strategic review" and ended the window weaker than when it started while lying in the relegation zone.
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Jordan Pickford has been outstanding for Everton and England for a very long time now but it has gone under the radar. Brilliant and vitally important performance today.
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Newcastle United fans should not be thanking Mike Ashley. He should be on his hands & knees thanking them every day for turning up in in vast numbers regularly in support of club totally devoid of ambition, direction and hope.
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One of the most pathetic aspects of modern football is the tendency to instantly label a very good team “bottlers” when they lose - or in some cases recently even draw - a game. No credit to opposition. No analysis of what happened. Instant condemnation dressed up as judgement.
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Is it against the rules to suggest Mauricio Pochettino might look at the control he has at Spurs, the current state of the squads and the farce of the last few years at Manchester United and think he is better off where he is?
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Traore to Barcelona. Luis Diaz to Liverpool. Not sure Antonio Conte will be in a good mood this morning.
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Antony cost Manchester United £80m and no-one can blame the Glazers for that. This one is on Ten Hag and United overpaid monstrously.
Antony: not good enough to start, sulks on the bench, comes on and does nothing except a stupid tackle and a childish flap to risk a red card. Manchester United's second most expensive signing.
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Tunisia coach will be demanding to know who should have been wrestling Harry Kane to the floor at that corner.
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The biggest mistake Everton's rather self-congratulatory board could make now they are staying in the Premier League is for chairman Bill Kenwright, CEO Denise Barrett-Baxendale and owner Farhad Moshiri to slap themselves on the back for a job so badly done over several years.
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As diversion tactics go, Spurs seem to have come up with a belter there.
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Roberto Martinez and Ronald Koeman have certainly fallen up since being sacked by Everton.
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Villa will receive a fee of £20m.
Aston Villa and Chelsea can confirm that the clubs have reached an agreement for the permanent transfer of Carney Chukwuemeka.
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Must be some World Cup squad Germany have got if they can leave out Leroy Sane.
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Instead of putting Everton's new manager Rafa Benitez, who has spent just £1.7m, under scrutiny, focus should be on DoF Marcel Brands, who has presided over a ridiculously expensive, flawed transfer policy & Academy not producing enough first-team quality.
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Bottom line is - whether people like Jose Mourinho or not, he has delivered Champions League football and two trophies. Real success.
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Belgium manager Roberto Martinez: "We want to perform well but the priority is not to win." Let me just sit down for a minute....
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"This is me publicly destroying one of my players." As for "man up" - what does that dreadful phrase even mean?
🗣️ "This is me saying to him publicly... man up"
Strong words from
#BWFC
boss Ian Evatt as he discusses the mistake made by his keeper Billy Crellin today.
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Absolutely disgraceful and the actions of Jose Mourinho played their part in this.
This is so so worrying to see and we hope Anthony and his family are ok.
This is why we believe organisations like the
@LMA_Managers
and the
@PFA
as well as the
@WeAreTheFSA
need to come out and condemn such behaviour in this country.
Mangers comments and players behaviour…
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Newcastle United fans singing "we're richer than you" to Manchester City's fans.
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Kane Williamson. 100% class act on and off the field. Must have been stinging so badly after the circumstances of that World Cup Final defeat and yet reacts with total class. An under-stated cricket superstar.
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Great night for Manchester City's fans here in Istanbul. Time to remember their loyalty and backing when the club dropped into the third tier of English football. Average attendances of nearly 30,000 at Maine Road.
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Just watched the Willy Boly sending off again. A truly awful, awful decision. And the more you watch Martin Odegaard's handball at Anfield the more mystifying it is that a penalty was not awarded.
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Everton requesting “full disclosure” why Manchester City game was postponed.
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If there is a group of Manchester United players unconvinced by Erik ten Hag just imagine how unconvinced he would be about them.
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The fact that Everton set a self-imposed deadline to clarify the future of chairman Bill Kenwright plus interim boardroom appointments and cannot even meet it shows the complete dysfunction at the heart of the club and why there must be change at the top. Shambolic.
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Everton may have got the cash deal they wanted for Richarlison but the fact they are selling to a club they aspired to rival is another example of just what a ruinous strategy they have indulged in over recent years - and this applies to the whole board not just Farhad Moshiri.
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Jordan Pickford has been average all season. Be interesting to know Gareth Southgate's thoughts on someone who has been his undisputed number one. Best way to describe his mentality has been frantic. No calming influence whatsoever.
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Plenty of criticism heading Frank Lampard’s way this morning but Everton’s current plight is the result of years of horrendous decision-making by the owner & a board far too fond of patting itself on the back while getting so many things so badly wrong.
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Very classy gesture from beaten Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta. He breaks away from his walk back to the coach to go a long way out of his way to speak to the Everton groundstaff tending the Goodison Park pitch. A bearhug for the man they remember fondly as an Everton player.
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As I said yesterday, really don't get this debate about not liking Arsenal's celebrations. They were celebrating a vital away win after playing a lot of the game with ten men. Sure Wolves have celebrated big wins & I wouldn't criticise them either.
'We've seen the celebrations and we really didn't like them.'
@Wolves
skipper Conor Coady on Arsenal's celebrations at full-time last night.
Listen to the Friday Football Social ⤵️
#bbcfootball
#WOLARS
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Realise this will never happen - but wouldn't it be wonderful if the FA Cup was totally revived in an instant by giving the winners a place in the Champions League qualifiers?
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Among the many things to admire about Bielsa is how he stays in a crouching position so long before standing up with relative ease. I would need to be helped back into position by a team of paramedics.
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Villa’s negotiators, led by CEO Christian Purslow, will regard getting £20m for a player who has made just two Premier League starts as good business in the circumstances as they were at risk of losing him for free in five months. Chukwuemeka rejected a lucrative offer.
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Raheem Sterling has just soared above Paul Pogba to win an aerial challenge... must have been his height advantage.
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As for Everton, it is beyond any sort of justification that owner Farhad Moshiri, a hapless board led by chairman Bill Kenwright, and director of football Kevin Thelwell allowed the January transfer window to pass without adding a single player to a squad not fit for purpose.
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Jose Mourinho has received enough criticism so how about some praise? Reacted superbly to Manchester United's problems today and changed the face of the game. Top-class management.
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Lot of criticism of Mourinho on here seems based on the fact he didn't set Man. Utd. up in a way that would have allowed Liverpool to win.
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Arsenal throwing their full weight of support behind manager Mikel Arteta's complaints after the controversial defeat at Newcastle United. Hard to see how Joelinton's push on Gabriel was not deemed to be a foul in among the three VAR checks.
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And while Rafael Benitez is the lightning rod for all the discontent do not forget the dreadful efforts of Everton's players, who have played a part in seeing off quite a few managers now.
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Vincent Kompany to leave Manchester City. Magnificent player. Inspirational leader. One of the true greats of the Premier League era - and that spectacular winning goal against Leicester City that did so much to win his final Premier League title as one of his parting shots.
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Mahrez - who will now no doubt score - has been really poor today. Odd selection by Guardiola.
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Been critical of Everton keeper Jordan Pickford after his mixed form so it is only right to say he was outstanding today - absolutely faultless. Same can be said of Michael Keane and Ben Godfrey. Tom Davies also excellent.
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Hearing the celebration police were out in force again after Arsenal showed their delight at beating Aston Villa. Was it the usual "it was as if they'd won the league" stuff? Huge result for them. Why shouldn't they celebrate? And don't most teams do it now anyway?
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Chambers to Villa is a free transfer. Another decent deal for manager Steven Gerrard.
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How can anyone say 4 games is any sort of chance for a manager to put his stamp on a team? Farcical. What about those who appointed De Boer?
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Two problems with Everton’s midfield. They offer no protection for the defence and offer no creation for the attack. Other than that....
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Jordan Pickford at fault again. Sadly approaching liability territory for Everton. In fact he may already have arrived.
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Would love to put a photograph of myself on here from 10 years ago but I won't because I don't care and neither should you.
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Now a week since Everton announced: "A statement will be made about interim appointments and the future of the Chairman in the next 48 hours." Not a word. No sign of a word. Bill Kenwright still chairman on a board consisting of one person - Bill Kenwright. Utter dysfunction.
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@GNev2
Morning, Gary. The Glazers context I accept completely. Terrible leadership at the top of the club but my point is the manager must have thought this player was worth paying that sort of money for having worked with him closely before and that seems very poor judgement to me.
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When Burnley beat Everton at Turf Moor at the back end of last season, Sean Dyche told his players at half-time when they were 2-1 down: "I'm not sure these know how to win a game." He is going to be Everton's new manager because they still don't know.
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Frank Lampard asked about Conor Coady's disallowed goal: "We're Everton. Of course it was going to be offside." He was laughing - and did think it was offside.
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Jurgen Klopp invested total faith in Loris Karius. Made him number one and sidelined Simon Mignolet. It is a decision that has proved to be flawed, not just tonight, and must now be addressed in the summer.
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Never quite understood who anyone could think Jordan Pickford should not be England's undisputed number one. Understand it even less today.
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Manchester United fans sing "you're getting sacked in the morning" in Sarri's direction - and Chelsea fans join in noisily. Now "Bring Back Mourinho"...very cruel.
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Was Sam Allardyce not given £27m to spend on this player or is Cenk Tosun a figment of everyone's imagination.
"They need a striker that will get 15-20 goals a season."
Sam Allardyce believes Everton still lack the firepower to break into the top six next season.
What do you think of this,
#EFC
fans? 🤔
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Must have missed something because as far as I can see Gareth Bale has been a magnificent player for Real Madrid, won them Champions League Finals & year is treated with total disrespect by current coach & unloved by fans. Totally undeserved & lacking in grace.
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Mo Salah, quite rightly, claiming all the headlines this morning - but can I just be slightly unfashionable for a moment and add how brilliant James Milner was?
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Carlo Ancelotti's importance to Everton & those in power at the club underscored by the signings of Allan and James Rodriguez. This is not a criticism but those two players do not even consider Everton without Ancelotti as manager.
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Virat Kohli. A superstar and genuine box office. Backs it all up with brilliance.
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Seeing lot of carping about Manchester City not selling out their FA Cup semi-final allocation. Might it just be that financial constraints mean not every fan can attend every one of their big games? It's an expensive business & not sure anyone can doubt City fans' loyalty.
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Easy to see why so many football fans are done with the way VAR is being operated here after farcical Calvert-Lewin red card. No foul given. Barely an appeal. Referee not refereeing the game any more. When was the last time an official went to the screen & stuck with a decision?
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Sean Dyche has won two of four games as Everton manager with goals scored by a central defender & a full-back. Not signing a striker in summer/January amounts to negligence from the owner, board & director of football Kevin Thelwell. It might be the decision that sends them down.
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More Mourinho on Scholes: "Scholes will be in history as a phenomenal player - not as a pundit. If one day Paul decides to become a manager I wish that he can be 25% as successful as myself."
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Everton stated after annoucing board changes: "A statement will be made about interim appointments and the future of the Chairman in the next 48 hours." It is no surprise this time frame has now passed without a statement.
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Am I missing something with all this Manchester United getting to the game on time nonsense? Can't they just leave earlier and get to the ground earlier? Is that beyond them? It's not as if they've got to pick a few of the lads up at Sandbach Services.
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Is it going against the grain to suggest Everton should be praised for their ambition in trying to get Ancelotti as their manager? There is definitely a debate to be had about whether he is a good fit but he is successful, available. Is it the suggestion Everton should aim lower?
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Pardew's team talk has got to be: "Look lads - I've done this absolutely terrible thing and you've got 30 minutes to get me off the hook."
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Barring some late & unexpected drama it looks like Everton manager Rafael Benitez will end up spending a grand total of £1.7m in transfer fees this summer. Any judgement or criticism of what he does should be placed in that context.
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Everton have produced some inexcusable performance at home this season but that was the lowest of the low. And Carlo Ancelotti cannot escape scrutiny because the same awful displays have happened time and again without even looking like being corrected.
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Everton's fans deserved to enjoy that result. They have been magnificent. The problem is that unless there is serious change at the top of the club they will back in this same situation next season.
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Liverpool will never have a better chance to end the title drought stretching back to 1990. 2014 was a thrill-ride from a flawed side. This one looks relaxed, ruthless, nerveless - and can defend as well as attack. Analysis from Anfield.
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David Moyes still clearly sore about his time at Man. Utd. - but brutal truth is he was out of his depth at Old Trafford & club had to act.
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And in response to those asking what I think Moshiri should do - if it really has come down to Pereira, Wayne Rooney or Frank Lampard I would go for Frank Lampard.
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England's run to semi-finals did them huge credit - but let's also give credit to Croatia. What quality, resilience & strength they showed after winning on penalties in their two previous games. Congratulations to them and they will face France in the World Cup Final on Sunday
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