To be honest, I don’t envy Gareth Southgate on Sunday.
He has to leave out some seriously good players for Sunday’s win-or-go-home game against Senegal. And it is too close to call.
With a heavy heart, I’d stick with Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka. Before you come for me, I agree - Phil Foden is a superb player. He came in, grabbed his goal and was every inch what you expect from him.
But Saka was sensational against Iran, he’ll be fresher after sitting out the Wales win and Foden can take advantage of tired legs late on.
Raheem Sterling has also done nothing wrong but I’d mix it up for this one. We can afford to - we have one of the best squads in the tournament.
So much depth, so many world class players. You try and pick a front six - or even a team. We’d all have a different line-up.
It's been fantastic to witness Marcus’s devastating return to form. I really like him on the left. He’s the only person I've seen who truly complemented Harry Kane well, especially when Harry drops deep as he likes to do.
Normally at Spurs he has Son Heung-min occupying the space he vacates and we've not really seen that cohesion for England.
But against Wales, Marcus was making runs knowing that Harry was trying to find him and vice versa.
As I’ve said before - in tournament football it is not about the best players, it is about the players best suited to the way England play.
Right now that is Marcus on the left, Bukayo on the right and Jude Bellingham instead of Mason Mount in behind Harry.
Largely because I would have the leadership of Jordan Henderson alongside Declan Rice.
With Mason you need his work rate against the top nations. But I really like the look of Bellingham in a free role. Let him roam off the left, off the right, dropping deep to get the ball. That will unlock another level to his already outstanding game.
As for Jordan, I’d want his experience. Against Wales you could hear him in every situation making sure people were doing their jobs and praising people for doing well defensively.
You need someone like that if you're going to go far in an international tournament.
I’m not bothered about Harry Kane’s lack of goals. England are in the last 16 having scored nine goals with him as the top assist maker with three. His ball in for Phil to score against Wales was out of this world. There’s time for Harry.
Just a word on the fringe players. To go far in a competition you have to have a happy ship and Gareth is so good at maintaining that. From my experience playing for him, training is massive. If you train well, he’ll give you chances. It is difficult in tournaments, especially with a 26-man squad.
But look at the Iran game, as soon as it was over he sent on his fringe players to give them minutes.
Same with the Wales game and the likes of Kalvin Phillips and Callum Wilson. He wants to reward them. Hopefully they will all pay him back - and us.
Andros Townsend's England team to face Senegal: (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Walker, Stones, Maguire, Shaw; Henderson, Rice; Rashford, Bellingham, Saka; Kane.
Do you agree with Andros Townsend's England team to face Senegal? Join the debate here!
Senegal will be tough test
I covered Senegal’s win over Ecuador and let me tell you - England are going to have a really tough game on Sunday.
Even allowing for the fact that the African champions have Idrissa Gueye suspended and Sadio Mane, of course, not part of the squad in Qatar, they have shown they can be a problem.
Ismaila Sarr can play off the right or the left. Iliman Ndiaye knows where the goal is and so does Chelsea’s central defender Kalidou Koulibaly.
They have a good right-back in Youssof Sabaly who is quick, effective and works well with Sarr when he comes inside.
And obviously they have the Chelsea keeper Edouard Mendy in goal. So it’s going to be toug.
They will be tough to break down. They are a well-drilled unit, they sit back in a block and they allow you to get crosses in because as well as Sabaly they have Ismail Jakobs on the other side who is very good at dealing with them.
I can see it being tight, maybe being decided in extra time.
Qat-ching fire
Saudi Arabia: They might be heading out but they’ve won a lot of friends.
I covered one of their games and they surprised me from start to finish. They beat Argentina fair and square, they have very technically capable players such as their winger Al Dawsari and their forward Ah Shehri. They were unlucky to lose to Poland and fell short against Mexico but it has been amazing to see a nation produce players like that.
Mbappe : It is just frightening what he's doing on a football pitch at his age, at the highest level. His performances in the first two games were just out of this world and I’m expecting even more in the knockout stages. He makes France serious contenders to defend their world title.
Maguire : When you consider but the stick he had before this tournament, to be able to put that to one side and perform the way he has, has been unbelievable. I'm happy for him because its not easy to deal with that level of scrutiny. He’s really impressed me.
