FT: CROATIA 2 - 1 ENGLAND. Match thread

[Maccy Blue]

Fair result that. I don't like england as a side but to be fair they had a team of young players with a point to prove - which they have done. I like Southgate - he always seems decent and much to the annoyance of the press he has chosen a team of players on their merit and not their name. In a few years that team will be real contenders. Am I glad they are coming home? Yep I am. When Wales were in the Euros we never got the same sort of coverage and 'love in' that england have and to be honest that grates a fair bit. Would I have liked to see them win it? Yep - only for the fact that the team wasn't made up of 'big names' like in the past. Best team won - they destroyed england for large periods of the game.

[bobh]

Pundits now speculating that Kane has been carrying an injury.

[Louth]

It wasn't a high foot, it was a low head.

Spot on

[Baloo]

Alright lads.

[Delbert]

England well-beaten by a technically superior Croatian side. Radio 5 going on and on about how Gareth’s young lions have over-achieved. Edged past Tunisia in extra time, beat the tournament’s pub team Panama, lost to Belgium reserves, drew with Columbia minus James Rodriguez, beat awful Sweden and then brushed aside by the first quality team they met in Croatia.

At least now England are out we’ve got a quality final between 2 fine footballing teams.

[life on mars]

Each one of those lads should be very proud, incredible tournament for them , way beyond thier wildest dreams.

I hope they all go on the lash tonight ,bugger 3rd place.

[City123]

Each one of those lads should be very proud, incredible tournament for them , way beyond thier wildest dreams.

I hope they all go on the lash tonight ,bugger 3rd place.

Come off it, first decent side they played and they blew it

[life on mars]

Pundits now speculating that Kane has been carrying an injury.

He looked blown.

[Philbccfc]

Squad of players to choose from, no excuse.

[jon1959]

He looked blown.

That's not the way to prepare for an important game. Unprofessional.

[MacAdder]

Roy Keane is letting em av it

[Divine Wright]

Roy Keane is letting em av it

He's right as well. They get well ahead of themselves and it all ends in tears.

[bobh]

He's right as well. They get well ahead of themselves and it all ends in tears.

Like every Euro and WC tournament since 1966

[Divine Wright]

Harry Mandzukic.




He's one of our own.

[Philbccfc]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-eng...ill-boost-team

[The Bloop]

1 shot on target after Trippiers goal. Just not good enough.

[Taffy Blue in Berkshire]

Watching England in the 2nd half and ET reminded me of watching the Jacks (on Sky) i.e a doomed team. No pace, creativity, no shots on target and when they did have the ball woefully slow in distribution and getting the ball forward. Croatia deserved it. If someone built a 'Gareth Bale' factory they could certainly sell one to England and a Rambo and Joe Allen as well. Let's hope our boys make the next one and we can really take interest.

[Zenith]

Croatia were superb from 45 mins on. Deserved every bit of that win, well done lads.

[StraightOuttaCanton]

Croatia were superb from 45 mins on. Deserved every bit of that win, well done lads.

Agreed. England had their chances first half when they were on top and playing well and with confidence, but Croatia had much more heart from the 46th minute onwards. Best team won

[City123]

England have very little creativity

[lardy]

England have very little creativity

That midfield three of Alli/Henderson/Lingard has a little bit of not much at all.

[City123]

That midfield three of Alli/Henderson/Lingard has a little bit of not much at all.

I can see what Henderson brings to the side in terms of balance, England look far worse when Dier is playing instead of him, but playing both Lingard & Alli makes little sense to me (you can throw Sterling in there as well). I'm not sure the 3 at the back worked as well for them as has been made out

[Der Kaiser]

I can see what Henderson brings to the side in terms of balance, England look far worse when Dier is playing instead of him, but playing both Lingard & Alli makes little sense to me (you can throw Sterling in there as well). I'm not sure the 3 at the back worked as well for them as has been made out

That three at the back system with the full backs is lovely when you play against teams that generally don't attack down the flanks, or have creativity (See Tunisia, Panama, and Colombia w/o Rodriguez and Sweden.. and they struggled in two of those games!) but the two times they play teams with creativity, and players who can actually play the ball, they lose. Flawed system, that got overhyped by some ok performances against below average teams. I look forward to the next tournament, as I really do not think this style will work once teams have looked at it properly. As for Lingard, and Alli, well they better hope Phil Foden and Jadon Sancho get proper game time, the pair of them are garbage against quality opponents. Mexico must be kicking themselves they were so sloppy against Sweden.

[the other bob wilson]

That midfield three of Alli/Henderson/Lingard has a little bit of not much at all.

Do you think it was a midfield three? It always struck me as a midfield one - Jordan Henderson was faced with an impossible workload once England started playing against sides who were contenders to win the tournament and I presumed one of the more attacking players would be left out to accommodate a "proper" central midfielder. In Southgate's defence, he's hardly spoiled for choice in that part of the field (although Der Kaiser is right to point out that may well change in the not too distant future) as is proved by how close Jake Livermore got to making the final twenty three - would Aaron Ramsey and/or Joe Allen have started last night if they were English, I reckon they would have, but possibly Southgate was so wedded to the system he played that I'm wrong?

Having tipped France and England to progress against opponents that were more tired than them, I was congratulating myself halfway through the second half for getting things right. I don't agree with the argument that Croatia were England's equal, or better, in the first half and I thought they were pretty comfortable until they conceded the equaliser, but once that went in there was only one team in it. Huge credit to Croatia for being the fitter, bolder and committed side for the last hour of the game, but Modric and Rakitic and the rest were helped because they suddenly had so much more room in the middle of the park as England's lack of specialists in there finally told against them.

As for England, I was surprised to feel quite sorry for them at the end, but that didn't last too long because, in essence, what was being said about them by some beforehand (things would look different when they faced a team of true quality) was proven to be the case - England were probably one of the weakest teams to have made a World Cup Semi Final in truth.

[lardy]

Do you think it was a midfield three? It always struck me as a midfield one -

Yeah that's pretty much what I'm getting at. Alli plays off Kane at Spurs but Sterling is already in that position, albeit a little wider. I don't really know what Lingards best position is. Maybe all three play between the lines and that's too many. I made the very easy prediction that good midfielders would destroy that England midfield and so it was.

I don't rate Dier that highly but he should have been in for Lingard to give some kind of stability and base, particularly with a back three that can easily get stretched and leave holes.

In the past England have been too regimented, but this team is too naive. A lot of flair and creativity but nothing produced and most of the goals were set pieces.

Away from tactics, I think a lack of big game experience did for them. Henderson in a CL final - who else has played really big semis or finals? Has Pickford (who had an excellent tournament) even played in Europe? Up against Modric with four Champs League winners medals.