World Cup: SF: Croatia vs. England, 7/11/2018

Who will play in a World Cup Final?


  • Total voters
    83
  • Poll closed .

TheMoreYouKnow

Registered User
May 3, 2007
16,384
3,410
38° N 77° W
Congratulations to Croatia. They are better at football than England.

Probably. At some point during the 2nd half I thought to myself that, even now with Southgate, the less actual footballing occurs in a match the more comfortable England look. The moment it comes down to stringing together a series of passes in a way that leads to a man being free to score a goal..England still struggle immensely.

England will probably never produce a Modric or even a Toni Kroos. The progress we've seen has been one of organization, not necessarily approach. Even the young attackers still seem like individualists best suited for a fast-paced match that's going up and down the pitch with the ball at some point ending up with them so they can make a move and shoot - because that's what the Premiership promotes. The men who play differently in the Premiership tend to be foreigners, and that doesn't seem likely to change any time soon.
 

Corto

Faceless Man
Sep 28, 2005
15,991
942
Braavos
Not that Sterling pulled up a lot of trees in the tournament, but I thought his substitution dubious when it was made. It's all very well to talk about bringing on fresh legs, but the problem with Rashford is his brain is fresh too- in the born yesterday sense.

Sterling was a terror every time he was near the ball in the first half. There was palpable sense of "something could happen" every time he got the ball.
Rashford, while a quality, exciting player, and maybe a better instinct for goals... Is not that dangerous away from goal.
I don't think bringing on Rashford was a mistake, but taking off Sterling... Might've been.
 

PhiladelphiaKessel

DontCrossthe****Line
Aug 9, 2010
7,020
1,423
I thought Croatia was the better team after the second half and into overtime. Well deserved win. Was kind of a snoozefest in the first half, but boy did it turn out to be a thriller
 

cgf

FireBednarsSuccessor
Oct 15, 2010
59,984
19,055
w/ Renly's Peach
The problem with Sterling is that while he looks like "something could happen" at any time, in the back of your mind you know that even when something does happen, he'll find some way to bottle it.

Still much better than Lingard, Rashford, etc., who won't create nearly as many dangerous situations to squander, though.
 
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Stray Wasp

Registered User
May 5, 2009
4,561
1,503
South east London
Probably. At some point during the 2nd half I thought to myself that, even now with Southgate, the less actual footballing occurs in a match the more comfortable England look. The moment it comes down to stringing together a series of passes in a way that leads to a man being free to score a goal..England still struggle immensely.

England will probably never produce a Modric or even a Toni Kroos. The progress we've seen has been one of organization, not necessarily approach. Even the young attackers still seem like individualists best suited for a fast-paced match that's going up and down the pitch with the ball at some point ending up with them so they can make a move and shoot - because that's what the Premiership promotes. The men who play differently in the Premiership tend to be foreigners, and that doesn't seem likely to change any time soon.

I agree with all of this, but the bolded is beautifully exact.

Maybe Southgate has made England a little more patient, however it's hard to judge given set-piece goals have given them springboard so often.

Ultimately, tonight was back to the old failing - a goal in the first half, nothing thereafter.
 

kovacro

Uvijek Vjerni
Nov 20, 2008
9,744
5,133
Hamilton, ON
English fans, be proud of the effort put forth by your guys. The future certainly looks bright.

This is a learning experience for them and one that will make them better.
 

Stray Wasp

Registered User
May 5, 2009
4,561
1,503
South east London
Sterling was a terror every time he was near the ball in the first half. There was palpable sense of "something could happen" every time he got the ball.

Thanks for this- Clive Tyldesley praised Sterling when he went off, but you can hardly rely on anything that comes out of his mouth.
 

maclean

Registered User
Jan 4, 2014
8,380
2,545
Ultimately, tonight was back to the old failing - a goal in the first half, nothing thereafter.

To be fair, it was true to form for Croatia as well, scoring in the second half. Can't find the exact stat now but most of their goals have come after half.
 

gary69

Registered User
Sep 22, 2004
8,181
1,602
Then and there
That the match turned to Croatia's control after their equalizer at an everincreasingly rate, couldn't just have been England players tiring. It must have been a mental issue as well, knowing that your physical performance will only go down from now on and the opponents are better with making the ball work for them. I

t was a bit of naivety from English players and Southgate regarding their game plan. It depended too much on getting that second goal, whilst Croatia was more mature with their approach and paced themselves better, knowing that a game lasts the full 90 minutes and even more.
 

koyvoo

Registered User
Nov 8, 2014
17,242
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24082F2F-0FEA-4673-8959-723FCD1B04A1.jpeg
 
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Nalens Oga

Registered User
Jan 5, 2010
16,780
1,053
Canada
Disappointing 2nd half and ET, they came out flat and I don't think Southgate is the type of manager to give an inspirational team talk tbh. He's competent but not the manager to get this team over the hump and I worry they'll squander another generation of players if they keep him for Euro 2020/WC 2022. I think Ashley Young's inability to defend and not having any proper LWB cost this team because Croatia really exposed that flank. The worse part is that not only could Young not defend, he didn't create much on the left either. That's why Sterling should have started on the left if they had no LWB and they should've started Vardy/Rashford in the middle as the second striker. Southgate showed that he couldn't get this team to score goals from open play against good opposition.

Very frustrating as I would've liked to see this England team play France. When you have Kane and a few other stars in the side, you can always win a game, but I don't see Croatia being able to beat France. Mandzukic will be neutralized by those two and Rebic/Perisic don't generally string two good games together.
 

YNWA14

Onbreekbaar
Dec 29, 2010
34,543
2,560
Modric will always influence the game more than Kane. Croatia certainly have more potential to beat France than England ever would have. Though France will be a tall ask of any team at this point.

Still Croatia has the best player left in this competition and they've been incredibly resilient as a team. They aren't the favorites but they certainly have a chance.
 

SenorDingDong

Registered User
Apr 1, 2006
3,496
32
Toronto
I would rate Croatia over England as well for France. Granted I still think this is Frances world cup to lose at this point.
England plays a simple game, reliant on stamina, set pieces and balls into the box. When that doesn't work they are out of options.

They have no "creative" type player, nobody who can dribble. When has England ever produced a player like a Modric, Pirlo, Iniesta etc?
 

koyvoo

Registered User
Nov 8, 2014
17,242
16,979
Gascoigne. But he had some demons to say the least. I do agree that this type of player is more rare coming punt of England than out of continental Europe or South America in general.
 

koyvoo

Registered User
Nov 8, 2014
17,242
16,979
I don’t think the midfield trio from the “golden gen” had the pure creativity. Maybe Scholes. They were good technically though.
 
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phisherman

Registered User
Apr 17, 2015
3,322
1,039
I would rate Croatia over England as well for France. Granted I still think this is Frances world cup to lose at this point.
England plays a simple game, reliant on stamina, set pieces and balls into the box. When that doesn't work they are out of options.

They have no "creative" type player, nobody who can dribble. When has England ever produced a player like a Modric, Pirlo, Iniesta etc?

Even if they produce those midfielders they won't use them. There was the argument about Wilshere rightfully not being called up on this board because England would just play hoofball.
 

PanniniClaus

Registered User
Oct 12, 2006
8,369
3,129
Croatia were better on the day and fair play to them. Go France, the class of the tourney and would be worthy winners.
 

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