How do Croatia generally set up? and how mobile are their defense?- watching some of the balls in to Sterling on saturday i get the feeling England have found something there (direct ball down the middle behind the defense- let Sterling beat them for pace) that hadn't occurred to them before, might be something we see again if Croatia lack pace at the back
It'll be 4-3-3 with either Brozovic or Badelj in the midfield with Modric and Rakitic.
Vrsaljko-Lovren-Vida-Strinic at the back.
Lovren has been rock steady in 2018, and Vida is probably the most underrated defender in Europe, and has been for a while.
Vrsaljko is a top-5 RB, especially defensively... While Strinic is there because he's the best LB we got - which isn't saying much.
Denmark targeted him, Russia targeted him, and I'm sure England will target him.
In short, if the game is decided in the midfield, Croatia has the upper hand there, Modric/Rakitic/Brozovic are better than Hendo/Lingard/Alli both offensively and defensively.
However, my worry is that England will simply skip the midfield, hoof long balls at Kane who has the ability to win the ball and hold up play.
If they can do that, they'll avoid the high pressure from Croatia and set up attacks with ease.
It's what Denmark did, and defensively it worked great. Difference is, Denmark was very conservative going forward, and their midfielders rarely moved aggressively, they made sure they were in position defensively when they were without the ball.
It was almost impossible to play against it and create anything, and you couldn't hope to win the ball off of them with high press because they just had Schmeichel send long balls at Poulsen and he'd win the ball over Strinic almost every time.
Another X factor is Ivan Perisic. He has been silently absolutely brutal. While this WC has been the coming out for Rebic, Perisic has gone completely silent. Not silent actually, he's a negative at the moment. His decision making is poor, his ball control is appalling and his distribution is hardly any better. Team success has masked it, but make no mistake, he's been heavily underperforming the whole tournament.
If he can up his game, Croatia have a much better shot at winning. If not, the goals for that front line are hard to come by as it is without one person playing subpar.
At this point, it's very hard to say.
Like I said, this will be the first time (apart from the Argentina game) where both sides will be facing an opponent who has offensive aspirations.
My biggest fear is England's forwards and the clinical finishing that Kane can provide - we don't have that.
My biggest hope is the midfield - if we can win there, we got a chance.