World Cup 2018 | 11th July | SF: Croatia vs England Match Thread, KO 19:00 (BST)

[Blue Hefner]

That Croatia team wasn't better though we should have been 2-0 up at half time?

I agree they weren’t better in the first half. However, they changed tactics and moved a few players around to get the best out of what they had - what they had was better than what we had

 

[BluessinceHydeRoad]

Brooking and Keegan were part of an England team that didn't even qualify for the 1978 World Cup.

Gazza, Beardsley, Waddle and Walker never got any further than a World Cup semi-final.

The rest of them never even got that far.

And yet you're slagging off the current team for matching that achievement, some of them in their first tournament.

It has to be pointed out that in 1978 only sixteen teams took part in the finals. England failed to qualify for the second time in a row, but in 1974 they had finished second in a qualifying group won by Poland (who finished third in the finals) and in 1978 we were second in a group won by Italy (who finished in fourth place in the finals). There were also fewer countries to take part in the qualifying groups before the disintegration of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia and the splitting of Czechoslovakia. The groups were nowhere near as easy as they can be now.

The 1990 tournament include 24 teams and England finished second to Sweden in a group with Poland and Albania - not the toughest but rather more demanding than the group we emerged from this time. We won our group and then beat Belgium (aet), Cameroon (aet) and then lost to the eventual champions, West Germany, on penalties.

The world cup was more selective, elitist or whatever word we want to use when restricted to 16 finalists and it's true that its expansion has been to the benefit of continents other than Europe. In some ways this has been beneficial but it has inevitably meant that there are teams (such as Panama?) whose presence adds nothing to the quality of the competition. The real similarity between 1990 and 2018 is that England made the most of a helpful draw. Apart from the other similarity that we lose to the genuine heavyweights we face.

 

[BigOscar]

That Croatia team wasn't better though we should have been 2-0 up at half time?

They were better, as they showed as the game went on as they completely strangled us. We got off to a great start and it rattled them, that was our chance, to get a second while they were trying to regain their composure. But we didn't take those chances, they regrouped and then just dominated us and badly exposed our teams lack of a midfield and some of our players lack of composure when the pressure increased.

 

[BluessinceHydeRoad]

That Croatia team wasn't better though we should have been 2-0 up at half time?

So, why weren't we? And matches are 90 or 120 minutes long in the knock out stages of the world cup, and it has to be said they were the thickness of a post from winning it in normal time. But none of it matters now.

 

[Dave S]

That Croatia team wasn't better though we should have been 2-0 up at half time?

Croatia 2. England 1.

 

[asaluttar]

No criticism of the saintly one by brainwashed Engerland fans and the media.

What is really shocking is that unlike the majority of such incidents (pass versus shoot) where it may be difficult to see your teammate or need to twist your body to square,
In this case his body position meant that
a. He could easily see Sterling in a better position and
b. He could pass it relatively easily to him.

Pure selfishness from a player who also missed a free header and contributed far less in overall open play than Sterling

 

[come-on-barney]

This victory has really gotten into Dejan Lovren"s head :(

Croatia's Dejan Lovren: 'I am one of the best defenders in the world.

Really Dejan? Really?

Mbappe says not

 

[come-on-barney]

That Croatia team wasn't better though we should have been 2-0 up at half time?

France could get a hatful

 

[aguerrrroooooooooooo]

Sorry but I think Roy Keane actually got it right for once our players were thinking about the open top bus before they'd won it.

Total rubbish. Back up your statements; I did not see complacency leading up to the game at all.
We were completely outclassed in midfield. We probably should've put the game to bed with the chances we had in the 1st half and maybe made some tactical changes but the players didn't think about the open top bus

 

[Bewar3them00n]

England exposed a good Croatia team on a handful of occasions in the first half, the very minimum this team should’ve been up by, is 2-0, that we didn’t wasn’t a deficiency , but rather a naivety on both the manager, and players side. Remember, this is all new territory for this English side, which carried 3 players through this semi-final in Dele Alli, Harry Kane, and Young, what this side needed in the middle was industry and drive in the 2nd half, something Alli could not offer due to his injury, Kane was nothing more than a hold up guy, and Young wilted terribly before the hour. A more experienced manager would’ve had Rose on at half time, and Replaced Alli, not Sterling.
Plus points for the tournament though, John Stones, Harry Maguire, Trippier, and Sterling, yes Sterling!
With the addition of a creative midfielder and a more attacking left wing back ( Rose) this side could blossom. It’s probably too soon to talk about Foden being promoted to the senior squad, but in a year or 2, he could be the player this team is crying out for in the middle.
Pride restored, and it just might be time to get back on the England Love-Train....