Football needs fans: Five things learned as Croatia and England draw behind closed doors

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In a trying night of football, Croatia and England played out a 0-0 draw.

The match saw Croatia stabilise themselves after being thrashed by Spain, whilst England failed to kickstart their post World Cup period. What did we learn?

1. Football needs fans

The match was played behind closed doors as a result of UEFA’s two-match ban issued to Croatia, after a swastika was marked onto one of their pitches prior to a Euro 2016 qualifier against Italy. It’s incredible that the ban, issued back in 2015, is still being effected in 2018 – but such is the nature of international football that this is just the second home game they’ve played.

And suffice to say, without a roaring home crowd, the match just felt flat. Croatia had trouble lifting themselves as there was no home support to spur them on. Meanwhile England were trudged through the game with all the drive of a pre-season friendly; with no crowd, there was no one to set the stage and remind players what was at stake. And so England played the game with a tepid tempo.

Football really needs fans; so if football associations could stop promoting fascist iconography that would be great.

2. England’s 4-3-3 lacks dynamism

England played 3-5-2 under Gareth Southgate at the World Cup, and it worked superbly. The system made great use of the nation’s plentiful centre-back depth to provide a solid defensive platform. The lack of creative midfielders was covered for by putting attacking midfielders and wingers into “central” midfield spots. It was a risky system but it made England dynamic and deliriously good fun.

This 4-3-3, meanwhile, has done the opposite. It’s exposed the many weaknesses in the England squad. With just two centre-backs it was harder to both build from the back and send the full-backs bombing forward so bravely, which meant that England never had that consistent, reliable width.

The central midfield zone was agonisingly prosaic, completely lacking in the kind of perceptive passing and joyous movement that so characterised England’s World Cup. The ball moved slowly through the middle of the park which, coupled with England bringing the ball out of the back so slowly, made the Three Lions so dull to watch.

To cap it off; Harry Kane’s lack of movement and mobility up-front was an issue again. Hell, it was even an issue in 3-5-2 but there at least he had such a consistent supply from out wide and the electric movement from behind that Kane could function as an attacking pivot at least. That wasn’t as easy to do here, which blunted England’s attack unless Raheem Sterling came infield to conjure some magic.

Southgate can stick with 4-3-3 if he wants to; Eric Dier seems to like the formation, saying afterwards that he feels comfortable in the system and the England manager himself pointed out that the switch to 4-3-3 was to prevent them from being outnumbered and exposed in midfield. But if Southgate intends to stick with 4-3-3 he will need to play a more dynamic XI to recapture the magic of the World Cup.

3. Hendo & Dier are the bizarro Gerrard & Lampard

For years, England’s “golden generation” saw their best years marred by a nonsense debate on whether Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard could play together (they couldn’t). There was an insistence that two players of such quality should be able to do it, and of course dropping one would have been such a huge move that no one in England ever took such action.

Jordan Henderson and Eric Dier are England’s two current big name midfielders and one can already see a controversy brewing between them. At the World Cup it was always one of them playing and England generally looked good, but tonight both men took the field and England were drab and listless. They don’t compliment each other; Henderson’s great passing is useless without lots of forward movement which isn’t there in a 4-3-3 that has Eric Dier in midfield and Harry Kane isolated as a lone striker; meanwhile Dier is just slow in every conceivable way and genuinely just not fun to watch.

Southgate needs to act fast and nip this situation in the bud. A controversy cannot be allowed to develop between both men; they cannot play together, and to be perfectly honest if it was a choice between one of them to start the best choice is neither and to go with Harry Winks.

4. Rashford is a sword that needs sharpening

England had four notable chances in the game against Croatia. One was Eric Dier’s header which came off the post and another was Kane’s header off the bar; both coming from set-pieces of course. But the two open play chances both fell to Marcus Rashford and, unfortunately and inexplicably, he missed both.

When Rashford emerged he had the same cold-hearted steely focus that Kylian Mbappé displays (not to say he had the same skill levels, but in terms of fearlessness he was the same). He wasn’t fazed by any opponent or occasion. However where Mbappé has been seen all his rough edges sharpened into deadly points, Rashford’s rough edges have been rounded out into nice curved edges.

All that playing on the wing, tracking back into his own left-back area, worrying about his place after a single bad performance; all of that has served to blunt Rashford’s edges. Now he lacks the sharpness to come in out of nowhere and bag a brace in a tricky away tie; which is what he should have done today. First when he fluffed Kyle Walker’s cross and mis-hit it, and then when he shot too close to the keeper after Raheem Sterling’s excellent through-ball.

Rashford is a sword, one of the finest swords England have, he just needs sharpening is all.

5. Jesus Sancho

Not to exaggerate, but Jadon Sancho may be the greatest winger in the history of English football. Obviously hyperbole is bad when it comes to evaluating a teenage winger off of 12 minutes of international football, but there surely has never been a talent like this in history? After all, look at his assist numbers in the Bundesliga! He has more than anyone and he’s barely played, and tonight he played with such verve and energy that if he was plugged into a power grid he could have met Croatia’s electricity needs… truly the next GOAT.

Or maybe it just seems that way because Sancho’s 12 minute cameo, in which he pull off the astonishing trick of actually running with the ball, committing defenders and putting crosses into the box, was actually good fun. Fun became an almost abstract concept watching England flounder against Croatia in the most boring way imaginable. It’s not even that England were bad; bad is at least entertaining.

England were just dull and then on came this teenager to make his debut without even a hint of fear in his eyes. Sancho committed men time and again, but didn’t overplay. He kept lifting his head and sending crosses into the box, constantly driving England forward as they desperately chased a late win. There’s a lot more to come from Sancho, and it promises to be so much fun.

The post Football needs fans: Five things learned as Croatia and England draw behind closed doors appeared first on Squawka News.



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