In a stunning afternoon of football, England came from behind to beat Croatia 2-1 at Wembley.
It was an amazing afternoon of football that ebbed and flowed. England dominated the play, but Croatia held on for dear life and then stole a lead. Then the Three Lions roared back to win. What did we learn?
1. No half-steppin’ from Kane
In terms of performances, Harry Kane had a terrible World Cup. He scored an incredible six goals, but never played too well, which ended up costing England in the semi-finals against Croatia as he was basically a passenger in that game.
Today, Kane was better. His control and passing was better, but he still didn’t look like scoring. Again it looked like his inability to be truly lethal was going to hurt England against Croatia, but then with just five minutes to go, Ben Chilwell bent a brilliant free-kick into the box and up stepped Harry Kane, well, up slid Harry Kane; launching himself at the ball and knocking the ball into the back of the net to give England a huge, huge victory. Not a captain’s performance, but a captain’s influence. Hats off to Harry.
2. Wembley belongs to Lingard
The real reason the FA failed to sell Wembley to Shad Khan wasn’t financial or personal or… anything they actually said. The FA couldn’t sell Wembley because it doesn’t belong to them; it belongs to Jesse Lingard. The social media sensation, the hashtag hero, routinely has a habit of scoring absolute belters at Wembley for Manchester United and England.
Today he began the game on the bench as Gareth Southgate looked to do something different in attack. But when Croatia took the lead and England needed a goal, you can imagine who they turned to.
On came Jesse Lingard, and five minutes later he was in the right place at the right time to tap home England’s equaliser (when they had previously looked as though they could play for days and not score). And then after that when Croatia looked to pick up an instant equaliser, it was Lingard who reacted fastest to clear the ball off the line and keep the scores level.
3. King Kramaric
When Croatia’s World Cup campaign was over, they still had a great midfield and their defence was only getting stronger. But in attack they had lost their star man Mario Mandzukic. The powerful striker who loved big games and nearly always delivered (he scored in both the semi-final and final itself) retired from international football. How would they replace him?
Well Wembley showed us just who is going to step up as Croatia’s new goal king of a striker. Andrej Kramaric scored a massive goal against Spain in Croatia’s last game and today, when Croatia needed a win to get through to the semi-finals in the Nations League and had spent the entire game getting hammered by England, he stood tall again. Receiving a cutback and showing an inhuman amount of composure to measure hie shot and put Croatia into an impossible league.
4. #WhatDoesEricDierDo
For many, many years in England the idea of a defensive midfielder was simply a hatchet man. Someone who ran around midfield kicking opponents to stop them advancing then handing the ball off to actual footballers. The idea that they could hold attacking worth was alien.
Then Claude Makélélé happened, followed swiftly by Xabi Alonso, Sergio Busquets and Michael Carrick. Suddenly England knew the true worth of defensive midfielders. Then N’Golo Kanté swung it back the other way to remind everyone that the hatchet men had their uses too.
Here’s the problem England have if they play Eric Dier: he’s neither. He’s nowhere near technical enough to be a playmaking force at the base of midfield, moving the ball too slowly. And as a hatchet man he is sporadic at best.
Sure, sure, Ramos tackle n’ all that, but did you see his defending for Croatia’s goal? Casually hanging out, watching Andrej Kramaric size up the shot for an eternity, before limply offering a limb to block and allowing the shot to deflect over Jordan Pickford. Abysmal.
5. England’s profligacy problem
England have a serious problem, and it’s that they just can’t seem to score goals. It’s a weird situation for the Three Lions to be in, because it’s not like there is an obvious remedy to the problem. England, you see, play really good football.
Gareth Southgate’s boys were well-organised and structured, they dissected the Croatian defence with regularity having controlled the rhythm of the game at will. It’s just that when the chances came to them, for some reason, they weren’t taken.
Now, England got away with it here as they turned the game around to get a huge win. But their inconsistency in front of goal is something that could well cost them; much as it did in the World Cup semi-final against Croatia where England couldn’t extend their lead and thus left Croatia in the game, enabling their eventual comeback. If England want to avoid situations like that then they need to learn to take advantage of their dominance and start hammering in the goals.
The post Wembley belongs to Lingard: 5 things learned as England top Uefa Nations League group appeared first on Squawka News.
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