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England and Croatia played out a dull draw behind closed doors in Rijeka, in a match where people thought they could have come up better. The first half was even and England were trying to get their combination right with a not so creative midfield partnership of Eric Dier and Jordan Henderson. The second half did see a lot of drama and exciting football from the English side as the Croats played second fiddle.
The talking point coming out of yesterday’s match was that Football is nothing without the fans. The match took 45 minutes to get going and players coming to terms with the silent atmosphere. Gareth Southgate can take some positive out of the game as England coped with the condition better than Croatia. Borussia Dortmund's Jadon Sancho became the first player born in the 2000s to play for England. Ben Chilwell also made his English debut and was impressive. Ross Barkley, meanwhile had not a great outing as he looked rusty and nervous
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Raheem Sterling has not been able to produce the kind of form he usually shows for Manchester City and hasn’t scored for the national team since 2015. Even Harry Kane is going through a rough patch with a scoreless run since last six matches.
England had played with a three men defense in the world cup and resorted back to the 4-man defense which shows their flexibility and the talent they have in their squad.
We take a look at 3 reasons why England didn’t find a way to score:
1. The Woodwork-
England hit the woodwork twice and could have really won the match had their finishing was more accurate.
Eric Dier was the culprit in the first half when his near post flick hit the crossbar of Livakovic’s goal. Harry Kane did it again with a header. Both times the provider was Jordan Henderson. Kane was quiet for most of the match with the Croat defenders marking him well. But the striker of his ability should have taken the one chance he got and put the result to bed.
2. Rashford and Sterling unable to replicate club form-
Raheem Sterling had a forgettable night and his ability in an England shirt is still in doubt. He was even booked for kicking the ball away. The Manchester City winger has been in scintillating form for his club and Gareth Southgate would hope that he finds his feet soon for the English Team.
Rashford also faced the confidence issue with the form against Newcastle United carrying on against Croatia. He missed two sitters, just like the Newcastle game. He did show his ability and pace which can trouble best of defenses. But he will have to be more clinical to cement his place in the England side.
Rashford and sterling play wider roles at their respective clubs and hence are able to use their pace to trouble defenders. But in the national setup, they tend to cut inside into the no 10 role which makes the area too crowded with fewer options available for the killer pass to someone who is in a good position to score. Southgate may as well use Welbeck in the wider position because he likes to stay there with better discipline as shown in recent games with the Gunners.
3. The Dier-Henderson midfield partnership-
Gareth Southgate gives the impression that he is flexible in his formations. But when it comes to midfield, he doesn’t have many options. Dier and Henderson are efficient enough, but both lack the quality of bringing the ball out from the defence and unlocking defenses with precise passing.
Both are excellent runners and very adept at shielding the backline. But the lack of attacking instinct may give fewer chances to the forward line to show their ability. Someone like a Dele Alli or Adam Lallana could be tried by Southgate in midfield.
Harry Winks who is in the current set up can provide help in this area. He’s proven his passing ability whenever he breaks into the Spurs line up and he was impressive in their win over Real Madrid last season and his stats for the Champions League matches where Spurs were playing some strong teams was also good. His ability to find a pass from the back can help England be more flexible against the stronger teams.
