World Cup 2018: 5 reasons Croatia could win in Russia

#2 Zlatko Dalic's meticulous game plans

Dalic has changed Croatia's playstyle, formation, and tactics - for the better

Zlatko Dalic has not been managing Croatia for a long time - for 8 months, in fact, after Ante Cacic was sacked when Croatia's progression into the tournament was threatened after poor tactical decisions led to several defeats against the likes of Iceland and Turkey.

Despite being appointed at such a onerous time, Zlatko Dalic was able to lead Croatia into the World Cup, after they beat Greece in a dominant fashion. This can be attributed to the fact that the former Croatian defensive midfielder meticulously plans tactics and strategies for every game.

Unlike previous managers, he doesn't play Croatia in a strict 4-2-3-1 formation, but rather loosely maintains the 4-1-2-2-1 formation with wingers, and bases the team on its central midfield, rather than its striker, who would have to make chances on his own.

Dalic deploys wingers on the side to exploit space and cross the ball in for the striker, while the central-midfielders try to create space in the middle, while passing to the wingers to try and stretch the defense. This strategy has proven to work time and time again, as Croatia's attack has been lethal in the World Cup (and the friendlies preceding it), with each player having their own role in the team; Luka Modric plays a creative role to make chances, Ivan Rakitic tries to advance play from the defense to attack while pressing the opponents' central-midfielders, the wingers exploit space and cross to the striker, and Mario Mandzukic tries to create space to shoot.

One unique thing about Zlatko Dalic is that he changes his tactics accordingly to his opponents, by changing the way Croatia play, while maintaining the basic roles each player has. Depending on the opponents, he can change how high the line of defence is, how aggressive the pressing on the opponents should be, and how tight the midfield should be (to mention a few variables), as shown in Croatia's games against Nigeria and Greece.

In the game against Nigeria, the midfield was tight with the wingers falling back, while the defence stayed put near the box. On the other hand, against Greece, he let the wingers roam free, and the midfield advance forward, while the defence pressed Greece's wingers assertively.

In both cases, the tactics were slightly different, but the results were the same, with Croatia exploiting the opponents' weakness and coming out on top.