A lacklustre performance from both teams for the vast majority of the game but with the quality of chances we had, relative to Croatia's, we should have won. Dier's header was difficult and Kane's wasn't easy but Rashford has to bury at least one of the two chances he had if he wishes to be an England regular imo. The lack of a crowd probably negatively affected both teams though our change of system didn't help either. 6 shots on target in the whole match, combined, pretty much says it all. Had I been offered a point from this game before the start of the Nations League, I would have taken it but we should have 4 points at this stage instead of 1. Hopefully our luck turns in the two reverse fixtures. Stones will be a miss but Henderson not so. Winks has to play in that game. One of these days, Southgate will put out a midfield who can pass forward more than 10m.
England were ok against Spain. Our pressing limited clearly the best possession-based team in the world to just 52% of the ball (in terms of time). Added to which, we had the same number of shots (11), more on target (6 to 4), a considerably higher amount of our shots in the box (73%-45%), more key passes (10 to 9), played as high a defensive line and were dead-even in regards to territory (24%-52%-24% our third, middle third, their third). The British written press framed this as Spanish dominance. As fake as "Fake News!" can be. We may see similar numbers tonight, though in favour of Croatia- whose performance in Elche was likely an aberration. We need to be more proactive than we were at the World Cup and be more effective on the counter but with the lack of a crowd taking away home advantage, I expect us to pick up at least a point if our best possible XI are on the pitch. Will predict a 2-1 England win.
@SteveHyland "The British written press framed this as Spanish dominance''. First, the British press tiresomely uses the same phrases over and over, so I look at statistics instead. Second, games in which one team dominates the other are usually less interesting to watch than games where both teams create chances to score, so claiming Spain dominated England can discourage the public from following England. That is a misplay as the press need the public to follow England to have readers for their publication.
@ergtyr- Completely agree. There seems to be a visceral hate of the national team, and its players, from the paid-for newspapers as though it's an ideology which they all subscribe to. Maybe they believe that taking the role of antagonist will help create a unity among the fans, but I would say that is ridiculous and the evidence suggests the contrary. As the circulation numbers show, the popularity of all of the newspapers is waning dramatically and with better purely sports websites around (As well as purely better political, non-political news, gossip?...), if they wish to retain any of their current readership when the currency becomes online traffic (let alone attract NEW subscribers) then they will have to stop telling it like it isn't.
A lacklustre performance from both teams for the vast majority of the game but with the quality of chances we had, relative to Croatia's, we should have won. Dier's header was difficult and Kane's wasn't easy but Rashford has to bury at least one of the two chances he had if he wishes to be an England regular imo. The lack of a crowd probably negatively affected both teams though our change of system didn't help either. 6 shots on target in the whole match, combined, pretty much says it all. Had I been offered a point from this game before the start of the Nations League, I would have taken it but we should have 4 points at this stage instead of 1. Hopefully our luck turns in the two reverse fixtures. Stones will be a miss but Henderson not so. Winks has to play in that game. One of these days, Southgate will put out a midfield who can pass forward more than 10m.
there was shot on target in overtime for croatia , croatia should have 4 shots on target
there was shot number 4 for Croatia in overtime from a big distance
But Croatia not much better.
2 shots on goal in 94 minutes. Congratulations England ...
England has a few really good players yet they play boring, static football.
England out for revenge. Still rooting for Hrvatska, but idk - tough call.
England wins 0:1
England won't win with this team ... Croatia DnB
England were ok against Spain. Our pressing limited clearly the best possession-based team in the world to just 52% of the ball (in terms of time). Added to which, we had the same number of shots (11), more on target (6 to 4), a considerably higher amount of our shots in the box (73%-45%), more key passes (10 to 9), played as high a defensive line and were dead-even in regards to territory (24%-52%-24% our third, middle third, their third). The British written press framed this as Spanish dominance. As fake as "Fake News!" can be. We may see similar numbers tonight, though in favour of Croatia- whose performance in Elche was likely an aberration. We need to be more proactive than we were at the World Cup and be more effective on the counter but with the lack of a crowd taking away home advantage, I expect us to pick up at least a point if our best possible XI are on the pitch. Will predict a 2-1 England win.
@SteveHyland "The British written press framed this as Spanish dominance''. First, the British press tiresomely uses the same phrases over and over, so I look at statistics instead. Second, games in which one team dominates the other are usually less interesting to watch than games where both teams create chances to score, so claiming Spain dominated England can discourage the public from following England. That is a misplay as the press need the public to follow England to have readers for their publication.
@ergtyr- Completely agree. There seems to be a visceral hate of the national team, and its players, from the paid-for newspapers as though it's an ideology which they all subscribe to. Maybe they believe that taking the role of antagonist will help create a unity among the fans, but I would say that is ridiculous and the evidence suggests the contrary. As the circulation numbers show, the popularity of all of the newspapers is waning dramatically and with better purely sports websites around (As well as purely better political, non-political news, gossip?...), if they wish to retain any of their current readership when the currency becomes online traffic (let alone attract NEW subscribers) then they will have to stop telling it like it isn't.
btts
Very tough to predict not knowing what rosters they will put out there. Under 3,5 seems save though.
England win 2-1