Croatia v England 3/10/26 Nations League

MuttleyCAFC · October 3

Anderson has become a key player. The midfield and attack is as good as any in the World. What seems to have changed is the team just swarms over opponents. When you look at Modric playing at 41, he can't stand up to that. It is brave in that it plays balls with some risk but with a lot of reward attached. They can do it because their quality and workrate means they can get it right back, which they managed more than happens normally even against Spain. I thought it worked well against Spain who are the best in the World which is a great sign. Spain punished defensive errors which is the weakness of the side. Had Kane scored that penalty, something he usually does, England would have been 3-1 up and would probably have won the game . A team like Croatia just can't handle that with their age profile. At 3-nil they went for a goal back and nearly got one but that wasn't the way to play a game they had already lost and England were countering/breaking at 7 nil.

The question is, now they have found a system that works against good teams, can they keep to it? Will it withstand an injury to Anderson? We know it can withstand an injury to Rice. I hope so because it is very exciting for the future. The fine tuning has to be around the defenders being a bit braver and playing forward balls when one is on. That might mean one or two changes. Not being afraid to make a mistake but looking for every positive opportunity. The mistake Guehi made against Spain was him doing what so many defenders do in cutting back to look for the keeper but there was a forward positive ball on. That has to stop and whilst we will never be the best defensive side, the defence will be part of the front foot positive side. That means no more sitting back on leads if it evolves like it has been evolving, The question is, can teams counter it. If Spain couldn't fully counter it, there has to be a question mark about that. It might be fun finding out.

jimmymelrose · October 3

blackpool72 said:

I know this game ain't as important but it reminds me of when we beat Holland 5 1

Match List

soapboxsam · October 3

A brilliant display by England tonight against an out of sorts Croatia side where we were attack minded and looking to score on every occasion with crisp passing and forward movement. We scored 7 and it could've been double figures.

BUT I'm even more confused with why Tuchel was so bloody negative against Argentina and why he took Gordon off against Spain which made England lose their momentum and being a top side they punished us especially with Harry's missed pen as well.

England were so fluid that Kane was a poacher in the box with a brace but also he was going so deep he was taking the ball from Pickford ! Total football and a master class 👏🏻

Bellingham is world class and since he got his full fitness back at the World cup, has been a revelation and with Gordon finding this higher level on a more consistent basis we are awesome.

Off_it · October 4

soapboxsam said:

A brilliant display by England tonight against an out of salt Croatia side where we were attack minded and looking to score on every occasion with crisp passing and forward movement. We scored 7 and it could've been double figures.

BUT I'm even more confused with why Tuchel was so bloody negative against Argentina and why he took Gordon off against Spain which made England lose their momentum and being a top side they punished us especially with Harry's missed pen as well.

England were so fluid that Kane was a poacher in the box with a brace but also he was going so deep he was taking the ball from Pickford ! Total football and a master class 👏🏻

Bellingham is world class and since he got his full fitness back at the World cup, has been a revelation and with Gordon finding this higher level on a more consistent basis we are awesome.

Croatia were out of salt?

What did they put on their post-match chips then?

Callumcafc · October 4

We’ve looked a lot better in this international break without Rice anywhere in the midfield. I could see Alex Scott being snapped up by a top club very soon.

AddicksAddict · October 4

Not sure what I watched last night, I thought I turned on an England game, but it was unrecognisable.

AddicksAddict · October 4

blackpool72 said:

I know this game ain't as important but it reminds me of when we beat Holland 5 1

Or us beating Germany 5-1, or Germany beating Brazil 7-0.

DamoNorthStand · October 4

Honestly the next time we face a top team in a semi final or final just fucking go for it. What’s the worst that could happen…. We know we lose if we sit back and go negative so just leave nothing on the table, don’t try and be all clever and tactical. Shackles off, charge in to them and see where it leaves us. May as well. Our defence isn’t good enough to keep a top team out for 90 mins anyway

MuttleyCAFC · October 4

DamoNorthStand said:

Honestly the next time we face a top team in a semi final or final just fucking go for it. What’s the worst that could happen…. We know we lose if we sit back and go negative so just leave nothing on the table, don’t try and be all clever and tactical. Shackles off, charge in to them and see where it leaves us. May as well. Our defence isn’t good enough to keep a top team out for 90 mins anyway

I think that is now a demand from the fans. If we go for it and lose, we will forgive. If we sit back and lose we won't. I think there has been an evolution since the World Cup and that evolution is as a front foot brave team that has confidence it is better than opponents and nine times out of ten will beat them. That is where we have to put all of our chips IMO. We know England have undoubted World Class players in Kane and Bellingham. I think there is a growing conversation to be had about Gordon and Anderson joining them and Saka is not far below that. I would view World class as being players most of the World's top teams would want if they could have. If it continues in that way and maybe room can be found for Palmer and Trent we probaby have the most exciting team in World football in terms of potential. We shouldn't forget Rice either. It may be me getting carried away but could he eventually play centre half in this England team? The other great thing is the age profiles of the players although a negative is Kane's age and what we have in reserve for him. But he keeps himself fit and doesn't rely on pace so we have a couple of years to find his replacement.

soapboxsam · October 4

Off_it said:

soapboxsam said:

A brilliant display by England tonight against an out of salt Croatia side where we were attack minded and looking to score on every occasion with crisp passing and forward movement. We scored 7 and it could've been double figures.

BUT I'm even more confused with why Tuchel was so bloody negative against Argentina and why he took Gordon off against Spain which made England lose their momentum and being a top side they punished us especially with Harry's missed pen as well.

England were so fluid that Kane was a poacher in the box with a brace but also he was going so deep he was taking the ball from Pickford ! Total football and a master class 👏🏻

Bellingham is world class and since he got his full fitness back at the World cup, has been a revelation and with Gordon finding this higher level on a more consistent basis we are awesome.

Croatia were out of salt?

What did they put on their post-match chips then?

Thank you Off it. The s went missing just like any marking by Croatia.

IdleHans · October 4

soapboxsam said:

Off_it said:

soapboxsam said:

A brilliant display by England tonight against an out of salt Croatia side where we were attack minded and looking to score on every occasion with crisp passing and forward movement. We scored 7 and it could've been double figures.

BUT I'm even more confused with why Tuchel was so bloody negative against Argentina and why he took Gordon off against Spain which made England lose their momentum and being a top side they punished us especially with Harry's missed pen as well.

England were so fluid that Kane was a poacher in the box with a brace but also he was going so deep he was taking the ball from Pickford ! Total football and a master class 👏🏻

Bellingham is world class and since he got his full fitness back at the World cup, has been a revelation and with Gordon finding this higher level on a more consistent basis we are awesome.

Croatia were out of salt?

What did they put on their post-match chips then?

Thank you Off it. The s went missing just like any marking by Croatia.

But the phrase is 'out of sorts'.

"In 16th-century English, "sort" meant a person's lot, station, rank, or general condition. Being "out of sorts" originally meant being out of order, of poor quality, or experiencing an unfavourable turn in your general state or health. Over time, it narrowed down to mean a mild, temporary feeling of physical or emotional discomfort"

soapboxsam · October 4

IdleHans said:

soapboxsam said:

Off_it said:

soapboxsam said:

A brilliant display by England tonight against an out of salt Croatia side where we were attack minded and looking to score on every occasion with crisp passing and forward movement. We scored 7 and it could've been double figures.

BUT I'm even more confused with why Tuchel was so bloody negative against Argentina and why he took Gordon off against Spain which made England lose their momentum and being a top side they punished us especially with Harry's missed pen as well.

England were so fluid that Kane was a poacher in the box with a brace but also he was going so deep he was taking the ball from Pickford ! Total football and a master class 👏🏻

Bellingham is world class and since he got his full fitness back at the World cup, has been a revelation and with Gordon finding this higher level on a more consistent basis we are awesome.

Croatia were out of salt?

What did they put on their post-match chips then?

Thank you Off it. The s went missing just like any marking by Croatia.

But the phrase is 'out of sorts'.

"In 16th-century English, "sort" meant a person's lot, station, rank, or general condition. Being "out of sorts" originally meant being out of order, of poor quality, or experiencing an unfavourable turn in your general state or health. Over time, it narrowed down to mean a mild, temporary feeling of physical or emotional discomfort"

Every day is a school day on CL.
I prefer 'out of salts' than out of sorts despite the latter being the correct spelling !
Along the lines of Epsom salt which was recommended back in the day to have in a bath.
That's my defence now back to the ⚽

Still buzzing after watching the game but still frustrated that England under Tuchel can be so expansive yet when he had a chance in the WC he bottled it.

Addictedoldgit · October 4

soapboxsam said:

IdleHans said:

soapboxsam said:

Off_it said:

soapboxsam said:

A brilliant display by England tonight against an out of salt Croatia side where we were attack minded and looking to score on every occasion with crisp passing and forward movement. We scored 7 and it could've been double figures.

BUT I'm even more confused with why Tuchel was so bloody negative against Argentina and why he took Gordon off against Spain which made England lose their momentum and being a top side they punished us especially with Harry's missed pen as well.

England were so fluid that Kane was a poacher in the box with a brace but also he was going so deep he was taking the ball from Pickford ! Total football and a master class 👏🏻

Bellingham is world class and since he got his full fitness back at the World cup, has been a revelation and with Gordon finding this higher level on a more consistent basis we are awesome.

Croatia were out of salt?

What did they put on their post-match chips then?

Thank you Off it. The s went missing just like any marking by Croatia.

But the phrase is 'out of sorts'.

"In 16th-century English, "sort" meant a person's lot, station, rank, or general condition. Being "out of sorts" originally meant being out of order, of poor quality, or experiencing an unfavourable turn in your general state or health. Over time, it narrowed down to mean a mild, temporary feeling of physical or emotional discomfort"

I prefer 'out of salts' than out of sorts despite the latter being the correct spelling.

Back to the football game for a moment.
A delight to see a England team on the front foot & passing through the lines, it's been a while.
A certain SE London side could learn from them ( wishful thinking!)

Charlton and on · October 4

IdleHans said:

soapboxsam said:

Off_it said:

soapboxsam said:

A brilliant display by England tonight against an out of salt Croatia side where we were attack minded and looking to score on every occasion with crisp passing and forward movement. We scored 7 and it could've been double figures.

BUT I'm even more confused with why Tuchel was so bloody negative against Argentina and why he took Gordon off against Spain which made England lose their momentum and being a top side they punished us especially with Harry's missed pen as well.

England were so fluid that Kane was a poacher in the box with a brace but also he was going so deep he was taking the ball from Pickford ! Total football and a master class 👏🏻

Bellingham is world class and since he got his full fitness back at the World cup, has been a revelation and with Gordon finding this higher level on a more consistent basis we are awesome.

Croatia were out of salt?

What did they put on their post-match chips then?

Thank you Off it. The s went missing just like any marking by Croatia.

But the phrase is 'out of sorts'.

"In 16th-century English, "sort" meant a person's lot, station, rank, or general condition. Being "out of sorts" originally meant being out of order, of poor quality, or experiencing an unfavourable turn in your general state or health. Over time, it narrowed down to mean a mild, temporary feeling of physical or emotional discomfort"

Imagine taking the time to Google the origins of a phrase and trying to pass it off as education for others on a football forum.

Chunes · October 4

I hate being out of sauce.

Algarveaddick · October 4

Really enjoyable game. Even the haters are keeping quiet.

Hartleypete · October 4

One of the most one sided performances I can remember from England against decent opponents.

CharltonManor1966 · October 4

Agree with most of these comments and it all bodes well for the next 4 years.
Only issue is that most lower level teams we come up against in competitions will have 11 men behind the ball and the ball in behind is not often on? That is when we often struggle and end up going back to the back 4 again. Have to hope we can still break these teams down with the quality that we have........

CAFCsayer · October 4

Thought 7-0 flattered them... Probably the best england performance I've ever seen

Chunes · October 4

And we've still got Max Dowman to come. Some people seem to think he's going to Messi-esque (emphasis on esque).

cafctom · October 4

Algarveaddick said:

Really enjoyable game. Even the haters are keeping quiet.

Yeah, that did cross my mind how a few regular posters on England threads seem to have swerved this one.

MrOneLung · October 4

Only saw the first half but looked impressive.

I know he scored twice but Saka looked a bit off it in first half to me (I love him as a player)

hopefully we have moved on from 30 passes only for ball to still be with centre backs

cant wait for the euros

killerandflash · October 4

Safe to say, Bilic won't be on the shortlist for any English club vacancies coming up...

J BLOCK · October 4

Addictedoldgit said:

soapboxsam said:

IdleHans said:

soapboxsam said:

Off_it said:

soapboxsam said:

A brilliant display by England tonight against an out of salt Croatia side where we were attack minded and looking to score on every occasion with crisp passing and forward movement. We scored 7 and it could've been double figures.

BUT I'm even more confused with why Tuchel was so bloody negative against Argentina and why he took Gordon off against Spain which made England lose their momentum and being a top side they punished us especially with Harry's missed pen as well.

England were so fluid that Kane was a poacher in the box with a brace but also he was going so deep he was taking the ball from Pickford ! Total football and a master class 👏🏻

Bellingham is world class and since he got his full fitness back at the World cup, has been a revelation and with Gordon finding this higher level on a more consistent basis we are awesome.

Croatia were out of salt?

What did they put on their post-match chips then?

Thank you Off it. The s went missing just like any marking by Croatia.

But the phrase is 'out of sorts'.

"In 16th-century English, "sort" meant a person's lot, station, rank, or general condition. Being "out of sorts" originally meant being out of order, of poor quality, or experiencing an unfavourable turn in your general state or health. Over time, it narrowed down to mean a mild, temporary feeling of physical or emotional discomfort"

I prefer 'out of salts' than out of sorts despite the latter being the correct spelling.

Back to the football game for a moment.
A delight to see a England team on the front foot & passing through the lines, it's been a while.
A certain SE London side could learn from them ( wishful thinking!)

Hard to do when you don't have the budget.

ElfsborgAddick · October 4

We were 5 minutes away from a World Cup final, people were still not happy.

The very supporters that were going balistic at the time are probably praising Tuchel now.

Addictedoldgit · October 4

J BLOCK said:

Addictedoldgit said:

soapboxsam said:

IdleHans said:

soapboxsam said:

Off_it said:

soapboxsam said:

A brilliant display by England tonight against an out of salt Croatia side where we were attack minded and looking to score on every occasion with crisp passing and forward movement. We scored 7 and it could've been double figures.

BUT I'm even more confused with why Tuchel was so bloody negative against Argentina and why he took Gordon off against Spain which made England lose their momentum and being a top side they punished us especially with Harry's missed pen as well.

England were so fluid that Kane was a poacher in the box with a brace but also he was going so deep he was taking the ball from Pickford ! Total football and a master class 👏🏻

Bellingham is world class and since he got his full fitness back at the World cup, has been a revelation and with Gordon finding this higher level on a more consistent basis we are awesome.

Croatia were out of salt?

What did they put on their post-match chips then?

Thank you Off it. The s went missing just like any marking by Croatia.

But the phrase is 'out of sorts'.

"In 16th-century English, "sort" meant a person's lot, station, rank, or general condition. Being "out of sorts" originally meant being out of order, of poor quality, or experiencing an unfavourable turn in your general state or health. Over time, it narrowed down to mean a mild, temporary feeling of physical or emotional discomfort"

I prefer 'out of salts' than out of sorts despite the latter being the correct spelling.

Back to the football game for a moment.
A delight to see a England team on the front foot & passing through the lines, it's been a while.
A certain SE London side could learn from them ( wishful thinking!)

Hard to do when you don't have the budget.

Absolutely ( I did say wishful thinking, as in ' manager doesn't have the budget ')

MrOneLung · October 4

Addictedoldgit said:

J BLOCK said:

Addictedoldgit said:

soapboxsam said:

IdleHans said:

soapboxsam said:

Off_it said:

soapboxsam said:

A brilliant display by England tonight against an out of salt Croatia side where we were attack minded and looking to score on every occasion with crisp passing and forward movement. We scored 7 and it could've been double figures.

BUT I'm even more confused with why Tuchel was so bloody negative against Argentina and why he took Gordon off against Spain which made England lose their momentum and being a top side they punished us especially with Harry's missed pen as well.

England were so fluid that Kane was a poacher in the box with a brace but also he was going so deep he was taking the ball from Pickford ! Total football and a master class 👏🏻

Bellingham is world class and since he got his full fitness back at the World cup, has been a revelation and with Gordon finding this higher level on a more consistent basis we are awesome.

Croatia were out of salt?

What did they put on their post-match chips then?

Thank you Off it. The s went missing just like any marking by Croatia.

But the phrase is 'out of sorts'.

"In 16th-century English, "sort" meant a person's lot, station, rank, or general condition. Being "out of sorts" originally meant being out of order, of poor quality, or experiencing an unfavourable turn in your general state or health. Over time, it narrowed down to mean a mild, temporary feeling of physical or emotional discomfort"

I prefer 'out of salts' than out of sorts despite the latter being the correct spelling.

Back to the football game for a moment.
A delight to see a England team on the front foot & passing through the lines, it's been a while.
A certain SE London side could learn from them ( wishful thinking!)

Hard to do when you don't have the budget.

Absolutely ( I did say wishful thinking, as in ' manager doesn't have the budget ')

Tuchel hasn’t bought a single player

DamoNorthStand · October 4

ElfsborgAddick said:

We were 5 minutes away from a World Cup final, people were still not happy.
The very supporters that were going balistic at the time are probably praising Tuchel now.

I was going ballistic at the time and I am even more ballistic about it now.

It is incomprehensible that we randomly just sat back and played so defensive and far removed from what we’ve been since the third place match with France

Stu_of_Kunming · October 5

ElfsborgAddick said:

We were 5 minutes away from a World Cup final, people were still not happy.
The very supporters that were going balistic at the time are probably praising Tuchel now.

Nope, still fuming, that game was ours there for the taking

Chris_from_Sidcup · October 5

ElfsborgAddick said:

We were 5 minutes away from a World Cup final, people were still not happy.
The very supporters that were going balistic at the time are probably praising Tuchel now.

People were not happy because for at least 20 minutes before Argentina equalised absolutely everyone could see it was coming. Konsa on for Gordon with 25 minutes to go set the tone as it meant we had no pace up front and we couldn't get out. It still baffles me that he didn't at least put Rashford on so we had some pace to counter with, and left Saka on the bench for the entire game.

I would guess that in Tuchel's mind because we had our backs to the wall and held on against Mexico he thought we could do the same again. The difference is that Mexico are an average side with a Wolves striker up front.

However i think Spain would've still beaten us in the final, so most peoples anger has probably subsided.

Croatia v England 3/10/26 Nations League

Comments

Match List

Categories