Croatia defeats England

A two goal lead in years passed, Croatia would have gone into a defensive shell in hopes of protecting the lead. Very few things in sports frustrate me more than a defensive shell in soccer. I see the logic for this strategy with 5 or so minutes to go in the game to protect a lead, but not at the quarter hour when Croatia made it 2-0. I was thrilled that the Croats continued to press for a third goal. England did come back with determined football to tie the match, and people will say that if Croatia went into a shell and only counter attacked, no way England scores two goals. Maybe. This may be true, but I have seen too many Croatia games and know that a defensive shell is not the mentality that fits our players. I remember open to everyone, on field protests when former head coach Kranjacar pulled the players back. Too many times Croatia was asked to protect a lead with much time left in the match, only to give up a goal or two, and then be asked to turn up the dial to score again. The Croats have always played football with flair and a scoring mentality, and there are too many talented players on the roster to ask them to play a shell. I will argue that the reason Croatia won this game was because they pressed for more goals when the score was 2-0. England played very well in the second half to tie the score, but it was evident that the constant Croatia attack wore England out by the 75th minute. I applaud Slavan Bilic with the way he is handling the Croatian National Team and his constant attack mentality is a refreshing alternative to the lackluster, just do enough to win philosophy of previous coaches.

England played with a lot of heart in the second half to tie the score with Beckham and Crouch being catalysts for most of the English chances. I am not a huge supporter of Crouch, but there is no denying his penchant for scoring in big games. His goal against Croatia was world class. Gerrard is England’s best all round football player and I cringed his every touch because I know he is a player that steps up strong in the big spots. The same can not be true about Frank Lampard and Joe Cole. I have documented in my EPL preview post that I feel Lampard is on the downside of his career and never seems to show up for a big contest. Aside from getting the penalty kick to go in the net, Lampard was non-existent. He is no longer a quality option for the English National side. Joe Cole is another player whose reputation exceeds his performance. He had many touches yesterday, no real threat came from any of them and most resulted in him flopping onto the pitch. How he continues to get time with the national side and Chelsea is beyond me.

Would the outcome been different if Rooney and Terry played? I would say yes. Along with Gerrrard, Rooney and Terry are the best English players and would have certainly made an impact on this contest. There is no saying England would have won the match. Croatia is a talented side and came ready to rumble. A possible blessing in disguise, this loss will propel the FA to look at the weaknesses on a team with a number of them, make some changes and ultimately have a successful run at the 2010 World Cup.