DISCUSSION: England vs. Croatia

Paul Schmidt-Troschke & Jon Bonfiglio review England's 4-2 victory over Croatia in the opening tie of Group L.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:25

Hi everyone and welcome back to World Cup Football, etc. with me, your host, John Bonfiglio. And tonight I'm joined by only Paul Schmidt-Troschke. Although, of course, Paul, I know that your presence alone is more than enough. I don't mean to diminish you, of course.

SPEAKER_00 0:42

Thank you, thank you. Um, I know how to appreciate that. Um, but I mean I must admit that uh it feels a little lonely without our um our mate Declan, who of course uh is right now having um not the time of his life, uh, but probably close to it. Um but uh yeah of course tomorrow he will be back and for the reasons we will we will speak about.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

Yeah, he's um in a in a recording which we will hear in a moment, he said England are now on a roll. My understanding of the term on a roll is you have to do you have to have more than one thing happen. Whereas of course England have done the one thing and done it pretty well with a 4-2 win of of uh Croatia, but there's still there's still more to come. Of course, as you say, he had plenty of uh things on his mind today. And uh now I don't mean, of course, the new World Cup football, etc. jingle. Uh it was the England match uh of course a jingle we hope everyone approves of. And uh if you don't, then just give it some time, you'll get used to it. And if in a few weeks you still don't like it, then just please email. Let me be very clear about the email address here. Complaints at declanlink.com. That's complaints at declanlink.com. He is in charge of customer service. God bless his soul. Uh now, um yeah, yeah, of course, other than the fact that Declan is uh is with his other uh friends tonight, um, you know, we hope that he hasn't been entirely taken over by by the spirit of England and that he will be in a position to join us potentially tomorrow to go through all of the matches. Uh Paul Schmidt, Troshler and myself are going to talk about England, Croatia uh in a moment, but all of the rest of the matches we are going to leave for a discussion tomorrow. So, of course, Portugal's uh no-show, uh relative no show against the the the uh Democratic Republic of Congo and Colombia against Uzbekistan also. And also worth saying that um the next episode tomorrow morning, which will go live tomorrow morning, will be a feature on football in Uzbekistan, delivered by uh by Paul Schmidtroshka. Uh am I right?

SPEAKER_00 2:55

Yes, absolutely. Um, Uzbekistan, of course, uh first time uh qualified for the World Cup. And I must admit, um, I mean, you probably all of us never heard of Uzbekistan in the context of football before, of anything football related, I would even say. Um, so yeah, it's uh uh it includes lots of lots of interesting facts. Um and uh yes, sort of a fascinating country, which uh in in especially in the West, we don't uh we know very little about.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

Yes, lots of interesting facts. That sounds like a promise, Paul. So we're gonna hold you to that. We're gonna now dive into England, Croatia. But before we do, here is uh a short clip uh recorded by Declan and friends in Dallas, uh uh sharing their reaction on the match.

SPEAKER_03 3:45

Hello everyone, Declan Link here from Dallas, Texas. We're here at Boomer Jack's 20 minutes walk from the stadium. I have uh Shawnee New and Gordon Massinho, and I want to get their reaction to a fantastic win from England today, 4-2 against Croatia. Here goes Shawnee. What are your thoughts on it? Don't just say England, England, England. Give us some actually hard technical and tactical analysis. You are talking to the wrong person.

SPEAKER_04 4:09

England, England. So honestly, um, a good performance. First half, a little slow, but uh once uh our famous German coach got into them, I thought they were fantastic. Second half, especially the first 10-15 minutes, brilliant, as good as anyone I've seen in this tournament so far.

SPEAKER_03 4:26

Fantastic, Sean. Very deep analysis, which exactly what I expect from a Tottenham fan. And talking to Tottenham fans, here we go. Here's another one. Future ambassador to Guatemala in Central America, Gordon Massinio. Here you go, Gordon.

SPEAKER_05 4:39

Yes, well, as uh the great Sven Goran Erickson would have said, first half not so good, second half, very good. So, yeah, I was feeling a bit down at halftime, I have to say, 2-2, especially conceding in the last minute. And we looked so open, and we were okay going forward, but we looked so open. But then obviously uh Thomas got in amongst them and uh gave them a severe talking to at half time, and they were a different team for the first 15-20 minutes of the second half. Spreading the ball wide, Gordon was getting much more involved, Reese James was coming out. Um they scored a goal, should have had three or four more in that 15 minutes, and then decided strangely to sit back. Um, so I got a bit nervy again, but it all worked out in the end with a good goal from Rashford 4-2, probably probably a fair result overall.

SPEAKER_03 5:39

Yeah, I I totally agree. Shawnee, what about the atmosphere? We're also looking forward to the stadium. What was it like?

SPEAKER_04 5:45

Uh the stadium was unbelievable. I mean, very close second to Tottenham Hospital Stadium, obviously, but uh amazing stadium, amazing atmosphere for a first-round game to see that kind of performance and that kind of atmosphere, and uh England well supported, many miles from home, which is good to see.

SPEAKER_03 6:00

And you were standing apparently in the front row or the second front row with the England fans. Has anyone yet thought you were David Beckham?

SPEAKER_04 6:08

Yeah, I've had uh many texts and saying, like, did anyone see Beckham in the front row? So yeah, I'm I'm looking forward to I'm looking forward to a new career in um selling after shade and whiskey.

SPEAKER_03 6:17

Brilliant. I actually thought completely agree with uh Sean and uh Gordon's analysis. I thought the teacups must have been flying at halftime that Thomas Tuchel was throwing lobbing them at Jude Bellingham. He definitely turned up in the second half. Much better performance. We're we're on a roll now. We should roll through Ghana and roll through Panama. Famous last words. Let's see what happens. But um, we we'll see you all boy, all the boys back in uh Boston next uh Tuesday. Thank you, Sean. Thank you, Gordon.

SPEAKER_05 6:49

Cheers. Cheers.

SPEAKER_01 6:50

There we go, Paul. What was your take on uh on those comments from Declan and Co.

SPEAKER_00 6:56

I mean, I can uh I can only agree. Uh England today showed a um a stunning performance, uh especially if you take into consideration um yeah, at what state or in which uh in which state the English team found itself in, thinking about uh the games, uh the game, for example, against Japan. Um it's a completely, completely different team. Now, also, of course, um uh considering the players, uh, names like Phil Foden, of course, who everybody would have expected basically to be in the team, um, is is not among uh the squad um anymore. Mel was really good. Of course, the first half was uh contested um between between both sides. Um the man himself, Harry Kane, opened the game up in uh um quite early on in the game, scored, scored the first goal, um and then got equalized, same thing again, and then uh equalized again, and everybody expected, and I would have uh definitely wished uh wished him that um that uh he scored his first uh hat trick in the in the World Cup. Um not today, at least. I mean it's it's the first game, right? He still has uh has lots of opportunities, um, hopefully. And then um yeah, going into the into the second half. Um Thomas Tuchel probably gave one one of his uh maybe uh more on the harsh harsh side of things, um, speeches at as it uh was also uh called by by Harry Kane. It was a speech um to the team. And it it it moved a lot. Um it basically uh gave gave England uh the best 20 minutes, I'd say uh I've I've seen him play I've seen them playing in a long time. Um and then uh yeah, towards the 70th, 70th minute, uh it it they got it got a little weak again, but at least they didn't concede a goal um in the second half and scored two. So um that that of course uh is is already enough uh evidence that something um changed dramatically, and not only within uh the English team, but also um negatively on the other side of the uh in the Croatian team, uh, because their second half was definitely um yeah uh not really comparable to to the first one.

SPEAKER_01 9:19

Yeah, the um I think you you're right, the 20 minutes after half time, England were utterly irrepressible, and they just kept uh pushing forward, kept opening up Croatia. Um it was, I think, certainly the best sort of 20 minutes or quarter. Now that we're talking about quarters in uh in football, the best quarter of football I've seen in England play in a long time. And of course, as you say, you know, on the back of a number of lackluster warm-ups, I think um this result certainly completely exceeded expectations. I think we need to qualify it somewhat, certainly not that not that period in the second half, but um, if you look at um uh a number of uh crosses into the box and set pieces, I think it's fair to say that Croatia's marking was um non-existent for schoolboy at best. And that second goal, the Harry Kane header, uh, although it was an incredible, a great downward header that was not going to be stopped, um, there was just nobody on him at all. And you would have thought that a really sort of basic aspect of Croatian preparation and defending would be to have somebody on Harry Kane, not least um because of how how much um how much territory he was he was getting across during the match. I mean, there were times, actually he got caught in possession a couple of times just outside his own his own area. So some danger moments with him and and Pickford's uh Jordan Pickford's goalkeeper's questionable distribution there. But he was coming back about as far as I have ever seen him to pick up the ball and initiate uh moves, right? I mean, he wasn't even playing in midfield, he was almost sort of playing a sweeper role just in front of the back four.

SPEAKER_00 10:57

Yeah, that was uh that was quite quite the performance of him. Um and I think you basically with with that answered your question, uh answered your uh your question yourself. Um, because if you uh if you have uh a kind of this uh um yeah your your duty to to uh cover a striker, um you definitely can't cover him uh with with these uh ways, how he how he uh covered the whole pitch, because then you completely use lose your role in your team um as as as a defender um if you then appear uh somewhere in with in the English half, because uh that's where Harry Kane um um is at that time. And I think that um I mean he also and and that definitely does not happen a lot. Um he probably saved England uh from a uh 4-3 um in one of the last minutes by throwing himself um into a yeah, quite the heavy punch, uh punch of a shot, um right into his stomach, and he uh he was visibly in pain. Um I think uh the the likes of us would probably collapse on the spot, um, but of course not not our man Harry Kane. And my takeaway from his performance um was that this is a kind of of performance which um which is probably not like advised by Thomas Tochel, that he says, like you as a striker, you have to cover the whole pitch and just be everywhere um in any situation. But this shows that this man is just hungry, hungry for wins, for goals, um, and not only for goals, and that's the important thing, right? He's everywhere because he wants his team to win, and he he is uh willing to do everything, even leave his position completely uh to achieve that. And uh that makes him uh I think incredibly dangerous for any team um which is playing against him. And back to your point, because you it's so so incredibly uh difficult to to cover him um because he's just uh yeah appearing in so many so many unforeseen, unforeseen spots.

SPEAKER_01 13:09

I wonder if better teams will see that, will see him dropping so deep and press him harder. Because I did think that um beyond the two, we beyond Crowish's two goals, which are really things of beauty, in particular the second, uh the second goal, the sort of the header against the against the direction of play, and then the the strike. Beyond that, I thought that England were weakest actually when King was caught in possession a couple of times, right back on the edge of his own area, and when Pickford was on the ball. Pickford, uh Tuchel seems to like Pickford playing almost a sort of a sweeper role, but uh he he doesn't um he doesn't, it seems to me at least, have the sort of technical skill to be able to pull that off. He always feels very vulnerable, and when he does uh play the ball out, often it gets lost on a couple of occasions, even when went out of play. I thought um tacally that's where England looked most vulnerable during the 90 minutes.

SPEAKER_00 14:03

Yeah, yeah, you're you're probably right, and uh um not probably, you're definitely right. Uh because uh the the the whole defense um was not um like uh it wasn't in a contrary shape to the offense because the offense was just um just brilliant, uh especially in in uh over the second half, although Croatia made it uh like a like a much uh much easier task to to overcome uh the Creation defense. Uh but still um defense uh is uh was the weak point, I think. And um, of course, in I I would think like uh of course against uh against a side like France, that's your biggest vulnerable vulnerability, right? You can overcome uh the French defense. Um but will you be able to to uh yeah defend against the likes of um of an Mbappé, or I don't know, uh Spain is not in the best condition right now, but uh uh La Minia Mala still has La Minia Mal still has a um uh incredible uh individual performance. So I think that is um and that's uh that was quite obvious today that this is the the area which needs to be worked on the English defense. But uh if they fix that, then um I can see them running very, very deep. And then uh let's see what happens. But it was very um um persuading today.

SPEAKER_01 15:30

Yeah, I thought one of the things we took um England were really strong at today as well was how they kept their width. Um they had um they had uh ongoing outlets across both flanks, in particular in the first half, with Madweki on the on the right. Um Anthony Gordon, who uh amusingly was called repeatedly by Latin American commentators on television, Gordon Anthony. They seem to have his name the wrong way around, and didn't see as much of the ball there. But um, yeah, Madweki on the right was was really strong. And actually, the the other thing I'd I'd say is that um England very clearly demonstrated their strength in depth. I mean, when those substitutions were made and you had Mikay Osaka come on, Marcus Rashford, and the and uh of course Marcus Rashford's uh goal that he took the fourth goal as well. The this the sort of the the calm uh with which he took that goal, the time that he had on the ball before he he slotted it home. I wonder whether Rashford would have scored a goal like that 12 months ago before he'd spent a high pressure season playing week in, week out with the uh with the incredible talent of his teammates at Barcelona against other top quality opposition in the Spanish La Liga.

SPEAKER_00 16:48

Yeah, um definitely, definitely questionable. Um I think that the the biggest factor, or one of the biggest factors, uh of course, in especially in in World Cup, in World Cups, uh, which you need is um is a good spirit, is uh is like a very um yeah is a very good mood where everybody trusts everybody and then you can just uh everybody's free to do whatever they want because they know that the whole team has your back no matter what happens. And uh if that's uh that's the fact, then you usually play much better than uh then if that's uh not the case, of course. Um then to to your point uh that uh of the depth, it's it's uh yeah, it's a very complete team, I think. That um that there's not a single position, I would say, where it's like uh okay, if this player um gets injured, then re England is in really, really um is in big trouble. I mean, of course, if if uh if Harry Kane um got got injured, for example, that would of course be a tragedy, but you still have the likes of Jude Bellingham. Um you have uh uh then of course uh Rashford. Um and I must really say uh of course he uh he is uh does not score too many goals uh in comparison to Harry Kane. But Declan Rice, he just just reminds me in his role right now in the English team, really, um to uh uh Tony Kroes, that uh the the way he kicks corners is just um uh just the fact that he kicks it and on another player increases uh the chances for a successful um for a goal after after a uh a corner uh dramatically. Um so I think uh he he definitely deserves also uh lots of praise um today.

SPEAKER_01 18:42

Yeah, Declan Rice is clearly a generational talent and what an engine he has. Um I think you make a relevant point about the names because of course you look at Kane, you look at Rice, you look at um Bellingham and the like. But outside of those names, you know, it it it kept a feeling to me as I was watching the game that that it didn't, it wasn't a sort of top-tier side as we've seen um England uh produce across previous tournaments. But uh but the question is, does it matter? Because uh the the quality of the performance, of course, is what Tugar is going for. And it felt again, especially in that period in the second half, it felt like the most complete performance I've seen in in a long, long time. And just coming on to Croatia, of course, they lost today, but given the um what I felt was uh the relative poverty of the Panama Ghana uh game, Ghana won one-nil, of course, with a with a last-minute 90-odd minute uh goal that they scored, I think it was 90 plus eight or something like that. Um, you would you would still expect Croatia, given the quality that they're ranked just outside the top 10 by uh by FIFA in the world, you would expect them still to be able to sort of um pull out results against those two sides and then go through to the to the knockout rounds.

SPEAKER_00 19:57

Yes, absolutely. Um Croatia is is always um flies a little bit under the radar. Um but uh it's it's an incredible footballing, uh footballing nation. Uh only four million people uh from which you can draw uh your top players. Um and you and you give uh and you give England a really, really good uh um good contra side to to play against. Um on the on the uh creation side, of course, you have Ivan Petisch, who is just uh still um at this age uh just an incredibly intelligent football player. Um he he just uh yeah you you you can't really foresee what he's thinking. Um and uh and of course that that made him um made him incredibly successful at at Bayern Munich um uh for for some years. Uh but uh and and you have Luca Motric still playing in the World Cup. Um he he is uh a bit overlooked when uh when you have still players like Ronaldo uh or Messi in there. Um but uh you you can still you can still count on him uh even even at this age. And yes, but now to the game um of Panama and Ghana. I think that uh um that Croatia, um especially after seeing the their performance today, will have not a uh not a big issue, um, or shouldn't expect it to be a big issue to beat either Panama or Ghana, because this was definitely one of the one of the most boring games, uh worst games I would say, uh so far in that World Cup. Um it was basically it was really two teams in in bad shape playing against each other, and then one one team just wins by luck and the other team loses, um, being unlucky uh in the end. First half uh clearly um goes to goes to Panama. Um multiple chances created, which which definitely can be goals, and in in one case a must must be a goal, really. Um then a penalty, which could have been given, which is not given to Panama. So that's like also to the unlucky side. Uh and then Ghana scores uh in 90 plus five um after dominating Panama in the in the second half. And um, but also more by luck than than by by anything else. Um so yeah, yeah, you can should be should be an easy, easy case for for both England and and Croatia.

SPEAKER_01 22:26

You can tell it was a poor game because um ordinarily in your sort of uh few minutes long highlight packages, there's often good moves that are left out. But in uh in tonight's highlight package for the for Panama and Ghana, there were there were shots that were taken which went miles wide of the goal. And it was as though uh the sports editors were desperately trying to find quality moves to be able to put into the the designated sort of five minute uh five-minute slot. We saw nothing there, I think, that um that would trouble a a top-tier side. And I'm kind of a little bit embarrassed myself because I did a I did a feature, a World Cup feature for when Saturday comes on Panama, in which um I really thought that they were a side that um that uh had some some definite strengths and some definite players uh that could that could shine in this uh this World Cup. We definitely didn't see any of that in the um in this in this first match. Um we will, of course, just to repeat what we said before, we will be looking at uh Portugal versus the Democratic Republic of Congo because of course there's plenty of Ronaldo chat to be had uh there and Colombia versus Uzbekistan tomorrow. Uh but uh uh we're gonna leave it uh there. Next up, as we mentioned at the top of the show, there's gonna be a feature on Uzbekistan by Paul tomorrow morning, and then we're gonna come together, assuming that Declan Link emerges alive and unscathed from his um from his post-England reverie. He'll join us tomorrow and we can do a full debrief on other matches uh then. But for the moment, um thank you so much uh for joining us. Thanks, Paul, and talk soon.

SPEAKER_00 24:03

Pleasure as always. Bye bye.