SF: July 11 Croatia vs England [R]

Yes i live in england..what i meant was our media are always the ones shooting their mouths off and bigging us up when we are doing well..the fans are more grounded

 

I'd say the media is more grounded. Some fans can understandably get very enthusiastic and have strong belief once you get into the semis, but I'll show you that from every country.

I don't care if its the FA Cup or the Champions League or you are Leicester City top of the league with a few games to go, if you are in the semi finals and you support your team then you have to believe you can win it.

 

Really? You don't rate Rakitic from Barcelona, kovacic from real Madrid and mandzikic from juventus?

 

I don't think he knows the team that well. Croatia midfield has been good at most times in the world cup (and is pretty stacked). If Croatia go out and play (which I think they will) then I think its 50-50 between the two teams.

If Croatia force England to playing on the counter, then England will struggle if their finishing isn't up to scratch.

One thing going for England, is that teams have let them have possession in the tournament so far. So I don't think they will panic and will build plays up if need be, even after Croatian dominant spells.

If Croatia play as the weaker side, more defensively (maybe they are more worn out), then I'd increase England's chances.

 

Racitic is a good player but not in the class of modric but no i dont rate mandzucic..i think hes very imobile and hasnt contributed to this tournament at all..kovacic flatters to decieve and hardly plays for real..i also think perisic is a very good player. I just think englands mobility and pace will be too much for croatia

 

Argentina, Portugal and Spain are better teams then England and Croatia was able to beat two out of the three and only lost a very close game to portugal in extra time (euro 16 and wc 18). Why are you so cocky about England beating them? Their midfield is superior to england and thats very important in the context of a football match.

. Not saying its impossible for england to win but its not going to be as easy as it seems you believe its going to be.

 

Since the pre-tournament build-up I thought Croatia could in fact get this far if they play near their potential for the most part, however their last two matches have been underwhelming for me. They should've played Denmark and Russia off the park with Modric and Rakitic, but didn't. Lovren and Vida is a not a great defensive partnership who have an error or two and it's been mentioned before that Croatia will be tired going into the game. If it gets into extra time then that'll favor England because Croatia were nearly dead against Russia at that time.

England play better when they counter-attack and knowing Croatia they won't bunker down and they shouldn't because that's not their strength. They'll leave space in behind and if England defend well and distribute then they'll get plenty of chances.

 

Stones is a bottler as well. Will see if the pressure gets to him or some of the young English players. Pressure will be more on England as most are expecting them to go through. Enlgland has not faced a team of Croatia quality yet. No disrespect to Sweden Tunisia or Panama but they don't have the quality Croatia has. Columbia did not have there best player James which was s huge break for England. Not counting Belgium game as mostly backups were played in a game nobody wanted to win.

 

The betting odds currently put it at 60% England (4/6) to Croatia at 42% (15/11).

*It adds up to over 100% because that's how bookies make their money.

https://www.oddschecker.com/football/world-cup/croatia-v-england/to-qualify

 

What has euro 16 got to do with it...our euro 16 team was shit..this is virtually a different squad..croatia's midfield superior? No..definately better..but henderson is having a great tournsment and hes our only midfielder, ali and lingard are playing as number 10s. They will have plenty of space behind croatia's midfield..croatia havent played anyone of any real quality either..argentina are very poor..they only undeservedly scraped past denmark and had to beat a mediocre russia team on penalties..i never said england were superior but overall team wise we are stronger..its a 50-50 game

 

What exactly is so good about englands team? You guys have had much better teams in the past. Your 04 and 06 teams for example were definately better.

You guys have had the easiet route of all time to the semi finals. We will see how good england is now against actual top 10 teams (Croatia and Belgium/france). If you win them then credit where its due...but so far england hasnt proved anything. Beating Sweden and Colombia in penalty shots is not exactly groundbreaking...

 

I'd agree 1990, 1996, 2004 and 2006 teams were better. The best teams don't always win as you well know from 2004 and 2016 Euros.

Plenty of other teams have had easy routes to the semi finals and beyond. 2002 Germany for instance (group Saudi Arabia, Ireland & Nigeria followed by Paraguay, USA, South Korea in the semi until they finally got well beaten by the first good team they played Brazil in the final). This was a Germany side that went out in the group stage in the Euros 2 years either side without winning a match.

I never predict England games because I want them to win so cannot be fully rational. Those who say that Croatia will be exhausted are wishful thinking. Chris Waddle has been talking about it and said there was no way that you'd not be ready. He knows. Croatia is a proud country, they'll put their bodies on the line for the cause. It is easy to make the case for either side to win.

 

Nonsense. If you play games on paper you will surely lose.

Also talking down England is a poor mistake as they are a solid team that can hurt Croatia badly.

As for the geniuses who are saying Croatia have an overall better team need to stop smoking. In this tournament Croatia was brought over the line by Modric.

 

Kane is a better striker than any Croatian striker right now and Sterling even with his poor finishing is still a trouble for Croatia's defense. If he gets in behind he will force Croatia to answer questions they don't want to answer.

 

At least we qualified

Seriously though, there are some real clueless posters in here .some people saying Argentina are better than us and some still going on about James missing for Columbia . A/he wouldn't have made that much difference because he isn't that good and b/it's a squad game.

People discrediting our achievement so far because we've beaten supposidly weaker sides yet most on here were were predicting England would struggle against Panama. Remember who they beat to get to the finals too

To win the world cup, generally the best team in the tournament wins it, that's why it's set up the way it is .you have to face strong teams at some point but a couple of years ago, England would have lost more than we've won so far .

 

Talking down a winner's success after you've been eliminated just sounds like sour grapes. I don't mean to pick on Brazil, but I clearly remember in 1978 them declaring themselves "moral champions" because they never lost a game. It was laughable and diminished their achievements on the field.

We can all play that game. Germany equalized with us in the 1990 semi on a flukey, deflected goal. If we'd won in that game, we would have definitely beaten a poor Argentina side in the final. See how that sounds?

Champions are decided on the field, not in the press or on online forums.

 

Croatia latest performances have been underwhelming. I loved their first games, it was a joy to watch them play. There were my favorite, but seem to have slowly decline since.

I will granted them the benefice of the doubt against Russia since I sincerely cannot shake idea that the Russian might have had some help to keep up physically with their opponent. [ I now this is borderline conspiracy theory , but lets not forget we are dealing with a authoritarian regime spawned from the ruins of ex-USSR. It was sanctioned for the state organized doping of the vast majority of its athletes.]

On the other hand, England has played very well although it was against weaker opponents than most of the other contenders ( they did what they had to do).
I do not enjoyed their style of game that much, but from what I saw it is an efficient team.

As a result I have no clear Idea how this game might go. Based on the very last game, and the physical exhaustion of the players, I would bet on England winning. I expect some goals at least once passed the first hour of the game

I guess we will at least have a clearer answer regarding the actual quality of those team.

 

This pair are going to do more damage to England than Brexit

 

Despite having a great midfield, I expect Croatia to actually cede much of the possession to England. The possession stats will likely be 55/45 or 60/40 in favor of England until someone breaks the deadlock.

I give England also a slight advantage over Croatia, but obviously the game can go either way. Still, I have a harder time imagining Croatia in the final than England.

 

Neither is beating russia and denmark on penalties and as i said croatia's route hasnt been much harder..im not knocking the croats. They are a very good side and a step up on what we have faced..its a 50/50 game..as for your view on previous england sides being better..yes..but this is a young team that still hasnt reached its potential and we have plenty more talent coming through..this is the first time in years that i feel we have a genuine chance to compete with the worlds best at future tournaments

 

Pair of nancys..old legs wont be able to compete with the pace of our attack

 

You been to Sports Direct yet to buy yourself a Croatia shirt to add to your Tunisia, Panama, Belguim, Colombian and Sweden collection?

 

I have a couple Scots I work with that will gauge their eyes out if England lift the cup. All I hear is how the English have had a yellow brick road to this point. Gotta love football rivalries.