England face Croatia in their first World Cup semi-final since Italia’90 at the Luzhniki Stadium on Wednesday. Here’s a look at the three things they must do to get a step closer to bringing it home:
Start on the front foot
England were guilty of a lethargic start against Sweden. They had been uncharacteristically monotonous up until the point when Harry Maguire headed them in front, and it was only then that they woke up.
While the weariness is quite understandable after playing out a game that lasted 120 minutes against Colombia, breezing past the Swedes has allowed Gareth Southgate’s side to freshen up once again.
Croatia, in comparison, have had two consecutive matches decided by a penalty shootout, appearing visibly knackered by the end of extra time against Russia in the quarter-final. With little time to recover, there’s every chance that the Vatreni would not be at their sharpest best. It’s what England have to take advantage of.
The Three Lions need to ensure that they start on the front foot, making full use of Raheem Sterling and company’s movement to unsettle Zlatko Dalic’s side early on. The more time England offer their opponents, the more they’d inevitably grow into the game.
More support for Jordan Henderson
The only concern with Jesse Lingard and Dele Alli partnering Jordan Henderson is that most of the times, he is all by himself in the middle of the park. Now, that’s not a problem when you’re facing Tunisia, Panama or a James Rodriguez-deprived Colombia, but it is a big, big problem when you face a Croatian side with Ivan Rakitic and Luka Modric.
This is a game that will be won in the midfield. If Henderson isn’t offered enough support from either Alli or Lingard, then that would hurt England in a way that costs them the match.
So does Southgate actually assign one of his attacking midfielders a different role, or does he make a change to the line-up? The latter is a much better option. By bringing in Eric Dier or Fabian Delph, England would have a more stabilised midfield, and a better chance to stop Croatia’s main threat.
It may not sound too wise to deviate from a first choice XI this late in the tournament, but it’s not too wise to play a one-man midfield either.
Keep Mario Mandzukic quiet
For all of the talk about Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic, people seem to have forgotten the threat posed by the amenable Mario Mandzukic, whose willingness to be anything but one-dimensional is worthy of a research paper. This is what makes him a tough player to handle for any centre-back in the world.
John Stones, Kyle Walker and Harry Maguire have been excellent at this tournament, but in Mandzukic, they’d have a totally different challenge: a striker who is here, there and everywhere, causing chaos with his physicality, with his intelligence, with the ability to play just as well on the field as under the skins of his opponent.
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Sure, England’s defence is well equipped to deal with Mario Mandzukic, but there’s a clear line that differentiates being up to a job, and actually doing it. It is the latter that matters.