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New York Times
21-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Croatia's ‘golden' generation still have what it takes. Now, can they win a medal?
Medals matter, and they last, as Zlatko Dalic likes to remind everyone. The Croatia head coach has seen his nation overperform and underwhelm across the past seven-and-a-half years. From the World Cup final in 2018, a third-place finish four years later in Qatar, and being Nations League runners-up in 2023 to a group-stage European Championship exit last summer after conceding late goals twice and dropping four points. Advertisement 'We are always the dark horse, we are always not among the favourites, nobody believes in us, but in the past six years, we have won three medals,' he said at the Euros, as reported by The Guardian. 'Croatia deserves greater respect from everyone for what we have managed to do'. By beating France 2-0 in Split on Thursday evening in the first leg of the Nations League quarter-final — the return match is on Sunday — they are one step closer to adding a medal of gold hue to the cabinet. Much like France head coach Didier Deschamps (in charge since 2012), Dalic's longevity manifests sometimes as stability and, in other moments, staleness. He is the longest-serving Croatia head coach ever, with his three predecessors in post for less time combined. This win, though, was plenty different to their 1-0 victory in Paris three years ago, which had been Croatia's first-ever win against France. Then, Luka Modric scored a penalty after five minutes and they held out to win. This time, Andrej Kramaric had a penalty saved by Mike Maignan after eight minutes. His central effort was weak, lacking the deft of a panenka and without much height or power, and the goalkeeper saved with his legs. One significance of beating France in 2022 was bouncing back from a 3-0 defeat to Austria (at home) three days prior and shaking the 'complex against France' that Dalic said stuck with them from World Cup 2018. Here, they showed their capacity to bounce back from missing an early penalty. Dalic had experimented with a back five, to mixed success, in the Nations League group stages. In Split, he reverted to a 4-3-3, featuring a trademark Modric and Mateo Kovacic double pivot. There were plenty of balls in behind a high France line, particularly from Croatia's left-side, trying to isolate No 9 Ante Budimir against a centre-back or find left-winger Kramaric in space. Dalic's side pressed high, too, and in one instance stretched out into a 4-1-2-1-2 to match France's shape at a goal kick. Advertisement The opener was all about Croatia's technicians. Kovacic found a shooting angle following a one-two with Budimir, then hesitated and was crowded out. France tried to counter-attack from his blocked shot, but Croatia regained possession on halfway. Modric pulled wide and with no pressure from a blue shirt, clipped into Ivan Perisic, who had drifted across from the right. He only had one target in the box — Budimir — and France right-back Jules Kounde stood him up, so the two-footed Perisic took his best-value option. He shifted the ball to his left foot and curled a cross for Budimir's near-post run. Everything clicked and he headed past Maignan. No 9 is an area where Croatia have struggled under Dalic. This was only Budimir's fourth goal on his 29th appearance and his first since June 2024, before the Euros. Much is made of Modric pulling the strings in midfield still at 39, though the only under 30 in Croatia's front six was No 10 Martin Baturina (22). The second goal again showed Perisic's quality and Croatia's direct threat. A long ball from left centre-back Duje Caleta-Car targeted advanced left-back Josko Gvardiol, the same role he plays for Manchester City. It made a two-v-one on Kounde, with left-winger Kramaric running beyond the full-back. Gvardiol underlapped and Kramaric passed inside to Budimir on the edge, making for a move as stylish as it was incisive. As France's midfield scrambled back, Budimir's shot was blocked by William Saliba and ricocheted kindly over to Perisic. He decelerated, let the ball drop across him and fired a flush volley past Maignan into the far corner. Since 2021, this is only the ninth defeat for France and the fifth in which they have not scored — Croatia account for two of them. A real strength under Dalic is how narrow Croatia keep games, never big winners but rarely blown away (only three defeats by two-plus goals since Euro 2020). This was their 18th clean sheet in the past 47 games. That they were here in the first place owed to them sneaking out of the Nations League groups by a point, ahead of Scotland. There is a fair argument that an ageing squad — the fourth-oldest in Germany last summer — is petering out in its twilight years. Croatia's current FIFA ranking, 13th, is their lowest since August 2022. The retirements of central midfielders Marcelo Brozovic (in 2024) and Ivan Rakitic (in 2020) have reduced what was a once-staggering depth of midfield talent. Advertisement How Dalic's side saw out the France win emphasised their street smarts, though. This is a nation, in the past seven years, who have beaten France twice, won against Argentina, taken Spain beyond 90 minutes multiple times at tournaments, knocked Brazil out of a World Cup, and repeatedly won penalty shootouts. As France pushed for a goal, blue shirts kept finding themselves overloaded by two or even three Croatia players. That they made 13 interceptions to France's four showed front-footedness. Ousmane Dembele, playing a similar roaming role in build-up to what he has at Paris Saint-Germain, found himself always with a defender on his back. There was a repeat situation in the 78th minute when Culeta-Car and Gvardiol embraced after they made a three-v-one (with Modric) against Dembele and pressured him into shooting wide. Croatia launched the goal kick and France went in behind them immediately, as Gvardiol overcommitted. The left-back recovered to make a tackle and hugged his team-mate again. Modric was particularly adept with his recovery runs, often getting back to close down Real Madrid team-mate Kylian Mbappe at cutbacks. In one instance, he tracked Mbappe's run into the box when the forward played a one-two with Lucas Digne. When Mbappe went down, Modric clearly felt there was insufficient contact and screamed into the Frenchman's face. The win only really carries significance if Croatia see the job through on Sunday, though. As Dalic says, medals matter, and Croatia can still prove this generation is truly 'golden'.
New York Times
19-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
England managers' first games: Fresh faces and false dawns but no defeats in 62 years
Thomas Tuchel takes charge of his first England match against Albania on Friday. Whatever the score, however good or bad the performance is, every detail will be forensically analysed as to what the match tells us about how Tuchel's reign will play out. But what can you actually learn from an England manager's first match? Are they generally a sign of things to come? Here's how every England manager, or committee, did on their first proper day in the job. Gareth Southgate's opening match in charge of England is the most recent game on the list, but you are forgiven for not remembering it. Southgate, who was interim manager at the time, wanted his team to play with bravery and style, but against 11 Maltese defenders they had to settle for a laboured 2-0 victory which, with Iceland, Euro 2016 and, well, Sam Allardyce still fresh in the memory, did just fine — even if there were a smattering of boos at Wembley. Southgate's first XI showed some green shoots of what would become his World Cup 2018 semi-finalists — he handed a debut to Jesse Lingard while Jordan Henderson and Dele Alli were in midfield — but the likes of Harry Maguire, Jordan Pickford and Kieran Trippier were still a year away from their first call-ups. Advertisement Indeed, a number of the team were starting what would be one of their final international matches for England, with deep-lying midfielder Wayne Rooney soon dropped, while Joe Hart, Daniel Sturridge and Theo Walcott would be phased out before the World Cup two years later. Was it a sign of things to come? Perhaps not in terms of personnel, but England produced an uninspiring performance at home in a boring qualifier against weaker opposition, so also yes. Line up (4-2-3-1): Hart; Walker, Stones, Cahill, Bertrand; Rooney, Henderson; Walcott, Alli, Lingard; Sturridge. Who scored the only goal of the one-game Sam Allardyce era as England manager? It's a decent quiz question — and the answer is Adam Lallana, in the 95th minute in Trnava. A more obscure question would be on the only uncapped player called up by Allardyce, who was unused substitute Michail Antonio. The West Ham player was actually called up as a midfielder in his pre-striker and, indeed, pre-Jamaica days. How did England play? Well, post Euro 2016 disaster, this was a good result but a whiffy performance. As reported by the BBC at the time: 'England's opening match under Allardyce was greeted with cries of 'same old same old' from social media observers — and even those of us watching from close quarters in Trnava would have trouble making a case to the contrary.' Allardyce's team may have won but his post-match comments about drifting midfielder Rooney ('It's not for me to say where he's going to play… Wayne played wherever he wanted to') suggest that Allardyce soon leaving due to allegations of malpractice may have been no bad thing. Was it a sign of things to come? Allardyce didn't drink a pint of wine on the touchline, so no. Line up (4-2-3-1): Hart; Walker, Stones, Cahill, Rose; Dier, Henderson; Sterling, Rooney, Lallana; Kane. The quiz questions keep on coming. Seriously, impress your friends (if they're that way inclined) by naming the two debutants Hodgson brought off the bench in his first match — Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Martin Kelly. Hodgson had been parachuted into the job following Fabio Capello's controversial departure on the eve of Euro 2012. Advertisement In this friendly in Norway, just a couple of weeks before the start of the tournament, Hodgson played an experimental side with several key players missing. Ashley Young scored the winner. Was it a sign of things to come? In the sense that Hodgson's England were regimented, organised and won a match that didn't really matter, but would soon come up short when it did matter, yes absolutely. Line up (4-4-1-1): Green; Jones, Jagielka, Lescott, Baines; Milner, Parker; Young, Gerrard, Downing; Carroll. A new approach in the form of a 'winning' manager, a new formation (4-5-1) and new hope following the disastrous brolly-tinged scenes at Wembley a few months earlier. As with a fair few games on this list, the new England manager got off to a winning start with an unconvincing performance which raised more questions than answers. Capello didn't change too much, certainly in terms of personnel with the dregs of the 'golden generation' still going, although this game is notable for being David Bentley's first ever England start. And his last. Jermaine Jenas scored, as did substitute Shaun Wright-Phillips. Was it a sign of things to come? Yeah sort of — a decent victory in a non-tournament match, but, again, in the actual tournament England were hopeless, 'nice to see your own fans booing ya' etc. Line up (4-5-1): James; Brown, Ferdinand, Upson, Ashley Cole; Bentley, Jenas, Gerrard, Barry, Joe Cole; Rooney. More recurring themes — a new manager comes in looking to restore pride after a national embarrassment, this one being the World Cup quarter-final exit to Portugal on penalties (the directionless manner of the performance, chiefly). So disheartened was the country with the way the Sven era panned out, there were 30,000 empty seats for Steve McClaren's first match at Old Trafford. The ones who stayed away missed a whirlwind first half in which England scored four goals. Four! There were two for Peter Crouch and others from John Terry and Frank Lampard, while McClaren also got tough by dropping David Beckham, Sol Campbell and David James. Was it a sign of things to come? Well, no. McClaren would later recall all three dropped players and his tenure ended in catastrophe and humiliation when England failed to reach Euro 2008. Line up (4-4-2): Robinson; Neville, Ferdinand, Terry, Cole; Gerrard, Hargreaves, Lampard, Downing; Crouch, Defoe. Yet another first game victory and the most impressive on our list so far given the standard of opposition at Villa Park. If you think the furore over Lee Carsley not singing the national anthem last year was bad/mad/ludicrous, remember 2001 and Sven being appointed England's first foreign manager? It was a scandal. Brian Clough had to be the sensible one: 'At last England have appointed a manager who speaks English better than the players.' Advertisement It was important, therefore, to get the nation onside with victories and new ideas. Sven hit the ground running (he'd be winning 5-1 in Munich before the year was out) and did so with the help of players from unfashionable clubs, picking debutants Chris Powell (Charlton), Michael Ball (Everton) and Gavin McCann (Sunderland). He also changed the style, as the Guardian noted: 'It must say something that within the first 10 minutes at Villa Park the players Keegan claimed were incapable of passing the ball had strung together 18 consecutive passes without losing possession.' Was it a sign of things to come? In the short term, yes. In the long term, no. Line up (4-4-2): James; Phil Neville, Ferdinand, Campbell, Powell; Beckham, Butt, Scholes, Barmby; Owen, Andrew Cole. A high-pressure start for Keegan in this Euros qualifier after England had lost to Sweden and drawn with Bulgaria in their opening three matches. He was caretaker boss for his first match, pledging to only do four games as he was also Fulham manager at the time, but changed things up by handing two top-flight stalwarts their long-awaited debuts in Tim Sherwood and substitute Ray Parlour. He also gave his old Newcastle striker Andrew Cole what was his first ever England start, despite Cole having already won two titles and scored 100 Premier League goals at this point. Paul Scholes scored a hat-trick. Was it a sign of things to come? It was a scrappy game but a necessary win. England continued in the same manner under Keegan, just without the necessary win part. Line up (4-4-2): Seaman; Gary Neville, Keown, Campbell, Le Saux; Beckham, Scholes, Sherwood, McManaman; Shearer, Cole. Hoddle faced the unenviable task of succeeding Terry Venables, who had just led the nation to a Euro 96 high that they'd still be making documentaries about decades later. He tried to keep that momentum going by picking a similar side, but was missing Darren Anderton, Steve McManaman and Teddy Sheringham through injury so freshened things up by handing debuts to stars of the next generation David Beckham and, erm, Andy Hinchcliffe. Advertisement Hoddle also gave the captaincy to Alan Shearer, then the most expensive player in the world having just signed for Newcastle for £15million (now $19.5m) i.e. a Jay Stansfield. Shearer scored, as did Nicky Barmby and Paul Gascoigne. Was it a sign of things to come? An inventive formation and a good result — yep Hoddle had a few of those. Line up (3-5-2): Seaman; Southgate, Pallister, Pearce; Gary Neville, Beckham, Ince, Gascoigne, Hinchcliffe; Barmby, Shearer. Venables started with a friendly — the first of 19 in the next two years, 15 of them at Wembley — as England prepared for a home Euros. Unlike his successor, Venables picked up the England team at a low ebb having not qualified for the 1994 World Cup. He handed debuts to Anderson, Graeme Le Saux and Matt Le Tissier, while also bringing back Peter Beardsley after three years in the international wilderness. David Platt scored the winner in what was seen as an impressive victory against the Danes, who had won the Euros two years earlier. Was it a sign of things to come? Actually no, given that England only won nine of those 19 friendlies despite playing generally weak opposition. Line up (4-4-2): Seaman; Parker, Adams, Pallister, Le Saux; Platt, Ince, Gascoigne, Anderton; Beardsley, Shearer. Like Hoddle after him, Taylor took charge of an England team who had just thrilled/pained the nation by reaching a semi-final but losing to the Germans on penalties. For his first match, a friendly against Hungary, Taylor basically looked at that World Cup team and thought the only improvement he could make was by adding Lee Dixon. Fair enough. He also made Gary Lineker the new captain and Lineker responded with the winning goal, set up by Gascoigne. Was it a sign of things to come? Yes in the sense that England only lost one of Taylor's first 23 matches in charge. Line up (4-4-2): Woods; Dixon, Walker, Wright, Pearce; Parker, Gascoigne, Platt, Barnes; Lineker, Bull. Yeah, no pressure Tuchel, but the last England manager not to win his first match was Bobby Robson, 43 years ago. Robson's big statement decision upon taking the job was to ditch housewives' favourite Keegan, but without so much as a phonecall. Ruthless. Trevor Francis scored both goals against an emerging Danish side in this Euros qualifier. Fun fact; Robson's only debutant here was substitute Ricky Hill of Luton Town, who is now manager of Turks and Caicos Islands. Advertisement Was it a sign of things to come? A generally underwhelming result and a controversy over Keegan, so yes. Robson's eight-year reign was pretty turbulent. Line up (4-4-2): Shilton; Neal, Osman, Butcher, Sansom; Morley, Wilkins, Robson, Rix; Mariner, Francis. Greenwood almost suffered an embarrassing defeat in his first match, but goalkeeper Ray Clemence made a number of fine saves. Clemence was one of seven players from the Liverpool side that had just won the European Cup, but that domestic dominance never transferred to the international stage. Another was Ian Callaghan, called up for the first time since 1966. That'll be like Tuchel calling up some old timer who was in the 2014 World Cup squad today like, erm, Jordan Henderson. Was it a sign of things to come? Absolutely. Greenwood's easily-forgotten reign started and ended with a 0-0 draw. Line up (5-4-1): Clemence; Neal, McDermott, Watson, Hughes, Cherry; Keegan, Channon, Callaghan, Kennedy; Francis. How on earth do you replace the guy who won the World Cup? What bold, new ideas can you come up with to impress the nation? You change the kit, of course! Revie, who had won two titles with Leeds, added red, white and blue stripes down the sides of the kit in a new deal with Admiral (associated with Revie's Leeds). Revie had also changed Leeds' kit from blue and yellow to white, mimicking Real Madrid. Anyway, other than being a kit designer, Revie was a great football manager and led England to an easy 3-0 win in this Euros qualifier. Was it a sign of things to come? Absolutely not. England wouldn't qualify for the Euros. Czechoslovakia won the tournament. Line up (4-3-3): Clemence; Madeley, Watson, Hunter, Hughes; Dobson, Bell, Gerry Francis; Keegan, Worthington, Channon. If the unthinkable happens and England are humiliated by Albania at Wembley on Friday, just remember that the only manager to win a tournament with England lost his first match too. In fact Ramsey is the only England manager to oversee a debut defeat, which didn't bode well for his newfangled idea of selecting the players himself. Not only that, but England were thrashed in Paris with Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Ron Springett having a nightmare. Advertisement Only two of the XI would start the World Cup final in 1966 but they were pretty decent: Bobby Moore and Bobby Charlton. Was it a sign of things to come? Yes in that England also lost Ramsey's first home match against Scotland. No in that they won the World Cup three years later. Line up (3-2-5): Springett; Armfield, Moore, Labone; Flowers, Henry; Connelly, Tambling, Smith, Greaves, Charlton. England's first post-war international saw a bright new approach in terms of, wait for it, one person leading the team. Former Manchester United player Winterbottom would become England's first, youngest and longest-serving manager. At this point he was just taking charge of the team at the discretion of the selection committee and might be allowed to decide what tactics they used, too. Heady days. Middlesbrough's Wilf Mannion scored a hat-trick. Was it a sign of things to come? It was a bold new era for English football, but Winterbottom is probably remembered best for not winning the World Cup. Line up (3-2-5): Swift; Scott, Hardwick, Wright; Franklin, Cockburn; Finney, Carter, Lawton, Mannion, Langton. Not only England's first match, but the first international match ever. For the next few decades England's football team would be selected by a committee from the FA, with the team usually organised by an FA official and a trainer, usually from one of the London clubs. The first international side was selected by Charles Alcock who wanted to pick himself, but was injured. Players were picked from nine clubs including First Surrey Rifles and Wednesday. Was it a sign of things to come? No. Players wore hats, there was tape for a crossbar and women were let in for free. Line up (1-1-8, probable): Barker; Greenhalgh; Welch; Chappell, Maynard, Brockbank, Clegg, Smith, Ottaway, Chenery, Morice. (Top photos: Getty Images)
New York Times
18-02-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
John Stones defends like a cricketer. But is it becoming a problem?
If you grow up in England playing sport, there's a good chance that your upbringing consisted of football and cricket. Indeed, in football's initial development stage, it took many cues from cricket, the dominant sport of the time. Many football clubs were originally cricket clubs: Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa, Sheffield Wednesday and even Milan. That's why there are 11 on a team. It's why football is a winter sport, to fit around the summer cricket season. There's an extensive list of players who have played top-flight football and cricket: most notably former England cricket captain Ian Botham, who made 11 Football League appearances for Scunthorpe. Advertisement The extent of professionalism means that is no longer viable, but many footballers retain an interest in cricket. Joe Hart, cut from England's World Cup 2018 squad by Gareth Southgate, didn't watch the quarter-final win over Sweden because he was playing cricket for Shrewsbury CC. Newcastle left-back Lewis Hall seemingly played a bit for Binfield CC last summer. Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson was a promising wicketkeeper before choosing football. Early in his football career, John Stones was spotted at Stockbridge CC watching some mates play cricket. And perhaps he's learned a thing or two, because Stones' defensive play owes something to the 'long barrier' technique that is essentially the first thing you're taught when learning cricket. For the uninitiated, the premise is simple: when fielding a ball rolling towards you, you turn the leg that corresponds with your throwing arm inwards, putting your knee close to your opposite foot, and form a solid block. You still attempt to stop the ball with your hands, but if that fails, your leg should come to the rescue. Simple enough. In football, it's common to see shots from the edge of the box flying through a defender's legs as they attempt to block the ball. In that case, not only has the block been unsuccessful, it often makes the goalkeeper's task trickier too. So, in recent years, Stones has been using a cricket-style long block to prevent shots from nutmegging him. Here's a classic example, from a Champions League tie against Real Madrid a few years back. Karim Benzema lines up a shot, and Stones gets into his cricket-style stance. The ball cannons off him to safety. If he'd been stood with his legs open, the ball may have whizzed between them. Here's an example from an England training session at World Cup 2022, as Jack Grealish prepared to shoot. Here, Stones' knee isn't quite to the floor, but it's probably low enough to stop the ball going underneath it. Here's an example from way back in 2016, which was actually unsuccessful, as Spain's Iago Aspas bent the ball around him into the far corner. But it shows the technique. Stones has to wait until he's sure the striker is about to shoot… … then turns his knee inwards… … and then, by the time the ball has been struck, he often has his knee on the ground. This has been a common theme of Stones' play in recent years. Here's an example from a game four years ago against West Ham… … and in the immediate aftermath of a shot from Arsenal's Bukayo Saka… … and against Southampton… … and at Euro 2024 against Slovakia. No particular analysis is required and in each of these shots, Stones successfully made blocks. There's nothing wrong with the technique in itself. But, with apologies, 'John Stones made a good block last weekend' probably doesn't merit an article. It's more noticeable when a player uses an unusual technique, and it proves unsuccessful. Advertisement And Stones' blocking technique was relevant to three of City's concessions in the 5-1 loss to Arsenal earlier this month. For the opener, when Stones' ball to Manuel Akanji resulted in a turnover in a dangerous position, Martin Odegaard had a great chance with Stefan Ortega out of the equation and only Stones able to prevent a goal. Stones did his usual long barrier, and Odegaard's shot deflected off his thigh and into the net. If he had stood up straight, perhaps he would have blocked it with his midriff. Thomas Partey's deflected goal also prompts questions about the approach. Because Stones' technique relies on coming to a complete stop and planting his feet, he sometimes doesn't get close enough to the shooter. Here's Partey lining up a long-range attempt, with Stones on the edge of the penalty box. By the time Partey's shot hits him, Stones has retreated slightly into the box, making it less effective than if he was charging forward. More problematically, Stones' stance makes a back for the shot, and sends it looping past Ortega into the far corner. Shortly afterwards, Myles Lewis-Skelly curled the ball around Stones for Arsenal's fourth goal. It's a different technique here — more of a slide, and still a sizeable gap between his legs. In isolation, there's nothing that unusual about this example, but in combination with the other two, it paints a picture of how Stones approaches these situations differently from most defenders. Overall, the technique probably works. There's a danger of Stones planting his feet too quickly, and collapsing into a lower block than other defenders, but the danger of a shot flying between defenders' legs shouldn't be underestimated. The long barrier remains a useful technique in junior cricket, although by senior level, and with the increased speed of the sports, players generally trust their ability and collect the ball on the run. Therefore, perhaps the place for the long barrier at professional level is actually in football, despite Stones showing its drawbacks recently.
