Coach wrote:
@Marko, experience is arbitrary, experience of what? How many of those Croatian players have played international semi-finals? Is experience a euphemism for old age, yet wasn't the youthful exuberance banded around by all as the game changing attribute? There was a certain nonchalance and arrogance that came with youth, an innocence and unknowing that would have them stopover and backheel where senior heads would square pass. Pickford has the experience of fighting a losing battle, clinging on to slender hopes and flinging his body to and fro to keep the impossible alive. Kane, Alli, Trippier have locked horns with European Champions and emerged victorious. John Stones experienced near invincibility with Man City, Henderson has experienced cup finals, Lingard, the weighty burden of playing for the biggest club in England. What experience are they supposedly missing? Yes, its a new team, but one hatched together over a number of months, one bonded by ancestry and employers, in many cases.
England were not beaten by experience, they were beaten by the better team, a team who used their ascendancy wisely. For thirty minutes, England were in full flight, that was when the game needed to be buried. Hurrying out of the corner, they landed with the big right, but failed to breach the coverup thereafter. Seeing their punches rebound off gloves and struggling to work in the clinches took its toll. Croatia boxed expertly, whilst working out how to play against Southgate's brand of rugby-football, they did what a good boxer does, covered up, worked the clinch and leaned in full body weight. England had to stretch the distance, step back, work the jab, they didn't. Clinch after clinch after clinch. Full body weight working away at the shoulders. When it came to box in the latter rounds, they couldn't raise those wearied arms. That wasn't a matter of experience, it was sheer brilliance. Croatia took the brawl back to a boxing match, where Modric rose to Floyd Mayweather.
we have seen this too many times in football, when one team does not take their chances and the other one scores and wins, Belgium, France, quite similar, for all Belgium dominant play, they could not convert their chances but France did and defended well
when i say experience, they have players who have won champions league a few times, like Modric and the other Barcelona player, this is where experience comes into play, not about age but been used to this environment, same reason, Liverpool bottled it at the champions league final when the British pundits said Salah was better than Ronaldo and Messi
England will learn from this experfience, they over achieved, thats a fact, these pundits before the world cup said, England will be out by the quarter finals, but they went one step ahead, of course they went into a frenzy and were looking at the final as if Croatia did not get to the semi-finals on merit
they will learn from this episode
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