Let's be brutally honest from the off. When you watch England labour through a quarter of a football match without a single shot on target, the questi...
Let's be brutally honest from the off. When you watch England labour through a quarter of a football match without a single shot on target, the question of who was the biggest attacking threat almost feels like a trap. But the ratings are in, and GoalZaza has pored over the tape. The answer, as is so often the case with this squad, is not the man wearing the armband.Harry Kane dropped deep, picked up the ball in areas that would make a deep lying playmaker blush, and promptly looked like a man running through treacle. His link up play was tidy enough, but an England centre forward cannot be judged on tidy alone. He needs to be a threat in the box. Against a Croatia side that sat in a compact low block, Kane's decision to drift into midfield felt less like tactical flexibility and more like an admission that he didn't fancy the fight. The result A performance that screamed 'bottled it' in the final third.The real spark came from the wide areas. One winger in particular looked like he had been shot out of a cannon. His direct running, willingness to take on his full back, and one searing diagonal ball that split the Croatian defence were the only moments that got the crowd out of their seats. He was the sole player capable of turning a stagnant possession spell into something resembling transitional play. Clinical finishing remains a worry for this side, but without that individual's willingness to run at people, England would have been left passing the ball sideways until the final whistle.Defensively, the full backs offered a mixed bag. The left back was a constant outlet and delivered the best cross of the match, yet his positional discipline left the centre backs exposed on the break. The midfield pivot, meanwhile, struggled to dictate the tempo. They were tidy without being incisive, recycling possession but rarely finding that killer pass to break the lines. It is all well and good keeping the ball, but there is a difference between keeping it and hurting the opponent with it. Today, England did far too much of the former and not nearly enough of the latter.So who gets the top marks The lad on the right wing. He was the biggest attacking threat by a country mile. If Gareth Southgate can get Kane to stay in the penalty area and let his wide men do the creating, this team might just have something. But if Kane continues to play like a midfielder who happens to wear a number nine shirt, then we will be having this same conversation again in a fortnight. Squeaky bum time, indeed.
