It is a peculiar sensation, is it not The feeling that a single figure has been haunting your national team's dreams for nearly two decades. When Luka...
It is a peculiar sensation, is it not The feeling that a single figure has been haunting your national team's dreams for nearly two decades. When Luka Modric first pulled on the Croatian shirt against England, Tony Blair was still in Downing Street, Arsenal were still settling into their new home at the Emirates, and a certain Mr Guardiola was finishing his playing days in Mexico. The world of football has turned over several times since then. Yet there he stands, poised to torment the Three Lions one more time, this time in the humidity of Dallas.Let us be clear about what this man represents. He is not just a midfielder; he is a temporal anomaly. He has been the chief architect of English misery across three separate generations of our players. First, in that qualifier in Zagreb back in 2006 where a young, slight figure bent the game to his will. Then, famously, in Moscow during the 2018 World Cup semi final where his tactical intelligence and lung busting extra time run exposed a lack of discipline from an England side that had dared to dream. And who can forget the Nations League fixtures where his low block organisation and transitional play left Gareth Southgate's side looking utterly franticThe irony, of course, is rich. England have spent years trying to produce a player who can dictate the tempo from deep with that same blend of metronomic passing and sudden, incisive thrust. We have produced athletes, powerhouses, and box to box runners, but we have never truly produced a Modric. He is a problem that cannot be solved with a low block or physical pressing; he simply finds the space that does not exist, receives the ball on the half turn, and releases the pressure valve for his team. Can a new generation of English midfielders, perhaps more comfortable in possession than their predecessors, finally bottle his influenceThis is not a tale of farewells or sentiment, though. Modric is here to win. He has never been a player for the friendly goodbye. The challenge for England is psychological as much as tactical. How do you convince a squad that they are the better team on paper when the ghost of defeats past is standing ten yards away in the centre circle, looking as calm as if he were playing a kickabout in the park The answer will come in Dallas, where this old master will attempt to write one more painful chapter against a nation he has made a career out of tormenting. Squeaky bum time, indeed.If England have truly evolved, they will need to show it by denying him time and space in the transition zones. But if you are waiting for Modric to look his age, you have not been paying attention for the last twenty years.
