England vs Croatia: Harry Kane finds form, England show improvement and Nations League verdict

Five things we leaned as England beat Croatia to advance to the Nations League knockout round

Harry Kane's late goal to complete England's comeback against Croatia fired Gareth Southgate's side into the semi-final of the Nations League, 10 minutes after it looked like they were being relegated.

England dominated the opening stages but Andrej Kramaric gave Croatia a second half lead and put England on the brink of relegation. However, Southgate's substitutions changed the game and Jesse Lingard and Kane scored late to win the match 2-1 and top the group ahead of Croatia and Spain.

It's still the early stages of the new competition, but there was a real sense of pride in England's win and they will now begin preparations for the final four in Portugal in June 2019.

England make up for poor finishing

Just like the World Cup semi-final England started so well and were creating brilliant scoring chances with ease, however, just like the World Cup semi-final, it was not enough. Raheem Sterling and Kane were both guilty of missing some great opportunities in the first half, some which you feel they score every week in the Premier League.

After going a goal behind, Southgate brought on Dele Alli, Lingard and Jadon Sancho and the game changed in their favour. There was a sharpness back to the play and things were moving along much better.

There was no better ending than for Kane to make up for several earlier misses and fire England into the Nations League semi-final with a finish from a low free kick to complete the comeback after Lingard prodded in his touch round the goalkeeper to get them back into the game.

Harry Kane initially struggled (Action Images via Reuters)

Midfield dominance shows progression

In the World Cup semi-final, England’s midfield was far inferior to Croatia’s, several weeks later in their first Nations League meeting and Southgate’s side were able to match their opponents. Now, England have finally been able to dominate the middle of the pitch against Croatia, a testament to their improvement.

Fabian Delph was the unlikely candidate to channel his inner-Pirlo and assert himself as the playmaker in midfielder with a flawless range of well-executed passing throughout. Eric Dier added strength and Ross Barkley was a threat going forward.

Granted, Croatia were without Ivan Rakitic, however it was further justification of Southgate’s switch from three in defence to 4-3-3.

Fabian Delph impressed in midfield (AFP/Getty Images)

Croatia hampered by schedule

There was a familiar feel about this match. England arrived at Wembley filled with confidence and Croatia had just endured a tough 90 minutes against Spain. The visitors were evidently tired and struggled to handle the fast tempo that England set.

Ultimately it was their downfall as England changed the game with their substitutes and won the game late with help from their superior fitness.

England’s passing from deep remains inconsistent

At times England’s play from the back was exceptional, truly fantastic. Jordan Pickford’s poise in possession, combined with John Stones’ quality with the ball at his feet got the ball rolling for some of England’s fine moves against Croatia.

There was no panic or rash clearances when Croatia pressed high up the pitch, and as a result they were able to put together some neat moves to get the team in attacking areas.

However, for all of the great play, there was a nagging sense that it could easily be undone by a costly error, and it nearly was. Delph slipped when playing the ball back towards his goalkeeper and Pickford’s hesitation invited Ante Rebic to score, but his effort, at the second time of asking, went over.

Nations League verdict

Well that’s it then. The league stage of the Nations League has concluded and now we can really assess whether it can really become a success. The objective was to give teams a meaningful set of matches between international tournament qualifying, and it’s certainly done that.

Without the Nations League, we would have just sat through a dull friendly ruined but nine substitutions and a sub-standard attendance. Instead, England and Croatia competed, and that is definitely a key word when reflecting on all of this, in an engaging tie that captured the attention of the audience and players.

When Kramaric opened the scoring in the second half there was a collective feeling that was evoked which proves that this is definitely something meaningful. If that was not convincing enough then the elation when Jesse Lingard pulled things level was telling, and who else celebrated Kane’s late winner like it was something from the World Cup?