THOMAS TUCHEL was hailed by ITV pundits for his tactical trick to help England beat Croatia.
The Three Lions romped to a 4-2 victory at the Dallas Stadium in Arlington, Texas, to make it an exciting start to the tournament.
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Thomas Tuchel has been praised for his tactics against Croatia Credit: Shutterstock Editorial
Roy Keane and Gary Neville hailed his use of Elliot Anderson to neutralise Luka Modric Credit: ITV
Harry Kane‘s first-half brace was cancelled out by goals from Croatia‘s Martin Baturina and Petar Musa.
The Three Lions re-established the lead for the third time after half-time as Jude Bellingham scored before Marcus Rashford wrapped up the win.
But one player who struggled against England was former Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid star Luka Modric.
The 2018 Ballon d’Or-winning midfielder was hooked by Croatia boss Zlatko Dalic before the hour mark after struggling against England.
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A big part of this was the efforts of Elliot Anderson, who was tasked with neutralising the Croatian star man.
The tactic implemented by Tuchel was picked up on by Gary Neville and Roy Keane in the ITV studio.
Neville said: “What we were worried about at the start of the game was that Luka Modric was going to run the game.
“That didn’t happen. He’s a great player, but he went off after 55 minutes – it was just too much for him.
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This year’s World Cup is like no other as a record-breaking 48 nations compete to lift football’s biggest prize.
England manager Thomas Tuchel is hoping to finally bring football home after a 60-year drought.
But footballing legends Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have other plans in what will likely be their final World Cup appearance.
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“Elliot Anderson, in particular, really targeted him, got around him and didn’t let him dictate the game.
“In years gone past, England teams have stood off players like that and let them have one hundred passes – these lads didn’t do that today.”
Keane was also keen to highlight that England did the right thing by not showing the now-AC Milan ace any respect on the pitch.
He added: “He’s 40 years of age and England dominated the midfield and that was a big part of them winning the game.
Elliot Anderson was tasked with controlling Modric Credit: Getty
The Croatian legend was subbed before the hour mark Credit: Getty
“I don’t think England paid Modric any respect in that sense.”
Neville also highlighted the impact made by the half-time team-talk from Tuchel after England’s inconsistent first-half display.
He said: “He’s [Thomas Tuchel] given them an absolute rocket at half-time.
“They’ve come out, and for 20 minutes in that second half, they were breathtaking.
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“What I liked about it then is they had to sit off and play a bit deeper.
“He [Tuchel] makes the substitutions, they have a big impact, and we go and get that fourth [goal].
“It was a really good second half, and some of the stuff in the first ten minutes was fantastic”
England play their second Group L game against Ghana next Tuesday as Croatia face Panama.
England will play Ghana in their second group match Credit: Getty
Tuchel will be sweating on the fitness of stars Declan Rice and captain Kane.
He was forced to take the midfielder off during the match – something he admitted he would not normally do.
Kane was spotted with a strapping on his leg after the full-time whistle despite playing the full match.
The striker will be desperate to be fit enough to play as he drew level with Gary Lineker’s record of ten tournament goals for England.
