Was Heskey really the difference? Croatia 1 – 4 England postgame analysis

In light of the fact that England performed as well as I had predicted (okay, a little better, even) I wanted to take a look at what really worked for England.

It’s hard to overlook the contribution of Theo Walcott who was exceptional; everything the youngster touched turned to goals. So I’m going to analyse the goals in depth, rather than the whole performance.

If you want to see them to watch as you read they are collected on one page here.

One of the major positives for a lot of journalists and fans that I have talked with (I’ve talked with fans, not journalists, I’ve just read them) was the inclusion of a big target man, namely: Emile Heskey. But as you’ll see from a close look at the goals, Heskey wasn’t really included the plays.

Take a look at the first goal and you’ll see Heskey doesn’t even move, almost until the ball is already in the goal. He starts in an offside position so he cannot take part. Instead he holds still until he realises the move still has potential then he makes his move, long after Joe Cole, who tried the initial burst into the box that Rooney attempted to feed. It was also Cole who was on hand to tap-in if the keeper had got a hand to Walcott’s strike.

Walcott did the right things all night. But most noticeable was the way he struck this first goal across the goalkeeper. If the keeper gets a touch it turns into a cross, if not you score. This is in stark contrast to the overly unselfish style he has had in the past – always trying a cut-back or driving the ball across the 6-yard line.

In the fourth goal, again Heskey finds himself in an offside position, but he is lucky that Rooney completely ignores him–perhaps Rooney was looking to get Walcott a hatrick–and slides the ball inside the left back for Walcott to run onto. In these two goals it’s hard to even defend Heskey’s contribution in keeping defender’s busy. In the first he is unmarked throughout the move; in the fourth his marker lets him wander offside and tries to double-up on Rooney.

I don’t want to get on his case, but his play, although ultimately irrelevant, during the 3rd goal (Rooney’s) is also poor forward play.

This is how the second goal occurred.

A. Cole (3) wins the ball. Jenas (16) breaks and cuts back for Rooney (10).

The defending by Croatia is awful. #13 starts off tracking Lampard (8) but is forced to leave his man when inexplicably #15 retreats away from the ball. Had #15 closed down Jenas before he got to the box he would at least have forced a difficult cross instead of allowing a simple cut-back.

Once Jenas gets on the ball and races clear he has three choices, a low hard cross, a chip to the back post or a cut-back.

Rooney (10) is coming in from deep, as is to be expected from the supporting forward, so he should take the cut-back; Walcott (7) had rightly tucked in and was waiting at the back post; Heskey (9) should have taken his defender towards the front post which would have left Walcott wide open. Heskey even thought about it, but then changed his mind, instead he waits stationary for a pass. To be fair he’s open himself, and if he gets the pass he might score, but he should be thinking about the team and doing his job which is to make the front post run so that all bases are covered.

That sounds complicated–how can you expect Heskey to think about all that in the few seconds of play?–but it’s not; those are the practiced runs and roles for this kind of breakaway with a 4-4-2. As the front-man, he should dart for the front post, if the cross is repelled first time, or Jenas waits to cross then he goes back post where he offers his height advantage. (Rooney–now at the penalty spot–would make the dart for the front post and Walcott (along with Lampard who had followed up) would drop-off for the nod-down.)

I saved the second goal for last, because this is where Heskey does extremely well. He is playing right on the last man, where he should be in this kind of build-up. When Lampard drills the ball in, Heskey has to stretch and does great to bring the ball under control before rolling it back to Rooney then turning to get in the box. Rooney plays a lovely 1-time pass for Walcott who again shoots across the keeper. This time Heskey’s run is spot on too; if the keeper spills a save, Heskey has timed it to pounce before the defender.

My problem with Heskey as a player is shown in this analysis, it was the same problem I had with him when he was at my team (Liverpool): he doesn’t get into goalscoring positions enough. From set plays he is useful and he gets most of his goals that way; sometimes he is also picked out by an excellent cross and will score. That might be good enough for Wigan, but it wasn’t good enough for Liverpool, and it’s not good enough for England.

His other asset is his link-up play as a target man. He is strong and he works hard, and he is an outlet who a decent midfielder can hit with a long pass and expect him to hold it up while players move around him. At this he’s good, but is he the best? The other alternatives for this role are Crouch and Ashton. The problem with Crouch is he is a weak player and is too often bustled off the ball when you need him to hold it up, but his footwork is brilliant. The problem with Ashton is he always injured, and is unproven at the highest level. I’ll reiterate that I think Ashton is the long term plan for this role, but for now Heskey will have to do, despite his short comings.

The only other alternative is to play a different kind of partner for Rooney. Owen is that man (with Defoe as understudy) and that can work – it has in the past. Owen is a natural and he would have made that run that Heskey didn’t, but he’s no target man.

Depending on the opposition Cappello needs to assess whether a big man up top us necessary, if not then Owen should step in, if so then let’s give Ashton a chance. We entertain Kazakhstan in a month and then travel to Belarus. Although 6 points is necessary, I think we can afford to give Ashton a chance in these games; either starting him with Rooney, or bringing him on to replace Owen. It depends on how physical those teams are in defense, and how much they plan to pack the back line. I’d expect Kazakhstan to get men behind the ball, in which case Owen might be the better option.

This was an excellent start to the campaign though. It banished all memories of the Andorra game – which now definitely seems like ‘3 points, that’s all that matters’. This game was the biggest of the campaign and a win sets us in good stead to qualify.

I didn’t want to go into too much detail about their goal (as it should have been a free-kick on the half-way for dangerous play), or the sending off, which was very harsh–a yellow would have sufficed–it did allow England to dominate though, as switching to one up front meant Croatia had no outlet, and with Barry stifling Modric all game, they couldn’t even run it out. It was a fine performance made easier by the red card, but the result was the right one anyway.

Tags: Croatia, England, hattrick, Rooney, Walcott