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McCLAREN: MY TACTICS DIDN'T WORK
Posted 11/10/06 21:51EmailPrintSave
Steve McClaren shouldered the blame for England's defeat in Croatia after his radical tactical switch backfired.
McClaren admitted his 3-5-2 formation had not worked as his team slumped to their first defeat of the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign.
England went behind to a header from Croatia's Brazilian-born striker Eduardo da Silva early in the second half, before a bizarre own goal from Gary Neville killed the game.
Neville's backpass bobbled over Paul Robinson's foot and rolled into England's net.
McClaren said: "We lost the game so obviously the tactics didn't work.
"The end result is that we came here to win a football match. We haven't done.
"We lost the game so obviously the tactics didn't work but in patches it did.
"We'll look at it more thoroughly and I always believe we do need to change systems and we do need another one.
"It was my decision to change and we lost the game so it's my responsibility.
"I looked at the injuries we took and the suspension of Stevie Gerrard and, knowing it was a difficult place to come, I thought we needed experience and character in the team.
"When you come away in international football, you have to try to control the game and quieten the crowd. We thought that system would do that."
England have taken only one point from two games after their goalless draw at home to Macedonia on Saturday, and the manager is braced for a barrage of criticism when he returns home.
McClaren, whose team won each of his first three games in charge, said: "Criticism is part of the job. I know that. I've been around the scene for five years and I know what it entails.
"You pick a team, you pick the tactics, you pick the shape to win a game.
"If we win it I accept the plaudits, and if we lose I accept the criticism. We lost because of our own mistakes.
"We conceded two goals. We knew we'd be under pressure. Paul Robinson kept us in the game and then we settled down.
"We controlled the game in patches.
"We were penned back in the second half and I was very disappointed we conceded the first from a cross.
"Once that happened we were always chasing the game."
Goalkeeper Robinson had kept six successive clean sheets before the trip to Zagreb and would have equalled Gordon Banks' record of seven had he kept Croatia out.
He pulled off some brilliant saves before he was beaten by Da Silva, and his night ended in misery when he missed Neville's back-pass.
McClaren said: "He didn't deserve that, after so many games. He was going to break Gordon Banks' record if he'd kept a clean sheet. It was unfortunate.
"Paul Robinson had been outstanding all night and was very disappointed about the bobble that went over his foot.
"That killed the game and it's very difficult to come back from that.
"Reflection is the key now and I'll be reflecting on events over the next month before our next friendly and over the next five months before our next competitive game."
McClaren takes his team to Holland for a friendly next month but must wait until March for the next qualifier, away in Israel.
Croatia coach Slaven Bilic admitted he was delighted when he saw England line up in a 3-5-2 formation.
Bilic said: "I hoped England would play 3-5-2 because it would give us more room to attack on the wings.
"Croatia played with that system when I played and I knew if we could switch the play quickly we would be two-on-one.
"We played that way and our main threat came on the wings. For me, our best period of the game came after the second goal.
"I expected England to come out and pressurise us but it was more a question of whether we would score a third.
"They could not push us back past our 18-yard line."
Croatia have never lost a qualifier at home and went into the game full of confidence after thrashing Andorra 7-0 on Saturday.
Bilic said: "I was thinking before the game we would walk away with three important points.
"England had 15 minutes of control before half-time but it was to no effect. The whole point for controlling the ball is to score a goal.
"We decided to play long on Peter Crouch because we didn't think he posed much of a danger.
"When Wayne Rooney has the ball anything can happen but we had four players hemming him in."
Former West Ham and Everton defender Bilic went home with the three points and Rio Ferdinand's signed England shirt to give to his son Leo.
The Croatia boss said: "Beating a great team like England means more than three points. It builds confidence for the forthcoming games.
"We were weakened by the loss of three important players but we still played better than England.
"England have to still play Israel and Russia and have no room for any mistakes."
Robinson described the 69th-minute incident which enabled Croatia to double their advantage as "a freak".
He explained on Sky Sports News: "It's one of those things - there was nothing I could do.
"I think the ball bobbled where their goalkeeper took his goal-kicks in the first half.
"You don't expect things like that to happen - I'd gone to kick the ball as usual and it wasn't there.
"But I can take positives from the game rather than just look at that."
The Tottenham goalkeeper added: "I don't think anything went for us.
"We controlled the game in the first half without causing much of a threat - we exploited them in wide areas in the first half.
"But we didn't offer much tonight - we didn't cause them too much trouble and were not much of an attacking force.
"But it (the defeat) is not going to damage us - there's a long way to go in this group."
Posted 11/10/06 21:51EmailPrintSave
Steve McClaren shouldered the blame for England's defeat in Croatia after his radical tactical switch backfired.
McClaren admitted his 3-5-2 formation had not worked as his team slumped to their first defeat of the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign.
England went behind to a header from Croatia's Brazilian-born striker Eduardo da Silva early in the second half, before a bizarre own goal from Gary Neville killed the game.
Neville's backpass bobbled over Paul Robinson's foot and rolled into England's net.
McClaren said: "We lost the game so obviously the tactics didn't work.
"The end result is that we came here to win a football match. We haven't done.
"We lost the game so obviously the tactics didn't work but in patches it did.
"We'll look at it more thoroughly and I always believe we do need to change systems and we do need another one.
"It was my decision to change and we lost the game so it's my responsibility.
"I looked at the injuries we took and the suspension of Stevie Gerrard and, knowing it was a difficult place to come, I thought we needed experience and character in the team.
"When you come away in international football, you have to try to control the game and quieten the crowd. We thought that system would do that."
England have taken only one point from two games after their goalless draw at home to Macedonia on Saturday, and the manager is braced for a barrage of criticism when he returns home.
McClaren, whose team won each of his first three games in charge, said: "Criticism is part of the job. I know that. I've been around the scene for five years and I know what it entails.
"You pick a team, you pick the tactics, you pick the shape to win a game.
"If we win it I accept the plaudits, and if we lose I accept the criticism. We lost because of our own mistakes.
"We conceded two goals. We knew we'd be under pressure. Paul Robinson kept us in the game and then we settled down.
"We controlled the game in patches.
"We were penned back in the second half and I was very disappointed we conceded the first from a cross.
"Once that happened we were always chasing the game."
Goalkeeper Robinson had kept six successive clean sheets before the trip to Zagreb and would have equalled Gordon Banks' record of seven had he kept Croatia out.
He pulled off some brilliant saves before he was beaten by Da Silva, and his night ended in misery when he missed Neville's back-pass.
McClaren said: "He didn't deserve that, after so many games. He was going to break Gordon Banks' record if he'd kept a clean sheet. It was unfortunate.
"Paul Robinson had been outstanding all night and was very disappointed about the bobble that went over his foot.
"That killed the game and it's very difficult to come back from that.
"Reflection is the key now and I'll be reflecting on events over the next month before our next friendly and over the next five months before our next competitive game."
McClaren takes his team to Holland for a friendly next month but must wait until March for the next qualifier, away in Israel.
Croatia coach Slaven Bilic admitted he was delighted when he saw England line up in a 3-5-2 formation.
Bilic said: "I hoped England would play 3-5-2 because it would give us more room to attack on the wings.
"Croatia played with that system when I played and I knew if we could switch the play quickly we would be two-on-one.
"We played that way and our main threat came on the wings. For me, our best period of the game came after the second goal.
"I expected England to come out and pressurise us but it was more a question of whether we would score a third.
"They could not push us back past our 18-yard line."
Croatia have never lost a qualifier at home and went into the game full of confidence after thrashing Andorra 7-0 on Saturday.
Bilic said: "I was thinking before the game we would walk away with three important points.
"England had 15 minutes of control before half-time but it was to no effect. The whole point for controlling the ball is to score a goal.
"We decided to play long on Peter Crouch because we didn't think he posed much of a danger.
"When Wayne Rooney has the ball anything can happen but we had four players hemming him in."
Former West Ham and Everton defender Bilic went home with the three points and Rio Ferdinand's signed England shirt to give to his son Leo.
The Croatia boss said: "Beating a great team like England means more than three points. It builds confidence for the forthcoming games.
"We were weakened by the loss of three important players but we still played better than England.
"England have to still play Israel and Russia and have no room for any mistakes."
Robinson described the 69th-minute incident which enabled Croatia to double their advantage as "a freak".
He explained on Sky Sports News: "It's one of those things - there was nothing I could do.
"I think the ball bobbled where their goalkeeper took his goal-kicks in the first half.
"You don't expect things like that to happen - I'd gone to kick the ball as usual and it wasn't there.
"But I can take positives from the game rather than just look at that."
The Tottenham goalkeeper added: "I don't think anything went for us.
"We controlled the game in the first half without causing much of a threat - we exploited them in wide areas in the first half.
"But we didn't offer much tonight - we didn't cause them too much trouble and were not much of an attacking force.
"But it (the defeat) is not going to damage us - there's a long way to go in this group."
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