Neville, Keane rave over Tuchel tactical masterclass that nullified Croatia’s biggest threat | OneFootball

Gary Neville and Roy Keane were both full of praise for Thomas Tuchel’s tactical approach to England’s World Cup thumping of Croatia that all proved ‘too much’ for veteran star Luka Modric.

Modric became just the fourth European player to have participated in five World Cups as he lined up in Dallas for the opening group-stage contest.

However, it was an evening to forget for the 40-year-old AC Milan star as England hounded him throughout, with Modric hauled off and replaced by Mateo Kovacic in the 58th-minute.

And Neville was full of praise of England’s midfielders in how they nullified the potential threat posed by the former Tottenham and Real Madrid midfielder.

“What we were worried about at the start of the game was Luka Modric was going to run the game,” Neville told ITV.

“That didn’t happen. He’s a great player but he went off after 55 minutes – it was just too much for him.

“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, to be fair to them.”

Keane: Modric shown ‘no respect’

Fellow ITV pundit Keane was equally impressed by England’s approach to Modric, adding: “When you’re playing in the middle of the park, your experience can be vital, but if you’re not at it and people are running over you, that experience can cost you.

“He’s 40 years of age and England dominated the midfield and that was a big part of them winning the game. I don’t think England paid Modric any respect in that sense.”

Assessing England’s overall display, Keane added that the nature of the first-half performance will keep Thomas Tuchel and his team honest for the coming games ahead.

“They’ll be delighted,” the former Republic of Ireland skipper added.

“Scored four goals, the attacking players obviously having an impact, subs coming on and doing well, controlling the game.

“They looked dangerous at set pieces and I think it’s good, though strange, that they conceded a couple of goals because it keeps them on their toes.

“I think if they’d won three or four-nil the two lads [Neville and Wright] would have been on the table!”

Neville, meanwhile, also touched on how Tuchel’s half-time team talk clearly paid dividends with the second-half display.

“He’s [Thomas Tuchel] given them an absolute rocket at half-time hasn’t he?” he said. “They’ve come out and for 20 minutes in that second half they were breath-taking.

“What I liked about it then is they had to sit off and play a bit deeper. He [Tuchel] makes the substitutions and 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 10 minutes was fantastic.”

England face Ghana, who beat Panama with a 95th-minute winner, in their next group stage contest in Boston on Tuesday evening.