Kevin Kilbane believes that Jordan Henderson began to go missing for England against Sweden and that a lack of ball retention might augur badly for the Three Lions against Croatia.
Michael Quinlivan put the point to Kevin that England's midfield of Jordan Henderson, Jesse Lingard and Dele Alli might struggle to retain possession against a team of Croatia's talents.
"The point you make is valid - it's probably not good enough to compete at that level, certainly ball retention anyway. That is where England could get undone on on Wednesday. That's where they could be seriously, seriously hurt," said Kevin.
It is Henderson in particular that worries Kevin against the Croats.
"Henderson actually played quite well Saturday - I thought his distribution was a lot better than it was than in the Colombia game. If you are playing that deep-lying role, I think you've got to be prepared to make mistakes but you have to be prepared to get on the ball. He made a couple of mistakes in the game in the second half and I think overall he maybe had a reluctance to get on the ball.
"I think he went he went hiding a little bit. I think he stepped in behind midfielders, pointing towards to take the ball when he's in so much space. Henderson could be one where if things aren't going right for them, then he may have a tendency to not want the ball. That could be a big area for them if they are getting dominated with those players that you mention: Rakitic and particularly Modric. Modric has been the the mainstay; he's been the one that has been reliable, because Rakitic was quite poor in the last game against Russia."
England's midfield generally needs to up its game, where they have been solid there has perhaps not been the levels of creativity that are going to be necessary to win the World Cup.
"But Alli has not been firing. Yes, he got a goal in the last match, but he has not been firing. Jesse Lingard probably brings you something different, where he's going to bring you the energy and is going to bring you the legs to get around the pitch and close down, maybe even ball carrying as well. But certainly ball retention could be the key to this game, and Croatia have got far better players there."
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