I HAVEN’T been able to watch every single game at Russia 2018, but all of the matches I have seen have been similar in one respect.
The teams which have played counter attacking football have enjoyed great success.
At the weekend, Argentina, Portugal and Spain, countries renowned for playing free-flowing football, all crashed out.
I think the reason why smaller nations like Croatia have done so well is because of how they have approached their outings - they have been fit, they have been organised and they have hit teams on the counter attack.
We have had a lot of exciting games, we have had penalty controversies, we have had late goals, but I can’t believe how much teams have sat back and hit on the counter attack.
Perhaps that is because of the pressure there is on managers to succeed. Many of them are taking the Jose Mourinho approach. Their teams are difficult to beat first and foremost. Tournament football is so different to the league game.
There hasn’t been an absolutely outstanding team, like there was when, say, Spain won in South Africa back in 2014.
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