The only place to start this week is by looking back on England’s draw against Ghana, and I think people shouldn’t be too disappointed. You’ve got to credit Ghana, who made it so difficult. They defended for their lives, and their game-plan worked brilliantly. England tried to create chances, and you could see Thomas Tuchel getting frustrated with his left-hand side, playing Anthony Gordon and Djed Spence there.
I think he played Spence because of Ghana‘s pace on the counter-attack, which is where they could have caused problems. I don’t think anyone should get too excited or disappointed by what happened though, because Spain drew their first game against Cape Verde, and Portugal were held by DR Congo. England started the tournament well against Croatia, and know they’ll still top the group if they beat Panama.
Clinton was speaking on behalf of Freebets.com.
Clinton Morrison: ‘Don’t get too excited or disappointed by England-Ghana draw’
Not every team they’re going to play against is going to have a low block. The further you go in the competition, the less likely you’re going to be playing teams with that tactic. That’s unless you believe you’re good enough to win on penalties. But when you’re playing against the top nations, they’ll come out and play, which is when you’ll see England at their best.
I think we might see up to three changes for the Panama game tonight, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bukayo Saka start. He was very bright when he came on, while Marcus Rashford could be brought in on that left-hand side instead of Anthony Gordon.
But I can’t really see many more changes beyond that. I thought about whether Tuchel would give Harry Kane a bit of a rest and start Ollie Watkins, but I can’t see that happening.
Panama would also love to help take a scalp by beating England in the World Cup. But England can play with freedom too, because they’re going to qualify from the group anyway. You just want to see a bit more threat in those attacking areas, like we saw against Croatia.
One player who’s certainly delivered at this tournament is Lionel Messi. I’ve always been a Messi man, if you’re asking me to compare him with Cristiano Ronaldo. I think they’re both unbelievable players and I don’t think we’ll see another two like that for a very long time. I love Messi, I’ve always liked him. I just think he’s an amazing player.
To see him break that World Cup goalscoring record was amazing. He could have had a hat-trick against Austria, had it not been for that missed penalty. As for Ronaldo, I wouldn’t say that there’s much in it.
While I prefer watching Messi, you cannot dismiss Ronaldo’s incredible achievements. I don’t understand why he has doubters; it just makes me laugh. He’s always going to play for Portugal. The fans go mad when he scores, and he’s a phenomenon.
His first goal where it’s whipped in by Joao Cancelo and he fires home at the near post, is a brilliant finish. It’s such a hard skill, nine times out of 10 you lean back and don’t hit the target, but he makes it look easy.
The movement he creates for the second goal is really good. People are critical of Ronaldo, but you can’t be criticising him for what he’s done in his career, in terms of the goals he’s scored, what he’s won, and the fact he’s delivering in the World Cup at the age of 41. Him and Messi are the two best to ever do it.
This World Cup as a whole will also be remembered for how the smaller nations have gained recognition, like Cape Verde, who have had such a memorable debut at the tournament. It’s great to see how they’ve been able to showcase themselves.
I’m glad that the expansion to 48 teams happened because they can compete on the biggest stage against the best players in the world. The emotional scenes from Cape Verde when they drew against Spain were brilliant, as it was when Curaçao got their first point against Ecuador.
I’ll finish this week with a few words about Luka Modrić, who is a fantastic footballer. He’s so good on the ball and makes things happen. It looked like age had caught up with him a bit against England, but you can never give someone like that with time and space on the ball. He just goes about his business with little fuss, and to reach 200 caps for Croatia is an incredible achievement.