Anthony Barry criticises England’s ‘complicated and confusing’ first-half display

“We played long when we should play short and played short when we should play long really," added the former Republic of Ireland coach

England head coach Thomas Tuchel and assistant head coach Anthony Barry head in at half-time. Pic: Nick Potts/PA Wire.

Anthony Barry delivered a highly critical verdict of a “complicated and confusing” first-half display from England in their World Cup opener with Croatia.

Harry Kane scored twice during the first 45 minutes of the Group L encounter in Dallas, but sloppy errors allowed Martin Baturina and Petar Musa to reply for Croatia and ensure it was 2-2 at half-time.

Thomas Tuchel’s assistant spoke to ITV1 during the interval and made clear his disgruntlement with the team along with the “fearful patterns” of play on show in Arlington.

“Overall, a complicated and confusing first half from us really,” said the former Republic of Ireland coach.

Stephen Kenny with Anthony Barry during the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifying group A match between Republic of Ireland and Serbia. Pic: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

“I think a lot of nervous energy early on and maybe that should be accepted and maybe expected in the opening game of a World Cup. From there we made some decisions where the energy was not free in our mind.

“We played long when we should play short and played short when we should play long really. Not playing through the gaps, so not allowing us to accelerate our game the way we wanted to.

“You’d think the penalty would free us up and allow us to play more like us and look more like ourselves, but again we fall back into some fearful patterns.

“Yeah, we’ve always been able to rely on set-pieces. We get the second goal and again we’re hoping that’s the moment to free us up and move forward in the game, but OK, we concede the second goal late on.”