Gary Neville claims England played better in goalless Ghana draw than in 4-2 Croatia thumping

Ex-England star Gary Neville has claimed that the Three Lions played better in last night's goalless draw with Ghana than in their 4-2 win against Croatia.

The former Manchester United defender suggested Thomas Tuchel's side were in "control" of the game, which was far better than their first match, despite failing to find the net.

England dominated the stats, having 78 per cent of the ball and 19 shots, but with only three on target and huge chances missed, the Three Lions had to settle for a 0-0 draw.

Speaking on his Stick to Football Podcast, Neville said he "enjoyed the game" before making the bold suggestion.

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He added: "I'm going to get heavily criticised for this, but there's part of me that thinks that was a better performance than the game against Croatia.

"If you could mix together the Croatia game and the Ghana game, you've probably got a really good performance.

"I liked large parts of the game - the control, the order, the chaos had gone.

"I thought [Marc] Guehi and [Ezri] Konsa pushing on and stopping counterattacks, I thought they were in control of the match and passed it well."

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Neville continued: "Set pieces were a real opportunity in that game - there were loads of corners and free kicks, and the one Declan [Rice] put round to [Elliot] Anderson for the header, that's a routine they've really worked at, they built that space round the back, and it's a really poor header.

"It'll be interesting to see how that game gets received at home.

"Those are the sort of games I played quite a few times for England, where we've been knocking on the door, we can't break them down, they're so deep, and you get criticised for it."

The pundit praised the way England defended after conceding two goals against Croatia, keeping a clean sheet and allowing only a couple of shots.

Neville said: "If I step into one of those defenders' shoes, or I'm the defensive coach on Thomas Tuchel's backroom staff, I'm walking in there with [Jordan] Pickford - you're not celebrating, not smiling, not bragging, but there's a quiet satisfaction.

"I think someone will say it in that dressing room: a 0-0 is the best draw you can get right now for England, because we need to build that confidence defensively.

"I thought [Ezri] Konsa and [Marc] Guehi did that, to be fair."

Harry Kane missed a golden opportunity to win the game for England after Nico O'Reilly headed onto the crossbar.

Kane fell to his knees holding his head, rueing the missed chance which would have won England the game and sent the Three Lions through to the knockout stages.

Commenting on the miss, Neville added: "You get the big chance with Harry Kane, and I couldn't believe he missed it.

"He can't miss those chances."

England's final game of the group stages sees them face Panama at 10pm on June 27.

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