Modric have anything left in the tank?

You think this guy has anything left for england?  485 minutes in the World Cup and don't forget he played in the Champions League final.

 yes luka is extremely fit and he has great desire to win 

I just went in for England to advance.

Consider this:

-Croatia's goalie obviously has a hamstring injury.  Sure he made it through the game, but he didn't take a goal kick because of it.  So he wasn't faking it.  He also pulled up on a free kick in pain in OT.  The more you put strain on a hamstring, the tighter it gets.  If he's not 100% big problem because next up is a guy who plays for Gent or Dynamo Zagreb, I don't think so.

-Right back Vrsaljko who plays for Atletico Madrid (great defensive team) was subbed out in OT for injury.  He asked to be waved off.  From what I saw it looks like a knee injury.  The guy Corluka who came in for him plays for Moscow (not exactly Atletico Madrid) AND what also is very important, they had to put him at center d and moved a guy to right d.  This screwed up their defensive formation and Russia looked threatening after Vrsaljko was subbed out, and scored a goal.

-Modric is 32 years old and has played a ton of games, 2 120 minute games where had to take PKs, and let's include the Champions League final against Liverpool when most players were resting.  At the end of regulation the guy slumped over put his hands on his knees.  They have to have him at 100%.

-Mandzukic looked like he was done.  I don't know, maybe he'll come back.

English team looked fresh.  They were in St Petersburg before the game ended.  Game against Sweden was a breeze. 

So like I said I already took a swipe at England to advance.  The longer the game goes the better for England.  Penalty kicks who knows-but if the Croatia goalie's hamstring is a problem I'll take my chances.

Sometimes teams who have an excuse to leave the World Cup, take that excuse.

You can certainly have Croatia say were were exhausted and nobody would fault them.

Will it happen who knows it's soccer Croatia can win sure.  It's a great team.

But the tired and injury factor certainly favors England big going on.  No question about it.

Another thing the Croatia coach said if a player is not 100% he won't play.

Big thing for me is Vrsaljko if he doesn't play it will make a huge difference imo and you should go big. Not a big name but the defensive formation will change and that is always a big deal with players who learn how to position themselves against known fellow defenders on d.  just one out of position can mean goal.

budwiser

I am also leaning on England to advance. The Russia game took a whole lot out of Croatia both physically and mentally.

Is Croatia a favorite over England if you take out the injuries/fatigue factor?

yeah England would still be the favorite.  The injury factor doesn't count for much in regards to the odds line.  Only if Modric was out, or some superstar, would you see a major change in the odds line.

question is, is the croatia fatigue and injury factor real or not.  i'm making a case that it is.  putting some cash on the line for that case (could be wrong hope not).

I would have thought Croatia would be favorite.

Croatia was out of subs in ET because they had used the remaining one to replace Vrsaljko. So after Vrsaljko got subbed out, Subasic had to play through that hammy injury for 20 minutes of ET and the PK shootout.

BOL

Fair enough.  I know nothing about Kalinic.

According to reports vrsaljko is OUT. 

yeah i saw that sprint from modric at 115.  i also saw him put his hands on his knees.  so who knows, right?

if vida goes right and coluka goes in at center back, it's the change in positions that matter to me.  playing defense you need eyes in the back of your head and need to know where your teammates are, and you're not going to learn that in 2 days.  you learn that when someone scores on you.  that's in theory...

anyways good luck also.  certainly in soccer you have to have luck.  brazil was better than belgium but belgium got the breaks and won...and this happens in so many games where the better team loses.  nobody is going to say s korea is better than germany but they won.

odds didn't move at all on the news.  maybe they knew beforehand or if not, it doesn't matter to the books.

Fellas a gift from Croatia as they just threw their assistant coach Vukejovic  for no good reason at all!

He was part of that "slava ukraina" chant with Vida, who got a warning from FIFA.  Well then Croatia just overdid it for political reasons and completely ripped Vukejovic of all credentials and promptly fired him!

And this for a team that says its main strength is unity?  To play for a country that just threw their coach under the bus?!

imo England to advance is cherry picking.  I'm not adding to it but I sure am glad right now that I made the England pick.

You think they'll move Vida to right back, out of position, and he'll be ready to soak it all in after his coach friend just got fired by his country over a joke?!  Unbelievable. He can't be thinking straight. 

Maybe through a set piece like England has been doing all tournament.  Who knows.

in overtime when they took out vrsaljko they finally gave up an EASY header...which is exactly my point.  they're moving parts now on defense which only spells trouble.

Really?  Croatia had Iceland, Russia, Denmark, Nigeria. and yes...Argentina.  If you can call them Argentina.

Can i think of anything glaringly bad about England, no.  

Not trying to be a jerk...I just think this is a major play.  If I thought it was a non-play (like Belgium-France), i wouldn't mention it as a play.  Belgium has issues on defense, and I'm not as impressed by France's attacking ability as most are.  I think Brazil was the better team against Belgium and got unlucky.  France sometimes looks very average.  So I can go on about weaknesses but yeah...sorry I just don't see much in England.  A bunch of no-names; there is no Gerrard Rooney so on to really get people going.  I thought Kane might fail just as he did in Euro 2016, but it has not been the case.  If you really want a sample weakness I'll give you what everybody says...Sterling has speed but seems incapable of finishing.  Is it possible I'll go with England in the Final as a dog (assuming they get there)?  yeah.

I do a lot of football, and there are plenty of stats about teams who play extra time/ot, third road game, unusual times, or get a bye, you get results.

People ended up playing the game after the bye week that the bookmakers made a major adjustment to bye week spreads.

I love seeing this "tired" bullshit 

NHL is by far the most demanding championship to win out of any sport.  NO sport plays every other night with that type of physicality and they come back night after night in the playoffs and don't lose a step.  I know Soccer is physically draining but for much of the contest these guys are walking around as well, its not a full sprint back and forth a la NBA.  

Few good nights sleep and some food and Croatia will be just fine.  Please keep pounding England and inflating my Hrvatska line!!!

American football.

Well-known by now that the team that has the bye week/extra rest has to cover I think 5 or something like that extra points on the spread.

And I love hearing people say what you say...

I would be concerned if people were agreeing with me.

As for your point, 1/3 of the time these guys aren't on the ice and they have constant breaks.  In soccer you don't leave the field for 90 minutes, no break nothing other than a halftime.  Try it some time, if you haven't already.