Barry calls England's first-half display against Croatia 'complicated and confusing' in World Cup opener

England assistant coach Anthony Barry pulled no punches in his half-time interview after the Three Lions twice surrendered the lead against Croatia in their World Cup opener in Dallas, describing the opening 45 minutes as “complicated and confusing.”

Harry Kane put England ahead twice — first from a re-taken penalty, then with a well-placed header — but Croatia pegged them back on both occasions, exposing defensive frailties that Barry was quick to acknowledge before heading into the dressing room.

“A complicated and confusing first half from us, really,” Barry told ITV reporter Gabriel Clarke. “I think a lot of nervous energy early on. Maybe that should be accepted, and maybe expected in the opening game of a World Cup.”

Barry, who followed Thomas Tuchel from Bayern Munich to the England job, was particularly critical of his side’s decision-making in possession. “We made some decisions where the energy was not free in our mind, playing long when we should play short, playing short when we should play long, really not allowing us to accelerate our game the way we wanted to.”

He acknowledged that Kane’s penalty had been expected to settle England’s nerves, only for the team to slip back into hesitant patterns. “You think the penalty would free us up, allow us to play more like us, look more like ourselves, but again we fall back into some fearful patterns,” he said. “We’ve always been able to rely on set pieces. We get the second goal again. We’re hoping that’s the moment that would allow us to move forward in the game, but okay, we concede the second goal later on, and now we have to speak about that at halftime.”

Whatever Barry and Tuchel communicated to the squad at the break appeared to have the desired effect. Jude Bellingham scored within minutes of the restart, with England asserting clear control in the early stages of the second half.