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Bilic dismisses England chances

8 September 2008 | 10:59 - PA Sport

Croatia boss Slaven Bilic has dismissed England as "predictable" and insisted he "expects" his side to win their World Cup qualifying group.

 

The countries meet in Zagreb on Thursday (AEST) with England looking for revenge after two defeats by Croatia saw them miss out on qualifying for Euro 2008.

That failure resulted in Steve McClaren being sacked and replaced with Fabio Capello but performances and results have not improved significantly.

Bilic told the Sun: "England can't play good football because they play predictable football. I don't know why. I would know that if I was training with them and speaking to them.

"As a national team manager you have to talk to them. If I was England manager I would find out because, really, I don't know why they sometimes perform nowhere near what they can."

Former West Ham and Everton defender Bilic went on to outline the unusual methods he uses to get the best of out his players.

"Sometimes I lie in the bed with my players," he revealed. "I go to the room of (Vedran) Corluka and (Luka) Modric when I see they have a problem and I lie in bed with them and we talk for 10 minutes.

"You have to do it. Sometimes football managers think 'If you do that you're losing the distance and the authority'. No, you're gaining."

Bilic, who has insisted he will stay with Croatia despite interest from West Ham, also warned England his side have improved since their victory at Wembley last year.

"No one is fearing England," he said. "If anyone should be worried about Wednesday, it's England.

"I expect us to win the group. I expected that two years ago and now definitely so. My team is definitely better than the one that beat England twice."

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