Neville's Ghana Take Leaves Him Braced for Backlash – Claims It Was England's Better Display

Gary Neville is readying himself for the inevitable storm after floating a contentious claim about England's midweek stalemate in Boston.

The former defender reckons the Three Lions' 0-0 draw with Ghana was actually a better performance than their barnstorming 4-2 win over Croatia that kicked off the tournament. Yes, you read that correctly.

"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," Neville said on The Overlap, seemingly aware his take would land like a lead balloon.

England's opening victory had been the stuff that gets fans out of their seats – particularly a second half that sparkled. Against Ghana, however, they served up precisely the sort of toothless fare that haunts English football in major tournaments. Harry Kane fluffed a golden opportunity, Nico O'Reilly rattled the bar deep into the match, yet the scoreline remained locked at zero.

The Ghana defence sat deep, resolutely defensive in a 4-5-1 shape, and England simply couldn't find the breakthrough despite their dominance.

Manager Thomas Tuchel took a more measured view of proceedings. "Normally, a clear goal for us," he reflected to BBC Sport of Kane's miss. "It's a big chance and then another chance. It would've been deserved."

Tuchel acknowledged Ghana's setup had tightened compared to the first fixture and praised his side's counter-attacking discipline, though he clearly felt England deserved more from their labours.

Neville conceded the physical intensity of Ghana's approach made for a grinding affair. "I played in those games quite a few times for England, where you are knocking on the door, and they are sitting so deep," he explained. "That was an interesting game, that was a struggle of a game, in terms of just generally trying to score, physical."

There were nervy moments too. Ezri Konsa had a fortunate escape when Ghana appealed for a penalty, while Jordan Pickford might easily have been sent off for an incident that went unpunished.

Neville finished by musing on how the stalemate would be received back home – though if early reactions are anything to go by, his own interpretation of events will prove rather more contentious than the match itself.