England fans spot the genius tactic that saw them take control of Croatia game

Fans have identified who really deserves the credit for England going back in front in the World Cup match with Croatia.

Following nearly a week of World Cup drama, all eyes were on the Dallas Stadium as England started their campaign with a box office clash with Croatia.

It didn't take long for the Three Lions to take the lead as captain Harry Kane scored a penalty in his second attempt after he was made to retake the shot following a foul from Luke Modric.

In his first attempt, Kane's penalty was saved saved by Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic, but he was given a second chance after VAR revealed that Manchester City's Josko Gvardiol had ran into the penalty area and that Livakovic had come off his line early.

However, a crazy half then saw Kane score another while goals from Croatian forwards Martin Baturina and Petar Musa led to a scoreline of 2-2 at half-time.

Throughout the half-time coverage it was made clear that England needed to start strong in the second half to take control of the game, and that's exactly what they did as Jude Bellingham retook the lead just two minutes into the half.

But England fans think that the credit for England's early goal in the second half shouldn't be given solely to Bellingham, as many of them took to social media to praise England's assistant manager Anthony Barry.

During the half-time break Barry spoke to ITV, describing the first half as 'complicated and confusing', while criticising his team's decision making.

"We were going long when we should be going long and going long when we should be going short," Barry added.

Many fans then assumed that following his brutal assessment of England's performance in public, it's possible that Tuchel's assistant went into the changing room and made his thoughts known in an even more intense way.

READ MORE: Thomas Tuchel involved in furious row with England player minutes into Croatia game

"Thought Anthony Barry spoke really well at half time. Seems they got a b******ing and it's worked," one fan wrote on social media.

While another added: "Looking forward to more Anthony Barry interviews at HT if he remains that free to speak btw clearly worked on players too."

This sentiment was shared by former England defender Jamie Carragher, who went so far as to suggest that Barry could be regarded as the man of the match for his comments.

"Anthony Barry might end up being man-of-the-match for his half-time comments. He was spot on," Carragher wrote for The Telegraph.

"England’s second half has been brilliant – much quicker and with more purpose, although it is still intriguing to me how we are approaching this competition. This is the game of the tournament so far."

And it wasn't just Barry that received praise after England's early success, as Tuchel himself was given his props for the passion shown at the start of the second half.

As pointed out by ITV's Gabriel Clarke on the broadcast, the England boss didn't sit down after the restart, instead hovering on the touchline to directing the squad and suggest tactical changes.