England finished third in the World Cup on Saturday in a thrilling 6-4 win over France. However, many England fans feel as if they should have been playing in today’s World Cup final against Spain. The game last night angered a lot of the fans back home, with many of the decisions Tuchel made yesterday leaving England fans confused as to why he didn’t do the same against Argentina.
Where did it all go wrong against Argentina?
England went into the semi-final against Argentina as the slight favourites according to the sportsbooks. Player for player, apart from Lionel Messi, England had the better squad on paper. In the 55th minute it all seemed to be going to plan with Gordon putting them 1-0 up and seemingly in control. However, this is where it all went wrong. The moment the game kicked off again, the momentum switched dramatically, with the England players retreating into their own box. The 12 or so minutes after the goal saw an onslaught from the Argentines, with wave after wave of attack, ending with Pickford desperately signalling to the referee that it was time for the hydration break.
This was a chance for Tuchel to steady the ship, calm his players, and regain control. Instead of reinvigorating the team with fresh legs to press the Argentines and push his side up the pitch again, Tuchel doubled down on the defensive retreat. The England manager took off his goalscorer and speedy winger, Anthony Gordon, for centre back, Ezri Konsa. This displayed a clear message to not only his players, but also the Argentinian players, that he planned to sit back and attempt to hold onto the lead. What followed the hydration break was even more Argentinian dominance. It felt like a matter of when, not if, the goal was going to come. 10 minutes after the hydration break, Tuchel decided it was time for another change. Again it was a defensive one. Dan Burn replaced Reece James, and Nico O’Reilly replaced Declan Rice. This pushed England even further back into their own box and gave Argentina freedom of possession. Argentina were throwing on attacking players, seeing that there was no threat of an outlet that could lead to an England counter-attack.
It was three minutes after those last England subs that Argentina drew level. Messi laid a ball off to Enzo Fernández in acres of space on the edge of the box, who fired an effort past Pickford, every England player too deep in their own box to have any chance to block the shot. England, now stunned and with a team full of defensive players, were helpless. They continued to sit deep with no outlet. Two minutes into additional time, Argentina struck again, taking the lead through a Lautaro Martinez goal, assisted once again by Lionel Messi. It took seven minutes for Argentina to complete their comeback.
Thomas Tuchel and this England side had given the greatest player of all time endless time and space on the ball for nearly an entire half of football. Between the Gordon goal and the Martinez winner, England had a damming 12 percent of possession. The decision or panic, whichever it may have been, to sit back and soak up the pressure ultimately cost England a chance at World Cup glory. It’s hard to see it any other way, especially when ex-pros such as Thomas Müller were coming out immediately after the game and expressing their bemusement at England’s approach. Müller said, “I cannot believe and understand how England approached this game after they’re leading. I cannot understand how they invited Argentina to play one cross after the other in perfect crossing positions”.
Why did the victory over France anger some England fans?
The win over France was a great way to end the tournament for England, with the victory making it their best World Cup finish since 1966. It was by no means a bad tournament, but there is always going to be “what ifs” looking back at that Argentina game. It’s obviously difficult to compare the game against France with the semi-final against Argentina, with both sets of players clearly not wanting to be there and still “heartbroken” as described by England’s assistant coach. However, in isolation, there are two decisions made by Thomas Tuchel that England fans have the right to be angry about.
One being Bukayo Saka. Saka scored a very well-taken hat trick against France and played the full 90 minutes. The winger didn’t even touch the pitch against Argentina. We were led to believe he was not fit enough to start the semi-final, and was not even brought on in the dying minutes of that game when England were desperately searching for an equaliser. To add to the confusion, Saka, in an interview after the France game, confirmed he had been fit enough to play. The Arsenal star clearly would have been a player capable of producing a moment of magic when England needed it.
The second being Tuchel’s attacking approach against France. It is clear to see that England are a much better side when they play on the front foot, as we saw against Croatia in their first game of the tournament. France have the best forward line in international football, and in an all-out attacking game, they couldn’t outscore this England side. It’s a case of the best form of defence being attack. It begs the question: Why did England sit off Argentina and not attempt to kill the game off?
