What Now For Tuchel & England After World Cup Capitulation?
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Tomorrow evening, we will concentrate on the Spain-Argentina World Cup final. But let's talk now about England's exit last night. The semi-final defeat to Argentina. Miguel Delaney, chief football writer of The Independent. was there. And Miguel, everyone is focusing with a lot of justification on the manager, Thomas Tuchel, and his tactics, how England surrendered possession after going a goal in front, how Argentina had 88% of the ball from the moment England scored. I heard Harry Kane last night admitting that they dropped too deep and defended too deep and got me thinking, well... Harry Kane, I saw him on plenty of occasions back in his own penalty area clearing the ball. Instead of blaming the manager, why didn't the players take responsibility, especially Harry Kane, for moving up the pitch instead of dropping so deep?
Is it all down to Tuchel?
But I think that is down to Tuchel, principally for the fact that, so to be fair, they did start it once they'd scored.
What happened in England's World Cup semi-final collapse against Argentina?
They started dropping back. And there's been a bit of a debate in England today about whether this is some sort of national inclination. Something I don't really agree with. Obviously, some of their big examples have been where they've withdrawn, you know, the Euro 2020 final. But like, I mean, like the 98 knockout wasn't like that. Like this isn't some cultural issue in the same way. appointed to address situations like this. It's basically this moment, a crunch semifinal that he's been hired for, a massive expense. And he had the opportunity to arrest that three times. First of all, in the hydration break, where he didn't, he actually doubled down.
Why did England surrender possession and drop so deep after taking the lead?
You could see him basically talking to the group, giving them new tactical instructions. And we think we can only presume that was to basically go deeper. Then with the subs, where he goes five at the back. And the most amazing It wasn't just kind of allowing Messi. The one issue with Messi at this point in his career is that he can't cover the same space that he used to as consistently. And it basically just gave him... It afforded him the platform to just stand in the corner where he most likes and pick passes. But also, that Argentina team, one of their flaws is vulnerability to pace when the game is stretched. England have no outlet. So they basically neutered all their own advantages. And not even that.
They also... They offset how, like if they did happen to concede, which of course is possible when the ball is bounced around your box. Argentina had so many chances and there's even the possibility of a penalty. They didn't have the players on the pitch to adapt. So, I mean, from a coach like Tuchel on that expense, it is, I have to say, it's one of the biggest tactical meltdowns I've ever seen, especially at a game of that scale. It was incredible.
Well, would it suggest he didn't trust his players? No.
I actually think he might have got a bit too persuaded by his own genius from the Mexico game. Because he did this against Mexico and it did work to be fair.
Yeah, but Mexico were rubbish. I mean, I know this was massively hyped up in England about one of the greatest victories of all time because it was at altitude, because it was against a home team. But it wasn't against a good team.
Were players like Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham responsible for not pushing up?
But that's exactly it. But I think because that came off, he was convinced by his own brilliance, it's going to work again. He's got Dan Byrne there. He seemed to have an obsession with Dan Byrne by the end of the competition. And so he went with it again. That would be my reading for it. There might be a bit of an issue with trust of players. And typically, there have been a few growing murmurs about tension within the squad. The whole Bellingham episode didn't necessarily help.
But, Miguel, why didn't the players take ownership on the pitch? We saw, for example, how Messi dictated what Argentina were doing on the pitch. What about the big-name players, the Canes and the Bellinghams and the others?
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–1:11
2
What happened in England's World Cup semi-final collapse against Argentina?
1:11–1:48
3
Why did England surrender possession and drop so deep after taking the lead?
1:48–3:19
4
Were players like Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham responsible for not pushing up?
3:19–6:25
5
Did Thomas Tuchel make tactical errors during the hydration break and substitutions?
6:25–7:40
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from The Last Word with Matt Cooper
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