Where did it all go wrong for England? A post-Argentina break down | OneFootball

It seemed different this time; England looked like a side capable of scraping and scraping their way to glory, but as it always goes, England exit a major tournament with empty hands and bitter hearts. Thomas Tuchel spoke candidly of his attacking philosophy before the tournament, yet in the second half, he seemed to fall into a shell. What went wrong?

England started the game with a 4-2-3-1 formation typical of their tournament so far. Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers came in for Noni Madueke, Reece James for Ezri Konsa and Djed Spence for Nico O’Rielly were the changes made for this game. Tuchel was quoted as saying he felt Rogers “had something special to give” before the game.

Argentina’s most obvious threat, Lionel Messi, almost always starts just behind a main striker before drifting onto the right as the game goes on. This is to create space and crossing opportunities for his teammates, which is why Tuchel decided to go with Spence, who has strong pace and is a good one-to-one defender, and Gordon, who has the ability to use his pace to both cover the left-back and to spring counter-attacks in turnovers.

The first half was one of rugged defending and tightly fought duels throughout the pitch; neither side registered a shot on target, and neither came particularly close. There was a lot of tactical caution from Tuchel, who was evidently trying to figure out Argentina’s plan. There were far more fouls than chances as the fierce derby began to live up to its name and reputation.

That tension and caution continued into the second half and right up until the point when Antony Gordon got on the end of Rogers’ cross to put England ahead in the 55th minute. That moment changed everything for both England and Argentina as it was the second that England collapsed in on themselves.

As soon as the goal went in, England dropped into a mid-block to counteract the inevitable Argentinian pressure, but as the game went on, they sat deeper and deeper until they were eventually sat in a low-block with a 5-4-1 formation. Possession immediately became Argentina’s, with England registering just 12% of the ball after their opener.

England and Tuchel’s game plan was obvious and was headlined by the removal of goal-scorer Gordon for centre-back Ezri Konsa in the 72nd minute. England sat deeper and deeper, producing quite remarkably only two successful passes for the next 20 minutes in a period where Argentina grew not just in attack but in belief that this game was theirs.

Tuchel then brought on Dan Burn and Nico O’Reilly for Declan Rice and Reece James. This helped add bodies to deal with the mounting pressure on England’s goal, but it also left them with no outlet to advance once they did win the ball back.

England leaving gaps in the wide areas left Messi with space to operate in the right-hand pockets, where he was able to assist both Argentinian goals.

England’s decision to sit in a 5-4-1 with no wingers for outlets was the killer for the Three Lions in this game; they invited Argentina into the spaces whilst failing to give themselves any help in moving the ball beyond the half-way line.

Tuchel doubled down on his defensive approach by removing Declan Rice, which gave Argentina full, uncontested control of the midfield for the last 15 minutes. That allowed Messi to find Enzo Fernandez from the right-hand side and give the Chelsea man time and space to pick his shot.

The same happened for Argentina’s winner, where Messi, who had whipped in countless crosses from the right into the far post, found Lautauro Martinez from that exact same position, conquering England’s low block and sending Tuchel’s side home.

The final result was a reflection of the flow of the game. England handed Argentina the initiative by choosing to absorb pressure as opposed to fighting for territory. This gave Argentina the benefit, and from then on, there was only ever going to be one winner in this tie. Pickford’s performance delayed the inevitable, but for the last 35 minutes of the game, England were second best.

England will play France in the third-place play-off on Saturday night, whilst Argentina will look to defend their crown against Spain in the World Cup Final on Sunday at 8:00pm UK time.