48 hours on from the gut wrenching exit in Atlanta, and still no word from Birchy. It appears he has dropped deep into the blogosphere darkness à la Harry Kane. Two things gave me real joy this summer: (1) residing in a country hosting a World Cup and (2) residing in a country 3,000 miles away from the recriminations.
I said it before the tournament, Tuchel was on a hiding to nothing. Tasked with being the “winner” that Southgate could never be, he was only going to be deemed a success if he literally won the World Cup. There is no higher bar.
But before we face the reality that as the (at best) fourth best team in the tournament we will inevitably finish err fourth, let’s dissect the game where it all ended. In a pang of self pity, I found myself watching back the 2nd half of the game - without the heartache and anxiety. I didn’t watch the first half, no need. Argentina had prepared for the game by watching videos of Becks and Rooney losing their cool. Easy win - just wind them up and await the red card. But we went toe to toe, matched fire with fire and to my surprise found another Simeone who couldn’t be any more like his old man - a distasteful Bond villain of a character who seemed to be selected simply for his surname and ability to wind up the English only and definitely not his football talents.
So with the first half done, onto the second. Kane, dropping deep was met with runners in behind. One found the other and BANG, 1-0. A goal that demonstrated our great counter attacking abilities, perfectly executed - including the crucial engine of Rice to tee up Rogers for the cross. From here on in, here’s where it got weird. On the day, it was a disastrous surrender, entirely self inflicted. The vibes of a mid afternoon kick off a world away from Saturday’s Norway game - yes, I had to jump on work calls after the game - just helped the sense of unease. On the re-watch, I noticed something else: Argentina were bloody brilliant. Conceding the goal truly woke them up. They are the existing world champions, South America champions (last two times), and now one result away from sporting immortality. Sure, they’re not 1970’s Brazil, but for pure not knowing when they’re beaten, they may be the best there has been.
In addition to that, they have one key strength. His name is Lionel Messi. And the team is so supremely drilled to maximize his effectiveness. Credit to Anderson in the first half - he was immense and did so much to nullify him. But it’s a game of ninety (seven) minutes, and the magic man is the best in the business of patiently waiting. What a time to be alive, to be able to see him play. His right footed cross for the winner was inch perfect, his in game smarts to drift out to the right was certainly unmatched by England - how much space!!!. There’s no doubt that the last 30/40 minutes of the game was the hardest test that this England team had faced.
So onto England. And yes, they basically failed that test. Agonizingly. While not defending (hmm, is that an intended pun?) Tuchel, before any subs, in the face of the Argentinian onslaught, the starting XI sat back ridiculously deep, no more so than Kane - resulting in zero out ball. And having brought on Gonzales on the left, we were being entirely overrun. To bring on Konsa for Gordon and revert to the back 5 to try to double up out wide - wasn’t the worst idea in the world at all honestly, to try to match up Argentina. The issue (apart from the collective retreat that had already occurred) was a couple of things. I haven’t watched Moyes-ball for more years than I’d like to admit without seeing a compendium of examples of switching to 5 at the back causing complete disorganization and actually providing more space to the opposition. This was exactly what happened here. It seems while repelling limited attacking force in Mexico and Norway was well within our capabilities, we were not prepped to handle a task of this size. Secondly, Reece James - great player that he is - has at best been playing his way back to fitness in this tournament- and wasn’t the right wing back we needed at that time. That solved itself a few minutes later - but faced with a chance to make a bold decision, on trotted Dan Burn and all of a sudden we were playing a centre half at right wing back. If someone can tell me Saka was sat on the bench on crutches, maybe - but only maybe! - could I understand that one. Defensive work rate and attacking out ball was needed. Kane wandering around on the edge of his own box needed to be replaced by the blind running and effort of a Watkins or Rashford to at least provide one passing option for the frantic defenders.
It didn’t happen, we know the rest - but I think I conclude that there’s really shared responsibility. Players retreated by themselves, Tuchel ultimately didn’t fix that. And here’s the hardest reality - in the fine margins of a World Cup semi final, we weren’t good enough. The enduring memory of this World Cup will be that amazing night in the Azteca. Truly amazing. But the qualities shown there, absolutely flashes of world class talents, but much more so togetherness and undeniable grit - aren’t enough to win the World Cup. The first 60 minutes of this game saw those attributes put us at the gates of greatness, but the last 30 needed tournament smarts, controlled possession (aka Spain) and bold substitutions. None of which came. And having watched a few games this season end with Pickford punting it long to Michael Keane with more blind hope than a lottery ticket, there was nothing more triggering to put me in the fetal position than seeing him do the same thing to Dan Burn in the last throes of a World Cup semi. Uggh.
The calls for Tuchel to go will come after missing the high bar. I’m willing to give him space to learn from this - but he will know he’s not going to get any kind of pass from the press from here on in. But I will stay positive - ultimately the team gave us some great memories, demonstrated a team togetherness that needs to continue (see what it does for Argentina), but our enduring style has been ‘hard to beat’. Working on changing that will be needed. A fit Saka, a less club World Cup exhausted Palmer and some other emerging players could just do that. And it’s onto 2028 we go….
But before we go there, there’s a final to be played! Let’s face it, we want the World Cup final to be the best vs the best. We want the narrative. Messi vs Yamal gives us that. I’m not sure that Spain vs England would have got the global juices flowing… this match up definitely does. A Spain team that still haven’t given France their ball back, versus a cockroach of a team that simply will not be beaten. Clearly, just on the basis of the sheer existence of Simeone Jr, I will be 1,000% behind Spain, but I’m also relieved to have reached the stage of the tournament where worrying about England has left the building….
Now we just sit back, relax & enjoy the greatest show on earth…
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