The 2026 FIFA World Cup semi-final, England vs Argentina, the latest addition to a long list of oh so nears.
A new manager in Thomas Tuchel, the man who was supposed to be the one to get this side over the line and bring football home, replicated what we have seen so many times before.
England had Argentina right where they wanted them and once again they completely surrendered control when it mattered. Look at how Spain reacted to going ahead vs France, or even how Argentina approached the dying moments last night. They keep control, they give themselves an outlet, they get over the line while England consistently shrink away from it.
England are a better team than Argentina, but they lack the street smarts to control situations. When you create plans pre-match and then completely u-turn on them the second it works, what do we expect? When the default response to taking leads is sitting in your box to head and kick it as far away as you can, can anyone be genuinely surprised with the end result?
When Tuchel first became England’s manager, he reflected on the disappointment of the Euro2024 campaign that ended in defeat in the final. He said: “They were more afraid to drop out of the tournament than have the excitement and hunger to win it.”
That quote suggested Tuchel had more than what he showed last night; he arrived as a world-class manager capable of affecting games from the touchline, but he fell into the same trap as his predecessor.
He isn’t going anywhere, he will lead England at Euro 2028, the hope is that he will learn from what happened in Atlanta on Wednesday night and make the difference. For that to happen, he has a lot of work to do, there are three clear issues he needs to focus on if England are to win at a major tournament. 2028 will be our biggest chance.
The Harry Kane and England dilemma
Harry Kane has scored 72 goals this season in all competitions; he is undoubtedly one of the best strikers on the planet and should be in consideration for the Ballon d’Or. He is world-class; his goal-scoring record speaks for itself, but as a striker leading the line for England, something doesn’t sit quite right.
As a lone forward, he consistently plays far too deep and we forgive it because he is capable of magical moments. To contradict myself, Anthony Gordon’s goal vs Argentina all came from Kane dropping deep and pinging the ball out wide to Rogers.
At times it helps, but for large spells he is missing completely because he is picking the ball up in his own half. We already play two holding midfielders; we don’t need a third. There was a moment just before half-time when he took a free kick from inside England’s half last night, why is that happening when he is not only the best finisher England have, but arguably in the world?
If Harry Kane doesn't play at the next World Cup for England, who will take his place and why? 🤔
Kane will be 36 by the time the next World Cup comes around…
I’m sure the idea is that Kane drops to pull a defender out with him and allow our wide men to get in behind. The problem is he comes so deep, it’s usually a central midfielder tracking him and the opposition’s back line remains intact.
He should be pressuring the centre-halves, and providing an outlet, especially when they are both on yellow cards like the Argentina duo were last night. When we take the lead, he falls so far back that the rest of the team join him, it’s a big part of why we invite so much pressure on ourselves in big moments. It feeds into the rest of the squad. Rather than leading the line, he falls back and digs in with the midfield on the edge of our own box.
He should be doing more to relieve the pressure, if he’s not capable of that we need to be braver and have the bottle to swap him out for someone who can. He is part of the problem in big games when we have the lead, which takes me to my next point.
England’s ‘inferiority complex’ at major tournaments
There was a moment at half-time that made me roll my eyes; I was almost expecting the inevitable because of it.
Reflecting on the first half, England’s assistant manager Anthony Barry said: “We wanted to be the aggressor, we wanted to be on the front foot, we wanted to get after them, we wanted to show our players that there was no inferiority complex, that we were here to play and play in the opponent’s half.”
Maybe it’s just me, but the very fact that you even feel you need to show you have no inferiority complex suggests that there is one. And it showed.
Tuchel is facing backlash today, but when looking back, his team were already on the back foot long before the substitutions were made. Almost instantly after taking the lead, the entire team prepared to sit deep and invite a bombardment. We were already getting absolutely peppered.
Yes, Tuchel could have made more positive changes that got the message across to his team but his substitutions were an attempt to save them from themselves. England retreated long before Tuchel turned to his bench, it’s naive to think this was an entirely tactical decision. Maybe the tournament had just caught up with them, but there was no pressing and the side looked sluggish just as Argentina turned it up a gear.
After the game Tuchel said: “We got too passive after we scored, we just conceded so many crosses and chances and shots, we were close but couldn’t keep the level up after we scored.
“We tried to help the players but we conceded straight away. We decided to go to a back five because the gaps were far too open, they won every header and they kept crossing. So we went to a back five to close the gaps inside and be strong in the air because straight after our goal with no substitutions we just conceded way too many chances.”
@kieranjpdoody has pointed out the key difference between the two sides on the night.
There is a fear of failure rooted within English football, we have come so close, so many times over the past few years but it’s the same old story each time we are in this position. Tuchel has a big task on his hands to change that mentality, it’s impossible to replicate until we are there again.
I refuse to blame this all on Tuchel, he reacted to what he was seeing in real time, hopefully he has an answer over the next two years.
The FA and English media need to work together
I admittedly have a foot in both camps here and as a journalist, do understand why certain things are reported the way they are. Journalists are not there to cheerlead; they critically assess moments and that will undoubtedly sometimes be negative.
However, some of the coverage of this World Cup campaign as a fan has been incredibly frustrating to watch. Let’s start with the leaked line-ups. What is that all about? Why would we want to be giving the opposition time to react to tactical tweaks we are planning? As journalists we want to be first to every story, but if England are going to win a major tournament, everyone needs to play their part, including us.
Then there was the fallout from the quarter-final win over Norway. Could be a coincidence, but the first mention of division in the camp and we lose the next game.
Harry Kane himself said: “We had just been through a battle. It is easy to try and create this division – it seems like an English thing to do at these major tournaments.”
It’s hard to disagree with him. As journalists we live for a strong soundbite, but to seemingly omit key context to get a reaction isn’t the way to go about it.
Then the reaction after the final whistle, I have to say, was nothing short of embarrassing. In England, had we won that game, we would have been discussing the possibility of Tuchel’s knighthood. Now that we have lost, we’re now discussing his future; there is no in-between.
That emotive, knee-jerk reaction is expected from fans, but journalists too? Could this perhaps be a big part of England’s mentality in the biggest moments that we discussed earlier? For me, of course it is. The industry relies on emotion and clicks to websites; the easiest way to get those is with outlandish comments, and the industry is all the poorer for it. But that’s a separate debate for another day.
Before the tournament, I had no hope of England winning this World Cup but once again, football teased that it would come home before deciding to stay until last orders.
Euro 2028 is our chance. If it doesn’t come home, I’m filing for divorce and turning to rugby.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
