Reading the English media and social media vs the rest of world media and social media is absolutely surreal today. If you have an Instagram account, I HIGHLY recommend a scroll-through.
England:
- IT’S THOMAS TUCHEL’S FAULT! We did NOT bring him in to do what Southgate would have done with a 1-0 lead!
- We were totally in control of the game until we scored. Why did the manager leash our Brave Lions?
- The first Argentine goal-scorer should have gotten a red card in the first three minutes of the game.
- Pickford should have saved that first goal.
Everyone else
- MESSI IS FOOTBALL!
- It’s Jude Bellingham’s fault. Why did he pick a fight with Lionel Messi? What did he think would happen?
- How did Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, and Eliot Anderson not get yellow cards for their violent fouls on Messi?
- Pickford was amazing in saving two certain goals.
I just find the contrast intriguing. Especially since it tends to show how it should not be surprising that the English players would have a tendency to go conservative and play negative. Here’s one observation that I’ve only seen once, but I think may be particularly perspicacious: Tuchel was tell his players to keep pushing forward, but they wouldn’t do it after they had the lead. So his defensive substitution wasn’t his tactical plan, it was an attempt to structurally defend what he observed was the shift in the players’ collective mentality.
Also, while Bellingham is a great player, he’s a hothead and more than a bit of a stupid prick. So the fact that he was dumb enough to follow in the footsteps of those who angered Michael Jordan and Steve Smith and inspired them to new heights in big games shouldn’t be a massive surprise.
Jude Bellingham was caught slapping rival Argentinian player Valentin Barco in feisty full-time scenes following England’s World Cup capitulation in Atlanta. Bellingham aimed a slap at the back of the head of Strasbourg star Barco, who did not even play in the match, in the aftermath of the Three Lions’ late collapse and 2-1 defeat.
UPDATE: Everyone blaming Tuchel for parking the bus is ignoring the timeline.
England were on the precipice of their first World Cup final in 60 years after taking the lead in the 55th minute through Anthony Gordon, but Tuchel opted to park the bus rather than try for a second goal. The German moved to play five at the back, with Gordon coming off for Ezri Konsa in the 72nd minute. Declan Rice and Reece James then made way for Dan Burn and Nico O’Reilly 10 minutes later.
The change they’re all blaming was 17 minutes later. Which is why I suspect that the fault for switching to a defensive mindset lay more with the England players than with the manager. If you’re urging your players to keep attacking, but they’re falling back despite your instructions, then reinforcing your defense is the correct decision whether it works out in the end or not.
After the match, Tuchel insisted he had ‘no regrets’ about his tactical decisions, arguing that the problems began before any of his changes were made.
What he probably needed to do to give England its very best chance to win was take off Harry Kane and whichever midfielder had shifted to a defensive mindset, but imagine how his critics would be howling for his head if he’d done that with a 1-0 lead and it didn’t work out! Tuchel hasn’t criticized any of the players, but he has said that he has no regrets about his changes, so I’m reasonably confident that this is the correct explanation for what so many people have found puzzling.