Knockout Stage General Discussion Thread

The substitutions decided the game, one coach got them right the other wrong.

Tuchel's management of the lead left me speechless. It was so obvious what was going to happen. How can a coach of his experience make such an elementary mistake?

That defensive emphasis was understandable against Mexico because of the red card, but with Saka, Rashford and Toney available they would have enabled England to maintain a threat on the break and possibly score the second, instead the space Argentina left behind them as they pushed for the equaliser was never exploited.

Kane should have been substituted because he didn't look like scoring against Norway or Argentina much the same way Southgate did in the EURO 2024 SF when his substitute Watkins scored the late winner off the bench against the Netherlands. This game could have finished the same way if Tuchel had made the correct substitutions.

 

When the equalizer was struck, Stones and Kane were level with Messi, and Guehi, Burn and O'Reilly (I think it was) were all deeper than him, as was James.

Gonzalez, marked by the the last defender, Guehi, was offside at that moment but he was also nowhere near the path of the ball, nowhere near the GK and immobile anyway. Which means that even if Burn wasn't playing him onside, which he may, Gonzalez wouldn't have been penalized.

If you're talking about the one-two immediately after the corner, "the TV replays show" is doing a lot of heavy lifting there, because other cameras, which the directors/editors chose not to broadcast, showed all of the above (plus others) playing Messi onside when Rodrigo passed the ball back.

As for "there was no VAR check here", every goal is VAR-checked. That's mandatory. It's just that it didn't take even the VAR tosspots more than a few moments to recognize that.

 

Which is arguably another way of saying that Egypt had a better coach than England.

He's inarguably a fcuk sight cheaper

 

Dude, there were multiple England players keeping Messi onside there. Look how close Messi is to the darker shade of grass compared to all 5 English defenders.

 

It took me about 30 seconds (max) to find a video version of that photo and re-watch it several times.

It can be seen here. There was no offside at all.

Do you think there was an offside in this situation?#messi pic.twitter.com/eQqciQstF7

— SharpOran (@SharpOranra) July 15, 2026

 

All this talk criticizing Tuchel is fair. He blew the game. But I've yet to hear a convincing argument on what he could've done to result in a better outcome. Some are saying he should've subbed on quicker wingers/strikers. The issue is England couldn't even get to the ball. Another argument is to put 4 in the middle. But then Argentina would have even more control of the wings. A third argument is to play a mid block. But then you give Argentina more space in attack.

I'm not debating that Tuchel bunkering and bunkering that deep was a big mistake. But I'm not convinced an alternative strategy would've prevented Argentina from scoring 2-3 goals.

 

Especially when parking the bus against the undisputed GOAT attacking midfielder whose supporting cast would walk into any of the 1/4 final sides and some of the 1/2 final teams.

Dublin's own and Cape Verde CB Pico Lopes has been doing studio analysis here after returning home and his assessment of Argentina is that while their attack, plus Messi, is excellent they're no great shakes at the back and struggle to regain the initiative.

For him and his team mates, a side with the personnel to pin them back and then sustain that will cause major problems. A side (like Cape Verde) that doesn't or (like England) chooses not to will be overwhelmed by waves of attacks as they chase an equalizer and then go in for the kill. The solution is to take the game to them, as England did after the break, take the lead and defend it in a mid rather than a low block to keep them away from your box and keep hitting them on the break. If Spain do that, they'll win. If they don't, it'll probably go to penalties

 

Tuchel could have brought in the Arsenal players like Saka or Eze. Maybe that is the only thing I would have done differently. But the better team won. A team that has an identity and leadership on and off the pitch that has “been there done that” before.

 

Saka has been a non-factor all tournament and was rightfully benched. He would not have made a difference. The game was lost in midfield. England only had 12% possession after scoring so none of the attackers would've gotten the ball anyway. Tuchel went with a 5-man backline and then 6. If he stuck with 4, Argentina would've punished them even more on the wings. I think this is a case where you're damned if you, and damned if you don't. Sometimes you just have to admit the better team won and there is nothing you could've done about it.

England fans will be living with this for a while but I don't see how a more positive strategy would've led to a win considering Argentina has scored 30+ goals across two WCs.

 

I bring up those players cause 1. They played on a winning side with a winning mentality. 2. They could have provided some relief of pressure by at least trying to dribble up the field instead of just kicking the ball as hard as you can with nervous clearances.
But yes Argentina probably would have adapted to that too.

 

Keep playing the same way, I'd say. Eventually go more cautious, but don't play with more defenders and don't go cautious with 40 minutes to go.

 

That same way made them impotent in attack. Their goal was a long ball that Argentina couldn't clear. England created no chances before that. Also, Scaloni would've brought on subs and changed the formation so playing with the handbrake on probably wouldn't have been as effective defensively as it was in the first 55 minutes.

 

I think chances would have come on the counter for England as Argentina had to push for an equalizer. But when you play with just 1 (slow) forward, it pretty much kills any threat of a counter. And that just invites Argentina to push forward even more.

 

Miami qf was hot AF! Felt sorry for both teams. Felt sweatier than the Levi's noon game. That humidity.

 

That's what I always feel about Kane. He's a bit slow. Third time I've seen England eliminated. Kane always a split second behind. Kane should be behind a fast attacker. I know I got no ball knowledge... I know he's great at hold up play etc... but maybe next euro... And they will be in the final again. England has a chance as long as France ( get Switzerland'd again) and Spain (get Italy'd (very low chance)) get eliminated along the way.

 

Kane is a fantastic footballer that’s been either misprofiled or forced into a role that doesn’t utilize him best. In a game like yesterday, he NEEDS someone with him to provide an outball. He doesn’t have the legs or the spatial awareness to press 3 defenders doing a rondo at the center circle. If you throw on Eze or Saka next to him, they cover more ground and Kane has a target to aim at on the counter

 

Bellingham is at this best in that #10 role though.

 

Back to Dortmund #8 lol. Unless Kane bro u gotta learn to defend

 

I don't care for your condescending tone. Please stop talking to me.

 

counting our World Cups.

 

This is all obvious to anyone who has watched Bayern Munich recently. Who was in charge of Munich the only time they didn't win the Bundesliga in recent seasons...

 

Remember 2022 when their coach kept Neymar on ... He got ripped for not going all out d... Course it was only a few minutes left

 

England, I think, has a different problem. Their players have to play an enormous number of matches during the season, and you could see that they were exhausted. They simply had nothing left. They couldn't sprint anymore, and in the end all they could do was sit deep and defend.

Players who have played in England have said that conditioning work is not given a high priority there. People always say that England has struggled to win World Cups or European Championships because the league is so demanding. With league matches, domestic cups, and European competitions, the players end up playing so many games that they are no longer in peak condition when a major tournament begins.

But then the solution is to make sure the players are physically prepared to still be fit when those tournaments come around. Conditioning work isn't fun, but it's necessary.

And this is where I'd say the Americans still aren't among the very best when it comes to football itself. But one thing they do exceptionally well is getting athletes into outstanding physical and aerobic condition. Maybe England should consider bringing in an American strength and conditioning coach to help prepare their players.

 

Do you find it interesting that whenever a call goes against Argentina almost nobody complains? For e.g. Declan Rice covering his mouth when talking to Argentina players and not getting a red card.

And to be clear I'm not complaining that Rice wasn't sent off. Just using the example to illustrate my point.

 

Rice did not get a red because covering your mouth in itself is not an automatic red card.