World Cup 2026

[Whitey Grandad]

31 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Tuchel was brought in to get us over the line in the big games. He spectacularly failed.

that was worse than anything Southgate did. Far worse. 
 

Kane has been a brilliant player but he now goes missing entirely in the big games, bar the odd cross field pass. He needed to come off last night (again) as he killed any forward momentum. I hope he calls it a day otherwise he will damage the team like Rooney did and what Ronaldo does for Portugal.

back to Tuchel. Those subs were fucking appalling. Just WTF. That cost is the game, no question what so ever. 

Kane couldn't come off. We didn't have another centre half to replace him.

[Osvaldorama]

6 hours ago, SNSUN said:

Disagree there although i agree with your squad questions.

On one hand there's no massive shame going out to Argentina in a WC semi. But bearing in mind the top 4 were separated (of which we were 4th seed) we did what we had to do to get where we were and apart from a second half against Croatia and the Mexico backs to the wall performance, we were largely relying on the world class Kane and Bellingham to get us to where we got. Southgate got us to a final and a semi. Granted it wasn't great to watch but he did it. I'm no TAA fan but I questioned Tuchel's squad selection pre tournament and I think it bit him in the arse a bit. Sure injuries played a part but come on.... Stones, James, Saka.... all been struggling for fitness. When we lost Tino pre tournament, we called up Chalobah for no reason whatsoever. Waste. And there's the over reliance on Kane when we took two other strikers. Take Watkins and then choose another AM or full back instead of a pointless 3rd striker, especially when Rashford can play there. 

Sure a Semi seems great, more so if we win on Saturday (we won't), but for me it is smoke and mirrors. The squad selection was unbalanced and tonight,  his subs were wrong. Small margins but he was brought in to make a difference.

If he stays, we have to win the Euros. Simples as that. 

(I'm saying this with Booze goggles on, I may re-read in the morning and disagree with myself but right now, it seems accurate.)

I’m not saying I disagree, but I’m saying his squad selection isn’t actually what let us down in the end.  

We had a squad there, playing well enough & in good enough form, last night to win that game. If he’d have been brave and brought in saka/rashford/Mainoo and tried to counter attack, we’d have won. 
 

He went so defensive and brought on only centre backs, it was fucking weird. No team will survive for half an hour with no midfield. 

Cowardly management and it killed us. 

Edited 7 hours ago by Osvaldorama

[AlexLaw76]

Spot on here

 

[egg]

8 minutes ago, Osvaldorama said:

I’m not saying I disagree, but I’m saying his squad selection isn’t actually what let us down in the end.  

We had a squad there, playing well enough & in good enough form, last night to win that game. If he’d have been brave and brought in saka/rashford/Mainoo and tried to counter attack, we’d have won. 
 

He went so defensive and brought on only centre backs, it was fucking weird. No team will survive for half an hour with no midfield. 

Cowardly management and it killed us. 

I think his squad selection was a big part in that. 

No midfield changes. What was his midfield option? Mainoo who he plainly didn't fancy. That's on him. Many better players were left at home. 

Only CB's on. What was his defensive option? He lost Tino and picked a CB who was never going to play. James was always an injury waiting to happen. His hammy went again last night. His only options were Burn or Chalobah. TAA or Shaw on the bench would have given us better options - just imagine if Shaw came on and Spence shifted to the right...he wasn't standing off Messi for the cross for their second. 

The squad selection was poor. The tactics were cowardly. 

I thought I might have felt less annoyed with TT this morning, but nope, he cost us with his squad selection, and tactics last night. 

[AlexLaw76]

1 minute ago, egg said:

I think his squad selection was a big part in that. 

No midfield changes. What was his midfield option? Mainoo who he plainly didn't fancy. That's on him. Many better players were left at home. 

Only CB's on. What was his defensive option? He lost Tino and picked a CB who was never going to play. James was always an injury waiting to happen. His hammy went again last night. His only options were Burn or Chalobah. TAA or Shaw on the bench would have given us better options - just imagine if Shaw came on and Spence shifted to the right...he wasn't standing off Messi for the cross for their second. 

The squad selection was poor. The tactics were cowardly. 

I thought I might have felt less annoyed with TT this morning, but nope, he cost us with his squad selection, and tactics last night. 

He is (another) massive disappointment. Largely crap all tournament, saved by individual brilliance.

i believe there is needle between him and Bellingham, and maybe other players

[ludgershallsaint]

Has Dom Shaw claimed that Argentina should be lobbed out for displaying their crappy Falklands sign yet? 

[Stripey McStripe Shirt]

Have we sacked Tuchel yet?

[Paulwantsapint81]

16 minutes ago, ludgershallsaint said:

Has Dom Shaw claimed that Argentina should be lobbed out for displaying their crappy Falklands sign yet? 

Steve Gibson is on the case

[egg]

18 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

He is (another) massive disappointment. Largely crap all tournament, saved by individual brilliance.

i believe there is needle between him and Bellingham, and maybe other players

I think there's something in this, and I'm not convinced all's well between the players. I said last night that something appears amiss between Rashford and TT. I may be wrong, but my hunch is things aren't right. 

[Doctoroncall]

Although the focus will be on the Tuchel for his subs and overall game management, the players we have show the lack of quality in technical ability and nous. 

England had 12% possession after the goal, retreating deeper and deeper, which started before the defensive subs. not even counter attacking teams allow that amount of control from the opposition. 

The way to defend against a team as skilful as Argentina is to contest the game. England, as has been their sempiternal failing, simply don’t have enough quality players to hold on to the ball to start any counters or even seem to try to keep the ball for a moment.

Moreover, compared to England, Argentina are better even at longball, every Argentinian cross seemed to find an Argentinian head, despite the fact that their players are nearly all far shorter than England's, Lautaro Martinez, who scored the winner is 5'8", and every England cross or longball hoof found an Argentinian head.
 

[Stripey McStripe Shirt]

27 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

He is (another) massive disappointment. Largely crap all tournament, saved by individual brilliance.

i believe there is needle between him and Bellingham, and maybe other players

Seems odd that Tuchel seemingly wasn't on the pitch at all after full time. Southgate would have been there with arms around the players etc. but as far as I could tell he was nowhere to be seen.

[Sheaf Saint]

32 minutes ago, egg said:

I think his squad selection was a big part in that. 

No midfield changes. What was his midfield option? Mainoo who he plainly didn't fancy. That's on him. Many better players were left at home.  

If only he'd taken Captain Shoe-horn. Looking at Tuchel's subs last night, it was a game that was crying out for his versatility and leadership.

[AlexLaw76]

Of course, the FA gave him a new deal just before the World Cup. 
 

Why do these organisations do this?

[badgerx16]

Shortly before the game Micah Richards learned that his father had died. Not sure I would have carried on in that circumstance.

[Saint NL]

Not sure how Tuchel can stay after that. A real shambles

[Gloucester Saint]

Also, as the Malvinas flag demonstrated at the end, it’s horrible losing a big match to them. It’s like losing to Portsmouth on steroids.

If any of the England squad members have Argentine teammates at club level who featured last night in the outfield and behaved badly, it’s their duty to crunch the bastard in training and leave them crumpled up and squealing.

If that was Spain, Norway, or France, we’re not feeling anywhere near as bad this morning. 

[Hawkswood]

Gonna make myself unpopular here but I dont necessarily blame Tuchel for the defeat. The harsh reality is that we dont sit on the top table of footballing nations. Argentina were just very very impressive in that last 35 minutes and showed what champions are made off and not forgetting it also helps when you have arguably the greatest footballer of all time in your side. A player that elevates every person around you. After the goal they took it up a level that we couldnt deal with and you can deconstruct the situation and find this or that wrong with the minutae of game, but fair play to Scaloni for changing  the style and tactics for that last hour. He got one over Tuchel there in fairness but we just couldn't get the ball off them and I could see why he made those subs. And if Argentina could do that to us then Spain would simply use us a plaything in the final.

Anyway, thats how I saw it.

 

 

 

[Wade Garrett]

11 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Of course, the FA gave him a new deal just before the World Cup. 
 

Why do these organisations do this?

Apparently there is some sort of break clause.

Hopefully the FA activate it, or Tuchel quits.  I really don’t want him leading us into a home Euros.

 

[Holmes_and_Watson]

4 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

Apparently there is some sort of break clause.

Hopefully the FA activate it, or Tuchel quits.  I really don’t want him leading us into a home Euros.

 

I didn't think bottles would be allowed in. But Tuchel certainly managed, by bottling the game after taking the lead.

[whelk]

1 hour ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Spot on here

 

Vickery clearly knows a lot about South American football. Don’t know if above is same as the radio interview I heard where compared to boxing match and said we didn’t want to win and were gutless?

[Saint NL]

That final half an hour or so was horrific in every way

[Holmes_and_Watson]

1 minute ago, whelk said:

Vickery clearly knows a lot about South American football. Don’t know if above is same as the radio interview I heard where compared to boxing match and said we didn’t want to win and were gutless?

Yup. Is it 25 years or something now, on World Football phone in? He knows his stuff.

 

[whelk]

CBA to listen to all the analysis this morning but between mates and opinions on here don’t think I have heard one person not slaughter Tuchel

Edited 5 hours ago by whelk

[rallyboy]

As they have raised the subject, the brutal truth is that Argentina are brilliant at football, but terrible at war.

But if I'd been involved in a conflict where 900 people died and had lost it that badly, I don't think I'd be reminding everyone, it would be like wandering around in a teeshirt that says I wet myself in 1996.

That banner contravened everything that FIFA claim to stand for - it's far worse than a kid behind a tree. 

 

 

 

[JohnnyShearer2.0]

14 minutes ago, rallyboy said:

As they have raised the subject, the brutal truth is that Argentina are brilliant at football, but terrible at war.

But if I'd been involved in a conflict where 900 people died and had lost it that badly, I don't think I'd be reminding everyone, it would be like wandering around in a teeshirt that says I wet myself in 1996.

That banner contravened everything that FIFA claim to stand for - it's far worse than a kid behind a tree. 

 

 

 

Get Gibson on the case and Middlesbrough into the final.

In seriousness they have a weird mentality on the subject. I thought it was tasteless.

FIFA won't do jack.

Edited 5 hours ago by JohnnyShearer2.0

[sfc4prem]

1 hour ago, egg said:

I think his squad selection was a big part in that. 

No midfield changes. What was his midfield option? Mainoo who he plainly didn't fancy. That's on him. Many better players were left at home. 

Only CB's on. What was his defensive option? He lost Tino and picked a CB who was never going to play. James was always an injury waiting to happen. His hammy went again last night. His only options were Burn or Chalobah. TAA or Shaw on the bench would have given us better options - just imagine if Shaw came on and Spence shifted to the right...he wasn't standing off Messi for the cross for their second. 

The squad selection was poor. The tactics were cowardly. 

I thought I might have felt less annoyed with TT this morning, but nope, he cost us with his squad selection, and tactics last night. 

Agree completely.

What will our squad look like in 4 years? Which players will simply be over the hill by that point? Kane will be 36!

[badgerx16]

They might have shown that "Malvinas..." banner as a provocation, but the fans of the English clubs they play for will still be cheering them on next season.

[RedArmy]

Never really thought I’d see Stephens coming on for Scienza either matched or topped but Tuchel managed it with Konsa coming on for Gordon. 

[Whitey Grandad]

22 minutes ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Also, as the Malvinas flag demonstrated at the end, it’s horrible losing a big match to them. It’s like losing to Portsmouth on steroids.

If any of the England squad members have Argentine teammates at club level who featured last night in the outfield and behaved badly, it’s their duty to crunch the bastard in training and leave them crumpled up and squealing.

If that was Spain, Norway, or France, we’re not feeling anywhere near as bad this morning. 

I don't feel bad at all. I feel ashamed that the whole world saw us as a quivering bunch of clueless cowards. We got further than I thought we would. Even in the early games we were a shapeless amorphous blob with no structure or style.

Apart from Rice, who was our midfield supposed to be?

[JohnnyShearer2.0]

 

[Turkish]

33 minutes ago, Hawkswood said:

Gonna make myself unpopular here but I dont necessarily blame Tuchel for the defeat. The harsh reality is that we dont sit on the top table of footballing nations. Argentina were just very very impressive in that last 35 minutes and showed what champions are made off and not forgetting it also helps when you have arguably the greatest footballer of all time in your side. A player that elevates every person around you. After the goal they took it up a level that we couldnt deal with and you can deconstruct the situation and find this or that wrong with the minutae of game, but fair play to Scaloni for changing  the style and tactics for that last hour. He got one over Tuchel there in fairness but we just couldn't get the ball off them and I could see why he made those subs. And if Argentina could do that to us then Spain would simply use us a plaything in the final.

Anyway, thats how I saw it.

 

 

 

We don’t sit at the top table. Were the Newcastle, Spurs, Aston Villa or Everton of internationals. However we had enough to beat Argentina, the last 30 minutes played right into their hands. We only had 12% possession because we had so many defenders on and no outlet when we did get it forward, that’s on Tuchel. 

Edited 5 hours ago by Turkish

[sfc4prem]

8 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

They might have shown that "Malvinas..." banner as a provocation, but the fans of the English clubs they play for will still be cheering them on next season.

I was thinking this when Fernandez was celebrating - he wanted out at Chelsea anyway. Will he stay? If he does, doubt he will get any form of abuse from the stands, which is wild. Same for Romero, Emi Martinez etc.

[Tamesaint]

9 hours ago, Teamsaint1 said:

Tuchel must have noted Saints getting away with the same thing v WBA last season and decided it was the way to go……the problem being that Saints had a  3 goal lead …..

But he didn't realise that Leicester did the same against us and ended up losing 4 3.

[Behind Enemy Lines]

26 minutes ago, whelk said:

CBA to listen to all the analysis this morning but between mates and opinions on here don’t think I have heard one person not slaughter Tuchel

6 posts before yours! 😂 

[aintforever]

27 minutes ago, whelk said:

CBA to listen to all the analysis this morning but between mates and opinions on here don’t think I have heard one person not slaughter Tuchel

Classic English response, blame the manager. If it's not the manager it's because the Premier League play too many games, or we are not teaching the kids right etc etc.

There always has to be an excuse, it can't possibly be that we are just not good enough at football.

Edited 5 hours ago by aintforever

[Osvaldorama]

Just now, aintforever said:

Classic English response, blame the manager. If it's not the manager it's because the Premier League play too many games, or we are not teaching the kids right etc etc.

There always has to be an excuse, it can't possibly be that we are just not good enough at football.

This is such a cop out. 
 

We were easily good enough to win last night, they were nothing special (except Messi). The Manager gave them the game on a platter. 

[benjii]

 

Tim Vickery always nails it.

[aintforever]

Just now, Osvaldorama said:

This is such a cop out. 
 

We were easily good enough to win last night, they were nothing special (except Messi). The Manager gave them the game on a platter. 

I don't agree with his subs but a top team would have seen the game out. 

[BotleySaint]

The final nail was bringing on Burn and O'Reilly. At that point you knew we were going to lose. But for Pickford, Argentina would have gone ahead much sooner. We had no outlets.

I don't think they are a better team. They just had a better manager. As usual England have under performed.

Under Southgate I think toward the end he stopped all that nonsense and started going for it.

As mentioned by others, I do hope Kane retires now. Should have been subbed as he had no effect on the game. Could have put a striker up there to chase down.

Then again, Tuchel just wasn't thinking about winning. Just surviving.

Such a frustrating waste.

Edited 5 hours ago by BotleySaint

[benjii]

2 minutes ago, aintforever said:

Classic English response, blame the manager. If it's not the manager it's because the Premier League play too many games, or we are not teaching the kids right etc etc.

There always has to be an excuse, it can't possibly be that we are just not good enough at football.

We were the better team and winning the match. 

Then the manager changed the shape and the approach and we were waiting for trouble.

You are odd.

[Whitey Grandad]

Just now, Osvaldorama said:

This is such a cop out. 
 

We were easily good enough to win last night, they were nothing special (except Messi). The Manager gave them the game on a platter. 

Here, have a shot.

You missed? 

Here have another one. 

Pickford saved it?

Never mind, have a free header.

Hit the post?

Try again...

 

[aintforever]

4 minutes ago, benjii said:

We were the better team and winning the match. 

Then the manager changed the shape and the approach and we were waiting for trouble.

You are odd.

We went too passive before he made the subs. I didn't agree with taking Gordon off for a defender, I would have stuck Saka on and tried to hit them on the break but fact is, a top side would have seen the game out.

[whelk]

11 minutes ago, aintforever said:

Classic English response, blame the manager. If it's not the manager it's because the Premier League play too many games, or we are not teaching the kids right etc etc.

There always has to be an excuse, it can't possibly be that we are just not good enough at football.

Only a halfwit doesn’t put that on the manager. Not an English thing at all, it’s a football nous thing

[rallyboy]

When you're down to ten men against a crap Mexico side, park the bus.

When you're one up against Argentina, don't surrender the ball to Messi for twenty minutes.

#notrocketscience

[East Kent Saint]

1 hour ago, AlexLaw76 said:

He is (another) massive disappointment. Largely crap all tournament, saved by individual brilliance.

i believe there is needle between him and Bellingham, and maybe other players

Thats his management style a bit like Brearley making Bob Willis bowl up the slope at Lords who then got fired up and took a load of wickets 

[whelk]

Just now, rallyboy said:

When you're down to ten men against a crap Mexico side, park the bus.

When you're one up against Argentina, don't surrender the ball to Messi for twenty minutes.

#notrocketscience

Stop being so English

[East Kent Saint]

Kane played his part as usual , dropping back and firing a few long balls to Rogers etc . The only reason to sub him would have been to get fresh legs on up front . He has done well in his last WC.

[aintforever]

2 minutes ago, rallyboy said:

When you're down to ten men against a crap Mexico side, park the bus.

When you're one up against Argentina, don't surrender the ball to Messi for twenty minutes.

#notrocketscience

I agree. A top side could have gone 5 at the back and still kept Messi quiet. The players went a goal up and just shat the bed.

[East Kent Saint]

The Argies were obviously told to start playing a bit of football at half time , which they did . Messi may have slowed up but he still surprises the opposition by taking a different route than expected . Threading a ball between 2 defenders and receiving the ball back at the edge of the penalty area or mixing up corner routines.  

[Turkish]

32 minutes ago, BotleySaint said:

The final nail was bringing on Burn and O'Reilly. At that point you knew we were going to lose. But for Pickford, Argentina would have gone ahead much sooner. We had no outlets.

I don't think they are a better team. They just had a better manager. As usual England have under performed.

Under Southgate I think toward the end he stopped all that nonsense and started going for it.

As mentioned by others, I do hope Kane retires now. Should have been subbed as he had no effect on the game. Could have put a striker up there to chase down.

Then again, Tuchel just wasn't thinking about winning. Just surviving.

Such a frustrating waste.

I dont agree semi final is under performance, only two teams can make the final, we are the 4th ranked team in the world so semi final is about par. We won in Mexico, beat a good Norway team who knocked out Brazil so overall we've met expectations. However, that doesn't take away the fact that the last 30 mins last night undid a lot of the good work before that. It was almost naive to expect us to be able to hold out for 30 mins defending the penalty area against a team of that quality. We had the game won had them in our hands then let them off the hook

Edited 4 hours ago by Turkish