England’s World Cup journey came to a rather dramatic end against Argentina and their exit has led to one very simple question: why?
A lot of the blame has gone towards the decision to retreat after Anthony Gordon’s goal just before the hour mark. The switch to the back five invited pressure, and Thomas Tuchel’s side simply couldn’t hold on.
However, the one thing the England boss has maintained throughout the tournament is that there can be no doubting the players’ mentality. The game in Atlanta seemed to bring that into question.
England were already defending before the change in formation. Players were succumbing to the environment they were in. Not all, but some. Who managed to find another gear when their country needed them most? And who failed to deliver in a game of such magnitude?
It may be hard to do this considering the overwhelming feeling of disappointment, but let’s start with the positives.
On the biggest night of their careers, there were some players who put on a display to be proud of. The obvious one that springs to mind is Djed Spence. A much-questioned selection in Tuchel’s squad, he did almost everything that could’ve been asked of him.
He was tasked with facing up to Lionel Messi when he drifted out wide, while also offering a threat in attack against the vulnerable Nahuel Molina.
At both ends, he was a star man. No England player attempted more take-ons, and only Declan Rice completed more. He also completed 80 per cent of his final third passes, bettered only by Reece James.
At the other end, no one made more tackles and interceptions. The image of him celebrating a last-ditch lunge to stop Giuliano Simeone would’ve gone down in folklore had England held on.
He was the epitome of stepping up when his country needed him most. It was his best display from the start in the tournament and while Sky Sports’ Power Ranking of 77/100 might seem low, it was England’s third-best on the night.
Anthony Gordon’s rating of 83 was the best and it continued a streak of performances that saw him become arguably England’s most consistent performer. Yes, there were other individual displays that were superior, but those players also had games with massive drop-offs.
Elliot Anderson was the next best according to the rankings, but that also equated to his third-worst performance of the tournament. And ultimately, that’s a trend we can see with a lot of players, even those who don’t appear to have had a terrible game.
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Harry Kane speaks on England’s loss to Argentina in the World Cup semi final
Hamstring injury aside, James’ ranking [72] was his lowest across his four appearances. The same applies to John Stones, who managed to score lower [68] than against Croatia in the opener where his inclusion looked to be a huge mistake.
Marc Guehi and Ezri Konsa had their worst and second-worst games respectively. As did Jordan Pickford. Some might argue that’s obvious because England conceded twice. Yet, against Mexico where they also let in two, Guehi and Pickford put on statistically better performances.
Pickford’s distribution ultimately didn’t help England. He was far more direct than throughout the rest of the tournament and it meant that his outfield team-mates had less chance to get hold of possession and create.
In between the sticks, it was his second-worst underperformance in relation to his expected goals conceded. Only against Croatia was he weaker.
Then we have Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham. It goes without saying that they didn’t reach the same heights as they did for the rest of the tournament. However, you can only reflect on their performances as underwhelming.
In the three knockout games prior, Bellingham averaged more than four take-on attempts per game. He didn’t even manage half of that against Argentina. His final third pass attempts were down by two-thirds of their average in the previous three games. That is somewhat inflated by the game against Congo, but take that away and it is still less than half of what he produced against Mexico and Norway.
His heatmap in possession also shows he was nowhere near the areas he threatened so much in. Rather than being within the width of the penalty area, he found himself stranded closer to the left flank. He wasn’t showing the proactivity which made him a threat.
As for Kane, the first thing to note is he only managed one shot. Not good enough by anyone’s standards. But the reason for that is where he was picking up possession.
We know that Kane likes to drop deep and spread the play. He isn’t just a poacher, but he is still the centre forward. He does need a presence around the goal. Yet, he received the ball within 20 yards of the Argentina goal just once. Even against Norway, a game he also failed to score in, he received the ball four times.
That wasn’t just because the team couldn’t find him. It was because he was dropping deep to get involved and then not making up the ground to impact the attack himself. And with Bellingham also not in those areas, England were just left with nothing.
Let’s be clear, many of those players gave absolutely everything this summer. Knocks, exhaustion, illness, altitude. They faced it all and stood up in some tough situations. This is not a critical review of a tough summer.
However, it offers somewhat of an insight into what happens to the players when they are up against it. Tactics aside, some players either don’t do enough, or perhaps in the instances of Kane and Bellingham, do too much which takes them away from where they can create the most danger.
