Felt like those Argentina goals were coming. Idk what Tuchel was doing parking the bus like that.
Who's watching the World Cup?
- Thread starter Bazza
- Start date
Tell me about it. This is an outstanding England team and to lose like that is almost a crime. It won't be another 60 years before they get another crack at it but man, sure did blow a great opportunity in this match.
The damning thing for Tuchel here is that, even after giving up the equalizer, he still left the English bus in the garage. Given England's horrendous record in games decided by penalty kicks, playing not to lose should never be an option...
To add to that, Argentina's MO the entire tournament has been that of comeback kids mentality, rising to the occasion at the very end of the matches. Tuchel should be sacked immediately.
FIFY, even though it doesn’t seem this was the case today…
So I watched the highlights of both games. Even in the highlights, it was clear England went into “prevent” after going up 1-0. Their goalie made huge saves again and again and I was thinking to myself, why is England constantly letting them into scoring position and never attacking themselves? This can’t keep up. Sure enough, they crumbled in the end under Argentina’s relentless assualt.
I was halfway pulling for our cousins across the pond.
I was halfway pulling for our cousins across the pond.
Never discount a team Messi is on. But I do feel sort of sorry for England (since it is their sport). Their fans will never get over it.
England and Argentina have a really complex relationship.
Of course, we all remember the Falklands, and they (Argentina) never really got over it. Every politician worth his salt down there always promises the Malvinas will be theirs. Not in my lifetime.
And you look at the Argentine leagues. In the Primera División:
Banfield and Rosario Central were actually founded by English immigrants.
Newell's Old Boys, Racing Club, River Plate were English names adopted by the Argentines. The "Juniors" in Boca Juniors were adopted from the English. As were teams with "Athletic" in their names.
The sport itself was brought to Argentina by British railway workers.
So it's easy to say they have a love/hate relationship with England. Even the musicians of the rock nacional (their Spanish-language rock and roll) pay a lot of respect to English rock music.
Even the best goalie is going to miss one eventually. Argentina just kept firing away. England never went on offense. As you said(and other critics), they put in all their defenders to protect the lead.
The same in American football. Get too conservative with a small lead, and you often lose.
Exactly.
The law of competitive advantage (a Bill James term) says that in-game strategies tend to favor the team that's behind. Once Tuchel substituted immovable objects (defenders) for irresistible forces (attacking skill), and (I believe) a 5-4-1 alignment, he had Kane (on a yellow card) as the main scoring threat. As we can see from the momentum chart, that was no threat at all as England could not maintain possession long enough to get him quality chances. It's a game theory/game management blunder of epic proportions.
If I were the FA, responsible for the coaching hire, I would not make firing Tuchel my first act. Instead, I'd ask him behind closed doors what he learned, and how he intends to apply it. His answer to THAT question in THAT venue (not his immediate, public, "no regrets" answer) would determine whether or not he gets to keep his job. It's the same as what I think we all believe was behind the 2006 Mike Shula decision. Mal Moore (with Dr. Witt dictating): "What do you intend to change, Mike?" Shula: "Nothing." Result (weeks later): "You're fired, Mike."
Brits invented Soccer just as the invented just about every sport or its evolved predecessor (Rugby, Tennis, Cricket, Golf, etc.). One could argue that every country develops their own sports and that English sports are just more widespread because they conquered most of the world at one point and brought their culture with them. Regardless, those chaps really did us a favor. The English do have the best professional soccer league, by far, but wouldn't call it their sport. It belongs to all of us and some do it better than others. I just get the impression that if the England side had our US National Team's coach then they very well may be in the final on Sunday.
How "Seven Nation Army" by The White Stripes went from a modest indie rock hit to a melody chanted in stadiums across the globe. It all started in 2003, with a group of Belgian soccer fans at a pub in Italy.
It was the same thing that happened to David Cutcliffe @ Ole Miss after going to the Cotton Bowl the previous year(with Eli), only to slip to 4-7 the next.
He was asked to make changes in his assistant coaches, and (out of strong loyalty) refused to fire any of them.
I think in any sport, if there is a massive bloodletting on the field/pitch during the season, a huge examination needs to happen. In Cutcliffe's case, he tried to make an offense built for Eli Manning (pro set, drop back) fit with two 4-5 stars QBs who were better suited to RPO. Michael Spurlock went on to a pretty decent career in the NFL as a kick returner. Robert Lane was a 5 star out of Lousiiana, and ended his career at Ole Miss as a TE.
Neither one were suited for the offense that Cutcliffe was so stubborn to run.
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