England might not have exactly swaggered into the World Cup semi-finals but they most definitely can win it.
If anything, the fact that they still have a couple of gears to move through after beating DR Congo, Mexico and Norway should be ominous for the three other teams left standing.
After a suffocating quarter-final win – both on account of the conditions and the tension that accompanied much of their second-half display – England now meet the best team they have played in two years.
But there is nothing to fear from Argentina and clear signs that this is a team that can end that long wait for silverware.
Jude Bellingham
Do not underestimate the impact that one man can have on a World Cup.
Tournaments are often won in moments and England have the ultimate moments man in Jude Bellingham, who is playing the best football of his international career.
Is he the best attacking midfielder we have had since Bobby Charlton? If England prevail on Wednesday, you can certainly construct that argument.
His performances this summer have eclipsed Paul Gascoigne’s breakout tournament in 1990 – not just for impact but also for the maturity of a man whose mentality was questioned in the autumn.
Where are those critics now? The shout that he should be left at home always stretched credibility gossamer thin but in the light of what has happened in the US over the past month it looks like an all-timer.
He is driving England on, scoring goals but also controlling the mood in games and in the camp. “When Jude is on form it sends a message,” Dan Burn said a fortnight ago. And the message has been: England can win it.
Thomas Tuchel’s tactics
“Tournament Thomas” is what they call the phenomenon, when the glint returns to his eye and the juices really start flowing for a manager whose CV suggests he makes the right calls when the pressure is on.
Camp insiders have marvelled at the change in him as the World Cup began. And the lore of Thomas Tuchel being a great knockout manager has only increased with each substitution paying off.
The defensive reinforcements in the Azteca were a masterstroke that few others would have tried – Djed Spence and Morgan Rogers proved game-changers on Saturday.
If Mexico was his masterpiece, Norway felt more like a difficult second album. But his extraordinary interview with ITV after the game illustrated the true nature of the man: relentless, unhappy and not afraid to prick a few egos in the search for more.
If anyone can come up with a gameplan to get England past Argentina, Tuchel can.
There is at least another gear to go through
Roy Keane scoffed that “maybe there is no more to come from England” after Tuchel called for more.
But that is a misguided diagnosis of a team who have shown in fits and starts what they can do.
Against Croatia for 45 minutes – opponents who wanted to come forward and have a go – England purred and so did Tuchel, calling it exactly what he wants to see from his side.
Since then? DR Congo came to frustrate and nearly pulled it off. Mexico were frazzled because of the 10 men. Norway had their gameplan, but it was not to attack.
Argentina won’t be the same. They will fancy their chances of getting at England and leave space that Egypt, Cape Verde and Switzerland all exploited. Playing better teams will suit this iteration of England much more.
They have been so close before
England are no strangers to the latter stages of tournaments but there is something very different about this run.
In 2018 it was wide-eyed wonderment that we were in the deep end of the World Cup. “Three Lions” was going viral but we were just glad to be there.
This time? Not so much. The tournament is now a success for England and Tuchel but they are ranked fourth in the world.
They should be here and this is the third tournament of the last four that they have reached this stage.
That means they have experience but also hunger. The group know what it feels like to be in these big games but also what goes wrong in these kind of matches and that experience should liberate them.
The job they did on Erling Haaland
Norway was not pretty but what was encouraging was how quiet Haaland – who had scored in every international since September 2024 – was kept.
England, barring a hair-brained period in the first half, did a great job on the best striker in the world and it should encourage them that they could do something similar on Lionel Messi, the enduring star of this Argentina team.
Read more
This is a team of mentality monsters
For a minute Tuchel looked like he was going to tear a strip off Gabriel Clarke, the poor ITV interviewer who asked if England’s mentality had been the problem in the stodgy win over Norway.
It was not a problem of mentality, he was told. And Tuchel was right: the desire, fight and mentality of this England side is flawless – they have come through things that would have killed previous generations.
The win over Mexico was impressive but there was something about prevailing against Norway – in the heat, with key players not at 100 per cent and Norway sensing momentum was with them – that suggests this England team are different.
Whatever happens this week, it will not be a failure of bottle. They are a group of mentality monsters.
from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/L5NeAHP
Post a Comment