Tactical Analysis: England And Jude Bellingham’s World Cup Adventure Comes To An End
The England against Argentina game can be divided into two different matches: a game before the second-half hydration break and a different match after. In the first half, both teams had their periods of ball possession, but neither one came close to scoring. England and Argentina created nothing from open play. Harry Kane’s teammates accumulated four touches inside the box, whereas Lionel Messi’s fellows had three. In the second half, the same story continued until England exploited Argentina’s subpar high press.
After channeling the ball toward Reece James, Harry Kane dropped into midfield without being marked or followed. He collected the out-in pass from James and clipped the ball to Morgan Rogers behind Tagliafico. The latter cleared the delivery, but Rice collected the loose ball and set up Rogers around the box. The Aston Villa player spotted Gordon lurking around the far post area. The latter attacked Molina’s blindside to put the ball home. After securing the lead, England looked to manage the winning game state by retreating to defend, seizing the right opportunity to counter. Not only that, but Tuchel’s side was close to hurting Argentina from a high regain.
Lionel Scaloni took off a midfielder, Leandro Paredes, and brought in a winger, Nico Gonzalez. Argentina’s intentions became clear with the new setup. Good passers behind England’s low block and runners around to receive pinged passes. The first connection between Messi and Gonzalez threatened England’s defensive unity, as Stones cleared Gonzalez’s header toward Tagliafico. England was fortunate thanks to Stones and the offside flag.
The second warning from Argentina came right before the hydration break. In the following phase of a corner, Messi and Molina created a 2v1 situation against Gordon, which prevented him from fully committing toward one of them.
As a consequence, Messi was able to find an angle to curve his cross toward the central area at the edge of the six-yard box. Argentina generated numerical parity, and Nico Gonzalez sneaked in front of Guehi to head the ball, which Pickford cleared off the line.
After the hydration break, Thomas Tuchel switched to a back five, as Esri Konsa replaced Antony Gordon. England defended in a 5-3-2 low block.
Space was at a premium around England’s defensive shape. Argentina’s plan revolved around exploiting the half-spaces to deliver early crosses. Scaloni’s side tended to work the ball around and across, manipulating England’s block to generate space and overload on the opposite side. With De Paul’s introduction taking Simeone’s place, Argentina had another player to take advantage of his passing quality to deliver crosses.
In this example, after clustering the play on the left half-space, Argentina switched the ball to the right side, where De Paul and Montiel outnumbered Spence. De Paul was comfortable in crossing the ball to Mac Allister, who capitalized on the 3v3 situation across the backline, sneaking behind Anderson.
Moreover, Mac Allister attacked the gap between Stones and Konsa, with Bellingham letting him get into a dangerous situation. Liverpool’s midfielder headed the ball toward the post.
England seemed to have problems defending the second phases of corners and short deliveries of such dead-ball situations. Argentina’s first goal came after De Paul and Messi overloaded Spence.
Elliot Anderson shifted across toward Messi, vacating the space at the edge of the box. Messi spotted Enzo Fernandez in free space and had De Paul ready to receive and cross should he feed him.
Enzo Fernandez fired a shot into the middle of the net.
Fatigue hindered Thomas Tuchel’s side, as Argentina kept probing. The second minute of injury time was a prime example. Deep in the box, Elliot Anderson retreated into the inside channel to cover Gonzalo Montiel. Nico Gonzalez noticed Mac Allister at the cusp of the box, with Harry Kane watching the ball roll across.
Stones and O’Reilly were far away from preventing Mac Allister from shooting and hitting the post.
Lionel Messi collected the rebound, whereas Nico O’Reilly shut down the angle inside. Messi looked to go outside and cross the ball with his right foot toward the far post for Lautaro Martinez to bank the second goal.
Finally, the field tilt is another window to highlight England’s change of intentions between Gordon and Martinez’s goals. Thomas Tuchel’s side made four passes during this period in the attacking third, whereas Argentina accumulated 160 passes in England’s third. Tuchel’s substitutions left England without outlets to hold onto the ball during critical situations and work out transitions. It was a total switch to a defensive and passive approach that handicapped the team alongside the apparent fatigue on the likes of Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham.
England survived the Mexico game, relying on the same approach. However, the English national team was forced into a defensive approach as the Englishmen were down to ten players. Nonetheless, Argentina is a different breed. The quality of their midfield and the front lines proved their capability to navigate through disadvantageous game states and against deep, low blocks in the Egypt and Switzerland games.
