- 11 minutes ago
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Right. Hello, everybody. Welcome to the Adam Cleary Football Channel where, yeah, yeah.
00:10All right. So I would love to stand here and tell you that England going out of the World Cup
00:14is the story of how a performance that is better than you realise was just, in the end, overcome by
00:22the individual talent of the best player in the world.
00:24Because that's not a million miles away from being true. But instead, I can't do that because this is the
00:31story of some of the most damaging late game substitutions I have ever seen at this level.
00:39Like, just to put it in its simplest terms, from Anthony Gordon's goal to the end of the game, the
00:43possession split is 88% to 12 in favour of Argentina.
00:47They have, like, four goals that are just a load of nothing before it and then 10 after it, which
00:54obviously leads to both the goals themselves.
00:56And if that's not enough for you, I know I'm going really big at the start here. I'm sorry. If
01:00that's not enough for you, this is every single completed pass England made between the 66th minute and Argentina scoring.
01:09That is, like, 20 minutes of football. And that is, that's all they have to show for it. There are
01:15unsuccessful passes. They are all Jordan Pickford just giving the ball back because England have no idea how to get
01:21out of what's going on.
01:23But it was this for 20 minutes. And then the next completed pass is the kickoff. It's a footballing surrender
01:30on a scale I have never, ever seen before.
01:34What we're going to do here is we're going to wind it back, look at the context of the whole
01:37game to understand just how it got that bad.
01:41Because I would argue England were never on top in this game, but they were still playing very well.
01:48And I'd argue also had Argentina right where they wanted them because they always want to go through Messi by
01:55having him drop off.
01:56So they gummed up the middle of the pitch here to stop him turning, stop him running and stop him
02:00creating.
02:01Like, this is two minutes in. Messi has dropped deeper. He wants to get on the ball in this area,
02:06turn, fire it into someone running ahead of him.
02:09But Elliot Anderson is all over him. He takes the ball. Messi asks the referee for help and doesn't get
02:15it.
02:16Then this happens just a few minutes later. Like, this time Messi is able to pop it off to the
02:20side.
02:21But watch how Anderson follows him all the way in there and stops him getting any actual control of the
02:26ball.
02:27And then a minute or so after that, it gets even better. Argentina are still trying to find him.
02:32And Anderson doesn't just jump to put the pressure on. He actually takes the ball off him and should probably
02:37get a free kick when he's fouled.
02:38And what you were looking at in those opening exchanges was just absolutely textbook doing a job on the opposition's
02:45best player.
02:46And it was working. And don't get me wrong. England were not creating much in the process, but they did
02:51still have their on-the-ball approach absolutely bang on as well.
02:55Players kept dropping to pull defenders out of an already high line. Then they would hit Argentina in behind.
03:01Like, this one is from Gordon. It's a great example because, yes, he stuffs up the shot.
03:05But the opening comes from him dropping deep, taking Romero somewhere he doesn't want to be,
03:11Spence staying deep to bring the full-back beyond the halfway line, and then attacking the space they've both managed
03:17to make.
03:18And again, it didn't lead to an awful lot, but Argentina were really struggling to deal with this sort of
03:24fluidity and this sort of movement.
03:25Like here, it goes centrally into Kane, and he could give this to Spence, who's attacking that space on the
03:31outside that Anthony Gordon's inside run has opened up for him.
03:35Or he can switch it because focusing the play on that side has James and Rodgers 2v1 on the right.
03:41And again, nothing comes from it, but they do get Rhys James in behind him.
03:45If he just sort of looks up a bit and sees what his options actually are, that could have been
03:48a good chance.
03:49And that is a lot more than Argentina were creating because we'd shut off access to Messi.
03:55And I know I've just rushed through like nearly the first hour of football here, but that is just how
03:59I would surmise it for you.
04:01Like, it is a tight game. It's a very physical one.
04:03I think they broke some sort of record for fouls in the first couple of minutes.
04:06But your game plan is creating openings for you while your defensive structure has completely nullified the opposition's main weapon.
04:16And I would honestly, honestly say for 55 minutes of this game, England played about as close to a perfect
04:24match against this team as they could have realistically been expected to.
04:29So you've got, everything's working.
04:31You're doing well on the ball.
04:32You're doing well off the ball and now you've got the lead.
04:34That is as good as it gets.
04:36And then immediately after they take the lead, England are gifted this opening while Argentina's collective heads are on Mars,
04:44but nothing comes of it.
04:46And then they simply never threaten the goal again for the entire rest of the match.
04:52And look, right, you know me, you know I would love to have a more interesting or nuanced or original
04:58take than just it was the subs.
05:00But I don't because it was.
05:03So let's look at exactly why.
05:06There's an immediate response from Argentina, which is fine and normal and to be expected, right?
05:11That's not a problem.
05:12We get that tackle from Jed Spence to deny Simeone.
05:15Argentina take it off us in the box.
05:18There's that backwards header from John Stones.
05:20Pickford makes that save.
05:21And the reason I'm rattling all of these off here, right, is because they all happen before any substitutions are
05:31made.
05:31And it's important to remember that.
05:33If you just look at the momentum graph, even like from the goal to the hydration break, Argentina have a
05:38brilliant spell in this game.
05:41They're on top, they're creating chances, they're dominating England.
05:44But crucially, England don't concede.
05:47Like, that's absolutely fantastic because now you've got a break in play.
05:52And as a manager, you can work out how to fix that while you've still got the lead.
05:56You can see that your team are naturally sitting deeper, that the opposition are growing into the game.
06:02You have to make the decisions right now that either win or lose your team that game of football.
06:10And when the game restarts from the hydration break, Thomas Tuchel makes the singular decision that ultimately costs England this
06:18match.
06:19He substitutes Anthony Gordon for Esri Conce.
06:23And what he was trying to do there was this.
06:26He wanted to put England in a 3-4-2-1 so that A, you can still contest the middle
06:31of the pitch.
06:32You've got a lot of bodies in there.
06:33But also, you're now better equipped to deal with Argentina's inevitable crossing barrage.
06:39But because, we looked at it before, every time they got the ball back, they just gave it to Argentina
06:44for 20 minutes.
06:46They could not keep a hold of the ball.
06:48In reality, that just immediately became a 5-2-3.
06:53It was basically that.
06:55And from there, they couldn't do anything.
06:57Like, this is 90 seconds after that substitution with what turned out to be 30 minutes still to go in
07:04the game.
07:04And it is a defensive wall on the edge of their own box where the only space they're realistically able
07:10to contest is right there.
07:13They cannot defend more than maybe 25 yards from their own goal line.
07:18And when the ball is played wide, as it obviously will be because that's where you're leaving all the space,
07:23they drop even deeper still.
07:25So, you're now leaving all this space here.
07:28And that is every single player, bar Harry Kane, defending the box.
07:33You've got so much room out here.
07:35And again, because it's only Kane out there, he is not mobile enough as a forward to start closing down
07:42four different players who all might fancy a shot.
07:45So, we just go back to those very first clips we used at the start of the video, right?
07:49You are showing Argentina that if they want to try and find Lionel Messi anywhere from here to about here,
07:56you are going to contest that.
07:58You are going to make life as difficult as you possibly can for their best player.
08:02And with that one substitution, what you're now saying is that actually you can have it anywhere up to about
08:09here.
08:10And a good player, by the way, will make you regret that decision.
08:14And this is obviously, it's not a good player.
08:17It's Lionel Messi.
08:18And what he did was he completely took this match and this tie and the World Cup away from England
08:24by using the space they decided to allow him to have.
08:29And just to really illustrate that, right, this is everything Messi did in the game prior to that substitution.
08:35Yes, he's got his little pocket where he wants to get on the ball, but just look how little of
08:39that is forward from there.
08:41Look how much of it is backwards.
08:41Look where he's having to go to get on the ball to have any sort of impact.
08:45Yes, it's still Lionel Messi.
08:46You should be terrified of him.
08:48But up until that sub, he is not hurting you.
08:52You've got him relatively well contained.
08:54Like even these two or three balls into the box here, they were all unsuccessful passes.
08:59He didn't actually make anything from them.
09:01But now, and I really must stress, you need to be sitting down for this, right?
09:05This is everything he was able to do after that change.
09:10It is an absolutely staggering difference in one player's involvement in a game of football across like a 25 to
09:1830 minute spell.
09:20And as much as what he did is about his brilliance, right, I would say this is more to do
09:26with the space, the territory, the time, everything that England willingly conceded to him.
09:33Like just look at this moment here.
09:34Like I genuinely turned to my mate in the pub when I saw this and said, oh, we're in deep
09:40shit here.
09:41England are sitting in their deep block and Messi is just standing outside of it.
09:45But zero pressure on him whatsoever.
09:47And he gets the ball, obviously, then faces up Morgan Rodgers, looks for a one-two.
09:52It's the first chance he's had to do that all game.
09:54And it doesn't come off.
09:56So what he does is he just walks around to the other side of the pitch instead.
10:02Just walks.
10:04Now England are even deeper because the ball's gone wide.
10:06So he gets it.
10:07He has time to look up, time to do whatever he wants.
10:10And he very nearly clips it over the top for an equaliser.
10:14That one substitution and the mindset it instilled in England and the space it afforded Messi.
10:22Fucking Christmas Day to him.
10:24And I almost like, I almost don't even see any point in showing you both the goals because it's literally
10:29just more examples of that exact same thing.
10:32Like he's all alone after they play a short corner because nobody really wants to come out of the shape
10:36to get out to him.
10:37And England are so deep because, again, the ball is wide.
10:41And just look how much space there is on the edge of the box.
10:45You are literally inviting all that pressure.
10:47And because Messi ends up 1v1 on the edge of the box, Anderson has to go out there.
10:51The instruction was always to keep it 2v1 when he was approaching that area.
10:56But because he does that, nobody is around the edge of the box to stop a shot.
11:00You are literally inviting all that pressure and by extension the shot and by extension the goal.
11:07And as for the winner, like, yes, there's a little bit of luck involved in that, I would say, because
11:11of the angle it comes back off the post.
11:12And the fact that I can't be bothered making a big deal out of this.
11:16I'm surprised there wasn't at least a VAR check for Spence getting stood on.
11:20Although that would have been a bit of luck England certainly didn't deserve.
11:23But even when that shot comes in, look at where Lionel Messi is standing.
11:28Look at how much space he has.
11:30And you can say it's a brilliant ball, which it is, and that it's on the players because you've got
11:35four centre-backs in a line here.
11:36And Martinez gets between two of them because, again, it is and it does.
11:40But both scenarios, the equaliser and the winning goal, were things that were constantly happening from, like, the 73rd minute
11:49onwards.
11:49And England did nothing to stop them.
11:52And it is, it's absolutely gut-wrenching because I honestly do think for 55 minutes they got this pretty much
11:58spot on.
11:59But by the end of the game, what they got was exactly what they deserved.
12:05And what is absolutely nuts to me about this, right, is that I've been really positive on Tuchel's impact from
12:11the sidelines in this tournament so far.
12:14Like, I think we're going to get some revisionism now about the changes he made against Mexico, even though we
12:19had 10 men,
12:20and the changes he made against Norway, even though Haaland was still on the pitch.
12:23But by and large, I think not only has he got all the changes right, almost, but he's been really
12:29brave with some of them at the same time.
12:31And this is just so far in the opposite direction, both in terms of the mentality behind them, the thought
12:38process, and the impact they have,
12:41that it's scarcely believable it's the same manager.
12:45To see the way the tide was turning here and his only reaction to it being O'Reilly and Byrne
12:50for James and Rice,
12:51which takes you to somehow an even more defensive version of this shape, it's just, it's absolutely baffling to me.
13:00To allow Argentina to have two centre-backs on yellow cards and to bring on Nicolas Otamendi, who is my
13:06age,
13:07and not make a single change at the top end of the pitch, that should make them worried about what
13:12we can do going the other way.
13:13To add no pace, to add no running, to add no threat at this end, I've never seen anything like
13:20it.
13:21Honestly, I'd love to stand here and say something more interesting than that, but I've just, it's so many fundamental
13:28misreadings of both the game and the opposition.
13:30I can't believe it, honestly. Like Harry Kane's had a fantastic tournament, but if Argentina are pushing you back this
13:35much,
13:36you need to swap him out for someone who can attack this space that they're leaving in behind, or at
13:41least give him someone around him who can do that.
13:43Like, if Messi's suddenly dropping outside the block, then what you need to do is not a 5-4-1,
13:48but a 4-5-1,
13:50so that wherever he goes, let's say he pops out over here, someone can get out to him without compromising
13:56the shape.
13:56And if he starts walking around, someone can keep jumping. You can always add a player to where he is
14:02standing.
14:03Like, the options were there. They had the players to do all this stuff.
14:07But sending on Esri Conte for Anthony Gordon told this team that it was backs to the wall
14:12for the remainder of the game. So then, when you concede and you go behind with like six minutes or
14:18whatever of stoppage time left,
14:19you find yourself with four centre-backs on the pitch, a full-back in sort of left wing,
14:25two midfielders who can't really run anymore because they've run too much for you,
14:29and a centre-forward doesn't even really run all that much anyway.
14:32At the end of the game, with Dan Byrne leading the press, like, how can you allow yourself to be
14:39in that situation
14:40when you've got a lead with like 10 minutes left of a game of football?
14:46I can't get my head around it. I'm sorry.
14:48So yeah, England are out of the World Cup at the semi-final stage, which, if I'm going to add
14:52anything to this,
14:53I would just like to say I think these players deserve quite a lot of credit for getting to.
14:59Like, I know they're one of the best teams in the world, but you still have to work to get
15:02to this position in a tournament.
15:04And I think some of the scheduling and stuff that England have had has been quite a lot harder than
15:10a lot of other teams.
15:11Like, the travel they've had, some of the conditions, like, it is no small achievement to have even got to
15:16this game,
15:16let alone have been within 15 minutes of getting to the final.
15:20It's just, when they really needed some help from the touchline,
15:25they did not get anything that was going to make this game easier.
15:28They instead got stuff that made it, made it harder.
15:32And I do feel, for a number of them in particular, I actually feel, I feel they've been really let
15:36down.
15:37Really let down.
15:38So yes, there you go. Almost the end of the World Cup coverage.
15:42We'll obviously be doing the final.
15:44I won't insult your intelligence by doing the third place game unless,
15:47unless Thomas Tuchel himself plays.
15:49And that maybe might be worth having a look at.
15:52But please do subscribe to us here at the Adam Cleary Football Channel,
15:54because it won't just end with the World Cup.
15:56They never let me leave this room.
15:58The Premier League starts in like four weeks or something.
16:01Absolutely nuts.
16:02You can get me across all the social media to see the full breakdown I'm about to have
16:05at Adam Cleary, C-L-E-R-Y.
16:07And there you go.
16:10Maybe next time, eh?
16:12He says for the 12th time in his life.
16:16Goodbye.
16:18Goodbye.
16:18Goodbye.
16:18Goodbye.
Comments