England went out with a whimper against Argentina in the semi-final. Even beyond the subjective judgements on the tactics when the team retreated into the lowest of low blocks and allowed the opposition to dictate play and also the substitutions, Ezri Konsa for goalscorer Antony Gordon, Dan Burn for Declan Rice, the stats are damning.
After Gordon’s goal in the 55th minute, England had 12% possession for the remaining 55 minutes. That feels like it was Exeter City trying to stay in a FA Cup tie against Arsenal. When South Africa went down to ten men, then nine, against Mexico they had more possession. In that period England completed 26 of 38 passes, that’s one successful pass every two minutes. League Two stuff.
There seems to be a disconnect between the manager who ‘has no regrets’ and the players. In their post-match comments both Harry Kane and Marc Guehi said that we should have kept attacking and the problems came from every player dropping so deep that there was not ‘out-ball’. We just squandered possession to a side that thrives on space – just look at the second goal and the amount of time Messi has to cross the ball without anyone closing him down. The End.
In brighter news, there is still time to get involved in the daily 7th Heaven World Cup quiz via the app and life goes on after the Final on Sunday –
The Football Mine 