Tuchel’s Defensive Gamble: How Messi Destroyed England

England has officially been eliminated by Argentina in the semifinal of the World Cup, with a final score of 2–1. England had the lead until the 85 minute, where Lionel Messi provided two assists to Enzo Fernández and Lautaro Martínez to complete the comeback. The center of the blame for England’s defeat has been on Thomas Tuchel because after Antony Gordan’s goal, the German manager decided to play extremely defensive and passive. With Thomas Tuchel being at the center of the blame, let us dive deeper into his tactics and how that passive strategy later in the game helped Messi become the architecture of destruction.

Messi and Arentina celebrate a dramatic late comeback.

Tuchel reacts angrily as England’s lead disappears.

England started the game well when it came to creating chances and attacking. We saw Reece James and Djed Spence pushing up high, letting Antony Gordan and Morgan Rogers tuck into the half spaces to create overloads in the middle. In addition, Kane would drop deep into the midfield to progress the play, drawing defenders out of position to thread a through ball into the vacated space.

We see this in England’s goal, where Kane drops into the midfield, progressing the ball wide, leading to a cross from Morgan Rogers that finds Antony Gordon, who is tucked in to create a dangerous opportunity and overloads in the middle in order to give England the lead.

Kane drops deep to help England progress the ball and pull Argentina out of shape.

Morgan Rogers delivers the cross after England work the ball into a dangerous wide area.

Anthony Gordon finishes the move as England’s early attacking rotation pays off.

However, Tuchel began to structure the team in a passive way, which gave Argentina a potential lifeline. After Antony Gordon’s goal, England only had 12% of possession until the end of the game, essentially playing in a low block or what many fans would consider “parking the bus.” Tuchel played an ultra-defensive tactic where his team dropped almost all of its players deep into their own half of the pitch to block the opposition from scoring. He decided to focus on compacting the defense over attacking for a second goal. England was set up in a 6–4–0 formation, with Anthony Gordon and Declan Rice joining the defensive line. Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane on the other hand stayed deep in the midfield. Even when England regained possession, they were unable to launch any threatening counterattacks because Bellingham and Kane were too deep. Tuchel even subbed off Antony Gordon and Declan Rice to bring on Ezri Konsa and Nico O’Reilly in order to truly solidify the defense.

Thomas Tuchel had all 11 England players behind the ball after they took the lead. Photo: ESPN FC.

We saw this ultra defensive tactic work against Mexico, where England were down a man because of Jarell Quansah’s red card, leading to the team sitting back and absorbing the pressure. However, Argentina are the reigning world champions, they are the best attacking team in the tournament, and Messi, despite being 39, is still one of the most lethal attackers in the world, which means using this tactic against La Albiceleste would be much tougher to execute.

England celebrate a hard-earned win over Mexico after a disciplined defensive shift and a successful low block.

The moment England started to prioritize their defense was the moment Argentina gained control of the game. Because the Three Lions were not pressing aggressively, Argentina had time on the ball to pick out their passes. Because of this low block approach, Messi was able to drop into zone 14, while also having more vertical spaces to thread the ball through the low block. Because most La Liga teams play in a low block, Messi is an expert at breaking them down because he has spent so many years with Barcelona. In addition, because England were defending so narrowly, it allowed Argentina to launch long balls and deliver crosses from the half spaces.

Messi drops into zone 14.

De Paul uses the half-space to launch a dangerous chance forward as Argentina continue to exploit England’s narrow block.

From the zone 14, Messi looks to break England’s narrow block with a vertical pass into the danger area.

Moreover, when England flooded their own box during Argentina’s corner, it freed up zone 14, where Messi from out wide passed the ball to Enzo Fernández, which led to a sensational equalizer.

England’s narrow shape opens a lane in the middle, and Messi threads the ball into zone 14.

Enzo steps into the space created by Messi’s movement and fires from the edge of the box.

A few minutes later, the turnaround was complete as a result of the decision to replace midfielders with additional defenders. England once again dropped incredibly deep into their own defensive line, creating room for McAllister on the edge of the box. Messi picked up the ball, cut onto his right foot after McAllister’s shot rebounded against the post, and provided a flawless cross for Lautaro Martinez to score with a header.

Mac Allister’s shot clips the post as Argentina continue to pressure England around the edge of the area.

Messi collects the rebound wide and delivers the cross that splits England’s back line.

Martínez attacks the delivery and heads home the decisive finish.

In the end, Tuchel’s fatal decision to go extremely defensive ultimately cost England’s chance to end their 60-year World Cup drought. Had the German manager decided to be more offensive and push for a second goal, and had he kept his attackers somewhat high up the pitch instead of deep to launch counterattacks in transition, England’s World Cup run might have been different.

Tuchel gives Jude Bellingham instructions in the middle of the match.