The thing is, England had Argentina fully on the ropes. If they had scored the goal against the run of play and decided to drop back, then fairs, complete the smash and grab and no one would have a problem. But this wasn’t that. That’s where a lot of the frustration comes from with Tuchel. Couple that with his team selection this whole tournament heavily favoring ground eaters and utility men over technicians and you don’t get Southgate 2.0, you get something arguably worse. He could’ve introduced a midfielder that could control and dictate the game from 1-0 in Kobbie Mainoo, but he left him on the bench. He insisted on starting Gordon over Rashford-and great, he got a goal-but Rashford presents a partnership and interplay with Saka that’s infinitely more threatening. Possibly the worst offense of all was his selection of a Rice/Anderson pivot. In big 2026, given the current state of football, you roll up to World Cup matches with 0/3 technicians in your midfield? That’s not football, man. In this game it’s slightly justifiable to have Anderson man-mark Messi, but once he moves out wide, you have to take him off. Believe people when they show you who they are. Tuchel has shown us exactly who he is, from his squad selection, to every game since. On Argentina, specifically Lionel Messi, what more can be said that hasn’t been said? He is simply the greatest there’s ever been, possibly that there ever will be. There aren’t enough words to describe him. All the superlatives are used up. He defies all logic and sense. I just feel lucky I get to watch.