Key events
So to England v Argentina…
I love that these two, competing for the same spot in the team, have been boys since they were kids. What a buzz it must be to be competing at this level with an old mate.
“I think you are spot on regarding the tactical setup and the coaching done by Deschamps as the main reason France didn’t get going,” writes Thomas Krantz. “I thought the most interesting thing beforehand would be if France were going to deploy a low block or try to go toe-to-toe with Spain and use a high press with the wingers (Barcola/Dembélé) trying to limit Spain and they chose … neither?
It’s as if France told themselves “‘e are going to play our normal game and they will have to adapt because we are sooo good’ and forgot that this doesn’t work against elite teams. They were never going to enjoy the same spaces they have had against lesser opposition earlier in the tournament and they looked lost the entire match.
Spain adapted, severely limiting Mbappé (he had three defenders on him as soon as he got near the ball) yet France allowed Yamal to go one on one with Lucas Digne. Digne was never gonna come out of that looking good.”
It wouldn’t be the first timer a team believed their own hype. And it reminds us of the truism that those playing the best stuff in the early stages are rarely those dancing about with a shiny pot at the end.
Here’s Nick Ames’ match report.
Pedro Porro played well, didn’t he? I’m excited to see how he does next season under Roberto De Zerbi, who I think will enjoy his attacking flair.
“I can accept that Spain are a technically gifted team who executed their gameplan to perfection last night,” says Niall Sheerin. “I can also acknowledge that France, though also wonderfully talented, weren’t able to demonstrate any coherent strategy. What I cannot accept, however, is the lack of analysis of the supreme cynicism of the Spanish gameplan and how it was deliberately designed to prevent France from finding their groove and exploiting the spinelessness of a weak, star struck ref out of his depth and unable to exert authority.
How often did Spain players play the man not the ball to con the ref into giving them a free? How many tugs or trips did they apply to prevent France from turning the ball and finding a bit of rhythm? Enough to disrupt the game repeatedly, but each just marginally below the yellow card threshold. How many fouls did Lamine Yamal get away with? When he wasn’t fouling (the horrific studs down the calf of Mbappé towards the end was the worst of many) he was diving about like he was at the swimming pool not on a football pitch. He should not have seen out the 90 … but then that would’ve obliged Infantino to find another excuse to suspend the effect of a red card. Oh beautiful game, where have thou gone?”
Hmmm, I didn’t think this was a performance which stood out as more cynical than others I’ve seen, and I definitely didn’t see anything I’ve not been seeing for years. I know Deschamps tried to blame the ref, but I didn’t see it that way.
I’ve just learnt that Fabián Ruiz has played for Spain 49 times, and never been beaten. That is absurd behaviour and again emphasises the point that there is no brand of football harder to defeat.
We know where France are going from here – Zinedine Zidane is coming in – but how might that work? We weren’t in his Real Madrid dressing room, but I can’t say I’m not suspicious of how profound his impact was. He had Casemiro, Modric and Kroos running games for him, Sergio Ramos behind them and the BBC up front. I doubt there was much tactical work going on.
For the best part of three weeks, Michael Olise and Kylian Mbappé have performed like they’re the best players in the world. But is it, in fact, Lamine Yamal? Before the tournament I’d have said yes, and though I don’t think he has Olise’s variety – I’m not sure he can play in the middle, nor slow the game down in the same way – I’d still go with him. And at 19, he’s got lots of improving still to do.
Deschamps leaves the job having won a World Cup and reached another final and semi-final. He reached a Euros final and a semi-final. To get to the last four of five major tournaments over a 14-year stretch sounds like a remarkable achievement and in some ways it is. But Deschamps has been blessed with generation after generation of extraordinary players; one trophy with those players is perhaps only par. And there is an argument, voiced most vociferously by those grown weary of his football labeur, that Deschamps, for all his apparent success, held France back.
Relive the action as it happened with Scott Murray’s MBM.
On UK TV, they were killing Deschamps for doing nothing as Lucas Digne struggled to contain Lamine Yamal, though Roy Keane made the point that his teammates ought to have seen the problem and helped him out.
I think I’d start a little earlier in the piece: it seemed clear that, for Spain to win, Lamine would have to play well, because without that, they lack edge. So why didn’t Deschamps have a plan to limit his involvement?
“I thought before yesterday’s game that it would be probably be decided by misfortune or a mistake, and France suffered one of each in a matter of minutes,” says Kári Tulinius. “Either giving up a silly penalty or losing Saliba to injury early on would’ve been enough on its own for Les Bleus to lose, both proved way too much. That said, I think Deschamps overcomplicated his tactics by asking Olise to do double duty as a creator and Rodri’s overcoat, and he did neither well. Deschamps probably should’ve left off Barcola and had Koné on in a three man midfield, but that’s very much hindsight talking.”
I’m afraid it’s Deschamps’ job to realise this stuff in advance, and it’s not a major act of prophesy to think you can’t take on Spain with Tchouameni, Rabiot and an attacker as your midfield. But talk to me about Koné: I see some good attributes, but I don’t see it. I watch him and think perhaps coaching could wring the most from his talent, then I think at 25, he shouldn’t need telling to follow runners in a World Cup semi.
Often, too much emphasis is, I think, placed on the tactical, but that was the start of France’s problems in this game. I’m not sure it’s possible to turn on the kind of high press that might’ve worked – famously, Jürgen Klopp spent hours, days, weeks and months drilling it into his Liverpool team and wouldn’t allow anyone not involved in to watch. It would’ve made more sense for France to sit off and try and generate turnovers with space in behind, or sacrifice an attacker for an extra midfielder.
France simply never got going. Kylian Mbappé lamented a display that appeared listless from the start, suggesting they had deviated from their gameplan. “I don’t think we played the match we wanted to play, whether tactically, technically, or in terms of our overall performance level,” he told the French broadcaster M6.
“When you don’t do what you’re supposed to do in a World Cup semi-final, you don’t win. Our goal was to press them high up the pitch to prevent them from settling into that slow, controlled rhythm, because when it comes to controlling the game they are better than us. We failed to do that.”
Mbappé confirmed what also seemed clear from the sidelines: that France had been outnumbered by three to two in midfield. “Against Spain that’s a real problem,” he admitted. “When you put it all together, the result is a defeat. It’s a huge disappointment.”
By way of example, even I could see Michael Olise would have a problem if played centrally, because he’d be wanting the space occupied by the amazing Rodri. But it took Deschamps 45 minutes to move him wide, and by then the game had been set.
Similarly, a midfield three of Tchouameni, Rabiot, Olise was always going to struggle against Rodri, Fabian Ruiz, Olmo, yet no measure was taken to alter the dynamic. Again, the only tactic seemed to be reliance that attacking class would at some point prevail, and this lack of foresight is, I think, a reason the players were so tamely befuddled: what happened to them seemed to surpriser them, though it’s happened to them and others so many times before.
“Outclassed” is a little harsh, in mine: I wasn’t watching thinking these teams don’t belong on the same pitch. Rather, Spain came with a plan, and France came assuming their attackers would get things sorted at some point. Such is Didier Deschamps and, if you’re asking, part of me is pleased his team lost because I think two World cup wins should be for elite managers only, and actually his return of one plus one final defeat is bare minimum given the players he’s had an opposition he’s faced.
So what happened to France, then? Well, in really basic terms, Spain happened. Never in the history of football has there been a style so hard to beat, and though it’s changed since the days of three consecutive tournament wins in a row, the fundamentals remain the same: control midfield, control the game.
Over the next three hours – and when I’m subbed off thereafter – we’ll reflect on France 0-2 Spain, and look forward to England v Argentina. England v Argentina in the semi-finals of the World Cup, oh my complete and utter daze days.
Greetings one and all. Anyone got any plans for later?
Anyway, time for today’s first baton change. Daniel Harris is here to guide you through the next couple of hours. Enjoy the rest of your day.
Time for today’s missive from friend of the blog Krishna Moorthy:
“Hello Tom, France played Spain like how Morocco played France. This is the shortest match report I can file.”
They weren’t quite as passive as Morocco were in that game, but France’s defeat did look as inevitable as Morocco’s did, for most of the game. And I did have a sense from early on in the tournament that this France side might be destined for Netherlands 74, Brazil 82, Romania 94, Argentina 2006 territory as great non-World Cup winners, but at least all those went out in a bit of a blaze of glory. France’s exit last night looked disjointed and resigned.
But we shouldn’t let it detract from the near-perfection of Spain’s performance.
What have been the goal of the tournament contenders? I’ve not noticed the UK TV channels running this staple yet, but it’s always worth a chinwag. Plucking five off the top of my head. I’m thinking Sidny Cabral for Cape Verde v Argentina, Alvarez’s similar effort against Switzerland, Isidor for Haiti against Morocco, Maeda for Japan v Sweden (a sumptuous team goal in a tournament that’s not had that many of them) and Mbappé v Morocco.
Thomas Tuchel says he channels his inner child to help him deal with the stresses and strains of the job. This from AP:
How does England coach Thomas Tuchel handle the pressure of a run to the semifinals of the World Cup ?
Simple. A bike, a parking lot and an ice cream.
Tuchel said ahead of England’s World Cup semifinal against Lionel Messi’s Argentina that he relaxes by reconnecting with his inner child.
“Sometimes you just go on a bike and then you just need a big parking lot, an ice cream in your hand for 15 minutes on a bike and then you feel like you’re 15 years old,” Tuchel said Tuesday. “You enjoy your evening on a warm, summer evening for 15 minutes with the ice cream and you reconnect to the beauty of that feeling that we all have inside of us and that’s sometimes all it needs.”
Our data expert Andrew Beasley on why England should still be wary of 39-year-old Leo Messi’s sprinting ability:
And when Messi hits top speed, he can still go at a decent pace. Data on Sofascore shows his top sprint at this World Cup was 30.9 km/h. That is faster than any run Lautaro Martínez (30.5) or Alexis Mac Allister (30.2) has made for Argentina, despite their being more than a decade younger. It is not far behind the best Kane (31.4) or Jude Bellingham (31.1) have offered either.
And Barney Ronay’s scene-setter:
There are shared qualities here. Both nations belong to that list of places where football occupies a position of overblown prominence in the national sense of wellbeing. And on the pitch these are two well matched teams; or rather, not really teams, but excitingly wonky collections of parts dragged to this point by star players and wild-eyed comebacks, emotion as opposed to process.
Whatever happens in Atlanta, it is unlikely to be rational, cold or free from further episodes of whiplash. England have been on the edge in their past two matches. Argentina have at least half a team’s worth of players with a thirst for confrontation. High-stakes VAR screen debacle anyone? A third-minute 50/50 with Cristian Romero? Emi Martínez in a penalty shootout against England? Never mind shithousery. Expect a shitmansion, a shitpalace.
World Cup Daily has dropped, and I’m listening to it as I type. Get your ears round it now. Lots to chew on, including Philippe Auclair claiming that for the first time ever most of the world is backing England in a match against Argentina, which may rouse readers in Glasgow, Dublin, Cardiff etc.
Half-time of final to last 30 minutes – reports
Fans at the final will get the chance to yam down an extra pint on the concourse, while their kids can successfully pester them for another tub of popcorn, for it’s been reported that half-time will last half an hour, Fifa has confirmed. This will create sufficient time for the much-vaunted Super Bowl-esque half-time show at which the likes of Shakira, Justin Bieber and Madonna will play the hits. Or maybe they won’t play the hits – perhaps they’ll go rogue and try out some experimental unreleased session tracks. We can but hope.
Preamble
Greetings everyone, and welcome to a massive World Cup day. We’ll be covering all the buildup to the England v Argentina semi-final throughout the day, but we need to talk about last night first don’t we? Yes, Spain are in the final after producing, if not a shock, then at least an unscripted moment, in a World Cup that’s sometimes felt as if it has had too many scripted ones. The billing for last night didn’t have France simply not showing up as among the plot twists.
But Spain were masterful, on and off the ball (and it was mostly the former such is their mesmeric knack for keeping possession), underpinned by flawless midfield performances from Fabián Ruiz and Rodri. The whole team didn’t put a foot wrong, and Pedro Porro, scorer of the second goal, is turning into an unlikely Spanish hero.
It all means that we have the possibility of a Spain v England major tournament final for the fourth summer in a row, following on from the women’s World Cup in 2023, men’s Euros in 2024 and women’s Euros last year. But England have considerable work to do first.
Anyway, here’s your essential reading from the game in Dallas:
