Thierry Henry and Zlatan Critical Of England’s Defensive Approach vs. Argentina

Argentina is very familiar with needing a late goal at the World Cup. In the round of 32 and quarterfinals, the reigning champion went to extra time against Cape Verde and Switzerland, respectively. In the round of 16 against Egypt, the Argentines were down 2-0 entering the final 15 minutes. Argentina did it again in its thrilling 2-1 win over England, but the Three Lions invited Lionel Messi’s team to attack with head coach Thomas Tuchel’s late substitutions. England head coach Thomas Tuchel took off winger Anthony Gordon (who scored England’s lone goal) in the 72nd minute and brought on defender Ezri Konsa. Then, 10 minutes later, 6-foot-7 defender Dan Burn and left back Nico O’Reilly were brought on for midfielder Declan Rice and defender Reece James, who appeared to be injured. “Thomas Tuchel, what he did wasn’t bad,” Thierry Henry said on FOX Sports’ World Cup Live. “They just did it too early.” “England stopped playing,” Zlatan Ibrahimović added. England opened the scoring through Gordon in the 55th minute, when the winger met Morgan Rogers’ cross at the far post and placed it in the bottom corner. From there, Argentina began dictating the play and had the majority of the ball, with Enzo Fernández scoring in the 85th minute before Lautaro Martínez scored the game-winner two minutes into extra time. The turning point may have come in the 76th minute, though, when Argentina midfielder Alexis Mac Allister hit the post with a long-range effort. That was also after two impressive saves from England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. After 90-plus minutes, England only had five shots (two on target) compared to Argentina’s 15 (five on target). England also only had seven touches in Argentina’s 18-yard box, while Argentina had 28 such touches. “I think that England went into a back five too early for my liking, giving them the ball,” Henry said. “I’m not saying that they thought they won the game. It’s not true. But they thought they had to defend the lead a tiny bit too early. After that, if you’re Argentina, you’re going to throw strikers and put [them] in the box. “One thing that [Argentina manager Lionel] Scaloni did exactly the same against Switzerland and Egypt,” Henry added, “he put [Messi] on the right – not in the middle, into traffic. But he put him on the right. They attracted him to the right of the opposition, to give him the ball in a [one-on-one situation] to go back to his left and cross. And actually, he went on his right to cross. “So, what I’m saying is, they’re the world champion for a reason.” When England made its first defensive change, bringing on Konsa for Gordon in the 72nd minute, Argentina made three substitutions. Then, nine minutes later, striker Lautaro Martinez entered the game, replacing left back Nicolás Tagliafico. “Tuchel made some changes. He went too defensive, and Scaloni went more offensive,” Ibrahimović said. “The way Argentina was playing, they didn’t panic. They kept attacking. They hit the post. They had a couple of chances before scoring their first goal, and they kept pushing. They didn’t make some panic move. Scaloni kept pushing by putting in more offensive players. Martinez came in, in the end. “So, the best team won, like Thierry said.” Alexi Lalas agreed with Henry and Ibrahimović, noting that encouraging a team with Messi to attack by making defensive-minded changes is a dangerous game to play. “England, to a certain extent, beat themselves,” Lalas said. “But, ultimately, they got beaten by arguably the greatest player to ever play the game, who’s still at the top of his game.”