Bukayo Saka scored a hat-trick for England against France (Image: Getty)
England could have been forgiven for a half-hearted performance against France in what, ultimately, was a meaningless match. Who cares whether you finish third or fourth at a World Cup? Nobody. But, with the shackles off, England actually produced their best performance of the tournament in the third-placed play-off. At least for 45 minutes anyway. They were fun to watch, free-flowing and bursting with energy. They led 4-0 at half-time against a team featuring elite players like Kylian Mbappe and Michael Olise.
But in many ways, this made it even worse for Thomas Tuchel, who was heavily booed pre-match. Because the obvious question is: where was this against Argentina? And why did Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka play a combined total of seven minutes in that semi-final defeat? The pace and dynamism they supplied out wide in the first half here was exactly what Argentina would have hated to defend against. France couldn’t live with them despite having some world-class defenders on the pitch.
Then half-time happened. England took off Rashford for Ollie Watkins while France brought on Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola, Dayot Upamecano and Lucas Digne. That led to a complete role reversal in the second half. By the 66th minute, it was 4-3. Just as the Three Lions blew apart their opponents, the French returned the favour in the second half. They could, and probably should, have scored seven. Instead, an extraordinary contest ended 6-4 to England.
In the first half, France were dire, let’s be frank. They were absolutely miles off it defensively. But England were just so bright and sharp at the same time. Thomas Tuchel’s team played with such pace and purpose. Declan Rice, brought off with England 1-0 up in midweek but wearing the armband here, was superb, as were hat-trick hero Saka and Rashford too.
Tuchel came out after the defeat to Argentina to say: “It’s maybe not in our DNA like it is in the Spanish DNA or Argentinian or Brazilian DNA to take the ball, control the game and the ball.” So perhaps he found some of that Brazilian DNA spare to inject into his players pre-match? Because they looked like 1970s Brazil for 45 minutes in Miami.
Granted, they were playing a France team that looked like they wanted to be anywhere else in the world. But the England first-half display beggared belief. Arsenal‘s Saka looked back to his brilliant best as he thrashed in three goals. He didn’t play a single minute against Argentina, which isn’t a good look for Tuchel. The German would probably argue that the winger looked lethargic earlier in this tournament.
But here he was fantastic, and it begs the question: why didn’t he get on the pitch on Wednesday night? Rashford’s performance, too, makes it even clearer that bringing him on in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time – after Argentina had taken a 2-1 lead at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium – was far too late.
EXPRESS SPORT ON FB! Get all the best sports news and much more on our Facebook page
Thomas Tuchel has been heavily criticised after the defeat to Argentina (Image: Getty)
Had England have added that explosiveness to their attack while 1-0 up, might they actually have just blown Argentina away? Or could they even have killed the world champions on the counter as Argentina piled on the pressure?
England’s assistant coach Anthony Barry explained at half-time against France: “No frustration. I’m a little bit emotional, I can’t find the words to describe just how proud I am of these players. They’re playing a game with broken hearts. I see 11 lads out on the field with broken hearts, I’ve seen them in the hotel the last two days with broken hearts.
“And they can build a performance like that just through the pride of playing for England. I know what the cynics will say, it’s too late, but we still play against a world-class opponent and that 45 minutes, I’m so proud of the boys.”
And that was true. The second half, not so much. Until Saka’s penalty made it 5-3, England crumbled as players like Rice noticeably tired. It took until the 79th minute for Tuchel to make another substitution, when Jude Bellingham and Elliot Anderson came on.
That was despite England being absolutely battered and very fortunate not to have given away their lead. But his side got the job done. Unfortunately, it is a victory that restores a bit of pride but means very little in the grand scheme. England would much, much rather have been playing in New Jersey on Sunday night instead.
Tuchel said this week he didn’t regret his decisions against Argentina. The first half performance over France proves that maybe he should have. The second half just underlined the work the head coach still has to do at the back.
It’s clear that lessons must be learned from this World Cup. And one of them is that if England want to win major tournaments, they need to be as proactive as they were in the first half against France. With that kind of attitude all game against Argentina, they might have been playing in a World Cup final this weekend.