THE BLAME GAME

Come Saturday, it will be 73 days since the pain and shame of Atlanta, when England, from a winning position in a World Cup semi-final, decided to do an England, and sit on their lead. What followed resembled a slow-motion crash test dummies video, Enzo Fernández first summoning the ghost of Andy Möller at Euro 96 with his high-camp cavorting celebration, and then Lautaro Martínez, unmarked, nodding home. Englishmen across the globe slumped, Croydon BoxPark fell deathly silent. Allowing Lionel Messi the freedom of Georgia on the inside-right channel had turned out to be a critical oversight. Whoops.

Still too soon? Feels that way. An everlasting international break brings unwelcome flashbacks to the summer, the Nations League quadruple-header a soft re-entry to international football, though facing world champions is a severe test of credentials. Any Football Association bloviation of a best performance since 1966 in winning a third-place playoff game that resembled a hungover Soccer Aid, France not making a tackle in the first half, has done little to brush away the disappointment. Plenty of blame to share around, and Thomas Tuchel more than happy to share it. His explanation for that battening down of the hatches has been a case of “it’s not me, it’s you”.

The Tuchel version of events is that shovelling on Big Dan Burn with nine minutes to play was a reaction to players having already decided unilaterally to bunch up in front of Jordan Pickford and follow in the tradition of failures past. Conjuring Sid Vicious’s thoughts on the man in the street, Tuchel has said 99% of fans don’t ask him about his Atlanta substitutions. To follow Tuchel’s narrative, there’s some corner of a foreign field that’s for ever an England player, exhausted, unable to complete a pass, gassing out. It is a compelling argument, plenty such cases to back it up, though was it not Tuchel’s job to stop it happening? Analysis this week suggested the gassing out followed Tuchel asking players to run too hard in the group stage. A squad mostly coming off hard seasons in the grasp and grapple of the Premier League could not replicate such energy in the knockouts, their rearguard efforts against Mexico and Norway portentous preludes to facing Argentina.

Entering a fantasy scenario, the likelihood is that Spain, who teased Argentina to the point of losing their rag, would have done much the same to England in the final. They already did that in the Euro 2024 final. Spain enjoying 21st century success often sends root-and-branch reformers to ask whether England can learn lessons. But “we don’t have that strength like the Spanish, where we control games like they do,” sighed Anthony Gordon, now playing in Spain, memories of his goal in Atlanta bittersweet. Gordon’s solution? “Play to our strengths, which is play physical, play direct football and on the counterattack.” Sounds familiar. With Tuchel unrepentant, the English ready themselves for Euro 2028 as more of the same, starting Saturday with Spain.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I talk less than most captains but I know people are watching. They think: ‘If this guy’s running like an animal, I have to follow.’ If you talk too much and then don’t do what you have to, people aren’t going to listen” – Raphinha gets his chat on with Sid Lowe about how he lets his hard-working legs do the talking for him when he leads Barcelona.

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FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS

As an avid Manchester United fan, I would love to have a clump of the hallowed turf on display in my living room for daily worship purposes (yesterday’s Football Daily, full email edition). However, what are the chances of my getting a piece that isn’t covered in spit and nasal blowings? I’d say highly unlikely, so I think I’d respectfully give it a miss” – Nigel Green.

I wonder if Harry Kane’s desire to play in the NFL is because someone told him that as a kicker in American football every time an opposing player touched him it would be a penalty?” – Pat Condreay.

If you have any, please send letters to [email protected]. Today’s letter o’ the day prize goes to … Pat Condreay, who wins a copy of Behind the Curtain by Big Website’s Jonathan Wilson. It’s out now and available in The Guardian Bookshop alongside loads of other great football titles. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here. 

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