World Cup 2026

[Mito Man]

Messi after retiring from international football can spend his free time starring in Bollywood films…

[duncs500]

Every time we play a big game and take the lead, it's always the same. Stop playing, invite pressure. I know it's not easy, but we just seem mentally weak.

Maybe we were just saved a complete humiliation on Sunday mind you.

[Simon]

Every time we play a big game and take the lead, it's always the same. Stop playing, invite pressure. I know it's not easy, but we just seem mentally weak.

Completely agree. It's always the same. 'Oh we're ahead, we can take the foot off the gas now'

Best form of defence is attack. Should've kept pushing them hard for 2-0, not jumping on the backfoot.

[Gavster]

It was painful to watch when England pulled back, it was just a numbers game watching Argentina line up shots, it was so inevitable they’d score.

[Simon]

Send in HMS Conqueror and finish the job.

[duncs500]

Completely agree. It's always the same. 'Oh we're ahead, we can take the foot off the gas now'

I'm not sure it was a lack of effort, it's about having the stones to get on the ball and keep control of the game when it might be the biggest moment of a player's career. We just don't have the mentality to do that, and it's not any one player, I can only assume that it's either a weakness in the English psyche or that the weight of historical failure just makes the hope of success too heavy to carry.

[GG.]

I think to be fair to them its partly the Argentinian team stop fucking about fouling everyone so much and trying to get people sent off and actually start playing football once they're behind. The England team then being in full defensive mode is really just survival I think.

[Matty]

I mean, we've still got 3rd place to play for on Saturday! No idea why...but...3rd place!

(Even though I suspect we'll get embarrassed by France).

[duncs500]

I went down a small AI rabbit hole, fact of the day: since FIFA world rankings were created in 1993 England have never won a knockout game at a major tournament against a team ranked higher than us.

We don't have the mentality, simple as that.

[GG.]

Fair point!

[DeskJockey]

There were tears in my house. DJLets 1 & 2 took it hard.#3 was fast asleep.

[ZedLeg]

This is why I don’t gamble

Yeah, I could really see it being a France England final tbh

[Gavster]

Yet again we managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

[dinny_g]

Another 4 year cycle, same problem, same result.

It wasn't so much the dropping off part - I mean England were never going to hold out for 40 to 45 minutes against a team like Argentina. It's parking the bus and then NOT parking the bus properly. The front "5" just stat back and allowed Argentina time and space to craft an attack instead of closing down, hassling, putting on pressure.

I'm sure this was a deliberate tactic, given to the players by Tuchel but at this stage, given the past 60 bloody years, I'd expect leaders of the like of Jane, Rice and Bellingham to have the courage to say "no lads, I know what the manager has told us to do but it's not going to work - we're doing this"
but that will never happen.

Before the game I said that even if England lose, that Tuchel is the right man for the next Euros - learn from his many mistakes and do it better next time but given the manner of the defeat, I think he has to go because he won't have the fan support and it's just delaying the inevitable