England player ratings vs Argentina as Jude Bellingham, Declan Rice flop but Djed Spence sparkles
Well, that was a really rough watch.
For all of Argentina’s, let’s say, gamesmanship, England did a great job of keeping their heads while refusing to be bullied and their lead was probably deserved when Anthony Gordon finished off a brilliant move to break the deadlock after 55 minutes.
But the response to this goal from both sides massively turned the game on its head, with Thomas Tuchel‘s first real f*** up at this tournament (going all-out defensive too early) costing England in this World Cup semi-final.
Lionel Messi gradually became more involved as England were camped inside their own penalty area for the final half an hour, and Lautaro Martinez’s stoppage-time winner was inevitable once Enzo Fernandez fired home a stunning leveller from distance.
Rightly or wrongly, most of the blame for England’s collapse will be at Tuchel’s door, but some of his star players went missing while others rose to the big occasion…
Jordan Pickford
England’s long-term No.1 has had some critics at this tournament, but he once again proved his worth to his country against Argentina. He saved his side with superb stops to deny Julian Alvarez, Nico Gonzalez and Enzo Fernandez, but could do nothing to prevent Chelsea’s captain scoring from range or Lautaro Martinez for his match-winning header. His kicking remains a hot topic, though. He found Anthony Gordon with some great long balls, but also carelessly passed to nobody when England were under the cosh, thus inviting more pressure and his short balls were hit-and-miss. Still, the 32-year-old can hold his head high after what could potentially be his last tournament as No.1.
READ: Thomas Tuchel f***s it as Argentina smash England’s bus to end World Cup dream
Reece James
Tuchel said pre-match that he brought James back in because he and Djed Spence are “specialists” and can “be involved in the attack”. The Chelsea man did less of the latter than his teammate on the left, but he did some great work in defensive areas. This was the best England’s starting back four have looked all tournament.
John Stones
The free agent was always going to be part of Tuchel’s starting XI for a game of this magnitude and his experience showed for much of the semi-final, with the centre-back’s calmness in the heart of the defence vital as England kept Argentina at bay for much of the match. He was found in no-man’s land for Martinez’s winning header, but the blame for that goal lies elsewhere.
Marc Guehi
Similar to Stones, really. It was a trademark Guehi performance as he protected the ball brilliantly to win fouls when necessary and calmly got England out of trouble when Argentina had the ball in dangerous positions.
Djed Spence
England’s best player, by quite some distance. Spence has a good argument that he has been their top performer not named Jude Bellingham or Harry Kane at the World Cup, having grown into the tournament to go above and beyond to justify his place in the squad. He denied an almost-certain goal with the tackle of the tournament after Gordon found the net and rightly celebrated as he had scored. He was also really effective in attack and always looked dangerous when running at Argentina’s defence. Suddenly, he looks a really rounded full-back and a former Premier League scout is right to say that Tottenham Hotspur would be “stupid” to sell him for anything less than £50m.
READ MORE: England ‘sh*t the bed’ and Thomas Tuchel is a ‘fraud’ and ‘coward’
Declan Rice
The knackered Arsenal man was nowhere near as off it as he was before being withdrawn against Norway in the previous round, but he still was visibly far from his best. He did at least play a role in England’s goal, having reacted quickly to latch onto a loose ball and set up Rogers. But he was otherwise pretty careless in position and lost possession on several occasions. Like Bukayo Saka, he needs a very long lie down.
Elliot Anderson
The other contender to be dubbed England’s third-best player at the World Cup, Anderson was at his high-octane best while looking the only footballer in white appearing capable of stopping Lionel Messi. It felt inevitable that he would see red after picking up an early yellow card, but he remained disciplined thereafter and was England’s best midfielder in the game.
Morgan Rogers
Tuchel said pre-match that he picked Rogers to start over Madueke and Saka based on “a feeling”, and the £100m-rated forward justified the big call with his role in England’s goal. Having otherwise struggled to get into the game, the Aston Villa standout produced one of very few moments of quality in the match to deliver a perfect cross for his other winger to break the deadlock. He also surpassed Madueke’s performance against Norway by beating his man and winning a corner with his first action in the opening ten minutes.
Jude Bellingham
Argentina did their damndest to rattle Bellingham, who brushed off the endless kicks and shoves to take fouls and generally kept his head. He has saved England’s skin on numerous occasions at this tournament when they perhaps didn’t deserve it, but he was unable to come close to repeating the brilliance of previous matches in the semi-final. Like a host of his teammates, he actually looked pretty knackered and was limited to having runs into dead ends when England were on the back foot.
READ NEXT: England’s most heartbreaking post-1990 losses RANKED after Argentina exit
Anthony Gordon
The FC Barcelona newbie had been a standout performer for England in their last couple of matches, though this was one of those Gordon performances that made you pull your hair out. He was picked out in great positions on a few occasions but was guilty of dribbling into blind alleys and did not mix up his game enough, but he did brilliantly to drift inside to get on the end of Rogers’ cross and score with an expert finish into the bottom corner.
Harry Kane
The second of England’s star men was involved a tad more than Bellingham, but pretty much all of his involvement came from deep. He was in quarterback mode and produced some sensational passes, with one such long ball leading to Gordon’s goal. Tuchel and co. will feel disappointed that they did not make more of the openings created by Kane, while they also struggled to get him into the match where he is most dangerous. In a game in which he became England’s standalone most-capped outfield player with 121 appearances, we were left wanting more from England’s No.9, but we still don’t want to consider what life will possibly look like without him.
Substitutes
Ezri Konsa (71 min, Gordon off)
The first of a flurry of defensive substitutions that derailed England, Konsa’s introduction (and particularly Gordon’s withdrawal) came about ten minutes too soon as he became part of a back five. Defensively, he didn’t do too much wrong, but he proved that he is very much a centre-back filling in at right-back and not a natural full-back when he produced two terrible crosses late in the game when England were crying out for a quality cross to salvage an equaliser.
Nico O’Reilly (81 min, Rice off)
Was dropped for this match because Tuchel clearly felt Spence was better equipped to make England more solid against a strong opponent, and as special a talent as O’Reilly clearly is, he can be found wanting when tasked with defending one-on-one and certainly should have done more to prevent Messi’s cross for Argentina’s winning goal.
Dan Burn (81 min, James off)
The Newcastle United defender became an unexpected cult hero for England at this tournament, but he did not repeat his brilliant cameos against Mexico or Norway in this match. He did little wrong, but was also ineffective whether operating in the back five or as a makeshift striker in the final moments.
Ivan Toney (90+5, Stones off)
The Al-Ahli star came on as Tuchel’s last roll of the dice at the end of the semi-final to claim his first minutes at this World Cup. But he was restricted to a single touch as England failed to keep the ball long enough to mount sustained pressure after Argentina’s second goal.
Marcus Rashford (90+5, Spence off)
The Manchester United outcast will feel hard done by over his limited role in the World Cup knockout stages, though this was largely down to Gordon’s improvements and England requiring defensive changes when it came time to make substitutions. He had zero touches after coming on.
