Josh Miernik

University of York Graduate 2018. 7/8ths 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 1/8th 🇵🇱

[Sheldon Miller @SheldonMiller]

Watched the full game back last night.

Most of us tend to look for a silver bullet in life: one simple thing to solve all ills. They don’t exist.

England lost on Wednesday night due to a multitude of factors: failure to win enough duels in the second half, wrong call substitutions leading to any outlet of pace up front and on the wings, an abject failure to accurately pass & distribute the ball, falling too deep, moths to the flame to the man on the ball & failing to mark shirt tight.

If however you wanted to highlight one overriding cause it’s this: a failure to discrete and hold our defensive line.

What is clear from watching the game back is a constant repetitive action to backpedal our defensive line when Argentina had the ball, not even when they were attackibg attacking at pace but just when they were probing and nudging.

If you are dead on your feet, if you are struggling to hold the ball up and it’s coming straight back, if you can’t get your rhythm going and passes keep going astray the one thing - with or without the ball - you always have complete control over is your defensive line.

Dictate it, hold it - keep it high to squeeze the space and help your midfielders by having to cover less ground, let their attackers run offside, and give your keeper the ownership of his area back again.

We failed to do that and we failed really, really badly at it. This was down to a lack of leadership in defence. I get that it was loud but no one was marshalling the back line pro-actively.

Like a boxer taking and dominating the centre of the ring and pushing his opponent back on to the ropes and into the corners, we allowed Argentina to dictate our defensive line. They took two steps forward, we took two steps back. That was the biggest initiative and control we lost.

[Josh Miernik @JoshMiernik]

Ahh fucking hell. What a horror time to have a crash Lewis 😭😭

[Formula 1 @F1]

Forever in our hearts, forever part of the Formula 1 family

We remember you, Jules, today and every day ❤️ https://t.co/jBwKQGBM17

[Josh Miernik @JoshMiernik]

❤️❤️❤️

[Scuderia Ferrari HP @ScuderiaFerrari]

Always in our hearts Jules ❤️

[Josh Miernik @JoshMiernik]

100%

[Vince™ @Blue_Footy]

Petr Cech on Tuchel’s decisions against Argentina:

🗣 "He definitely didn't want that style of play. Harry Kane himself admitted that the instructions from the bench were: 'You have to keep playing, stay active and score a second goal.' But the team didn't manage it. The coach then explained that when the team couldn't break free from the pressure, he added a defender, because Argentina were playing with four attackers.

He wanted to play with five at the back so they'd have the advantage defensively. But they couldn't step up out of the second line or put pressure on the ball, and in the end, that buried them. It looks strange when a team like England let themselves get pinned back like that. On the other hand, I think the players couldn't handle the weight of the moment and the closing stages of the match got away from them."

~ @Flashscorecom

[The Touchline | 𝐓 @TouchlineX]

🚨🗣️ 𝗡𝗘𝗪: Jürgen Klopp on Tuchel's performance against Argentina:

"People always speak after the game like coaching is easy. Like you just choose attack or defend’and that’s it. It doesn’t work like this. Football is much more complex.

"I see the criticism of Tuchel for trying to defend the 1-0 against, but let me tell you something: if he didn’t do that, if he kept pushing forward and they conceded the same people would be saying, ‘Why didn’t he control the game? Why didn’t he defend the lead?’

"In knockout football, whatever decision you make, someone will criticise you. I’m not saying every decision is perfect, but you have to understand the logic behind it.

"Managing a game at that stage is never simple."

[Olivia Buzaglo @OliviaBuzaglo]

There was a 17 minute period from when we scored until Tuchel made that Konsa sub. I don’t believe Tuchel’s instructions in that 17 minutes after our goal was to defend deep. After the sub, yes but not before.

So did we try to carry on attacking & it just didn’t work? And we just naturally got deeper and deeper? What does everyone think?

[Piers Morgan @piersmorgan]

Yes, England were too defensive. But the abuse pouring down on Thomas Tuchel’s head today is ridiculous. He was 5 minutes away from leading us into our first World Cup Final in 60 years. And if we’d hung on, he’d be lauded a hero today by the same people trashing him.

[UtdArena @UtdArena]

Look at what England did straight after scoring:

[cнєєкυ⋆｡🪐˚ ⋆ @Okay_Bye___]

Me refusing to sleep because i didn't get enough me time after work

[Josh Miernik @JoshMiernik]

Tuchel’s interview explains it all, the game changed with the current team. Nothing to do with the subs made.

[Josh Miernik @JoshMiernik]

At least we’ve got the Falklands

[Josh Miernik @JoshMiernik]

If we didnt have 10 on the 6 yard box for the corner, and got out to enzo, wouldn’t have been murdered

[Josh Miernik @JoshMiernik]

Tuchel’s gonna be a scapegoat here. We had two wingers on and they tucked in as fullbacks before the water break. Nothing about subs changed it. Was already set up. Argentina went from sitting back to going forward.

[Josh Miernik @JoshMiernik]

Djed spence, what a fucking tackle!!!

[Josh Miernik @JoshMiernik]

Rogers to Gordon. What a fucking ball. Tuchel knows

[yxf @iamyxf]

Me every time someone I don’t even know beats cancer.