PJ Thompson

Good guy, tries hard

[PJ Thompson @pj_thomp]

@TheDevilsDNA Hm I do think Pastor Fred is underrated but I’d slot AM9 in for him and play a 4-3-3. When Martial was on….damn was he good

[PJ Thompson @pj_thomp]

@pgrathoff Honestly it should be of him dumping a cooler of ice on someone with a huge smile across his face. For me nothing conveys the Salvy Experience quite like that. Team is good, bad, great, whatever. If someone else has a moment, Salvy is gonna use his infectious joy to cement it.

[PJ Thompson @pj_thomp]

I got in a long debate with Scott in summer 2023 about whether Messi was still good enough to “boss it” in Europe. @R_o_M thoughts on whether he’s still any good?

[Scott Patterson @R_o_M]

Win it all then go to the MLS to take the piss when you’re not good enough to boss it in Europe anymore. Respect it. He’ll have a right laugh this season 👍🏼

[PJ Thompson @pj_thomp]

@AstierTech_AI @TeleFootball @Matt_Law_DT To me, that’s why the Konsa sub is so bad. If Rice’s legs were cooked (as reported), you have to make a plan for a CM sub. Eze? Mainoo? Anyone who can pick up the ball and relieve pressure. Not to mention the sub itself absolutely did not work!

[PJ Thompson @pj_thomp]

@AstierTech_AI @TeleFootball @Matt_Law_DT They didn’t play like that from the start because creating those overloads means playing with almost zero defensive cover. There’s an easy out ball any time there’s a recovery. But England had zero plan to get out. Fresh legs for Kane, Jude and Rice would’ve been helpful.

[PJ Thompson @pj_thomp]

@TridgeTV Btw, by that time Argentina were playing a borderline-suicidal formation with Otamendi and Romero as the only defenders and Fernandez/dePaul as the only “holding” players. England needed to trust Rogers to cheat just a bit and find him in transition. They never did.

[PJ Thompson @pj_thomp]

@TridgeTV James inevitably gets hurt and Rice is cooked. Bring on a midfielder? Nope, O’Reilly and Burn. Now you have a group that has never played together in a completely unfamiliar defensive shape. Argentina exploit that on a short corner to get the equalizer.

[PJ Thompson @pj_thomp]

@AstierTech_AI @TeleFootball @Matt_Law_DT I do think the hydration break was the perfect time for him to reset the personnel and mindset to prepare for how to create transition opportunities from Argentina’s inevitable aggression. Instead he put on Konsa for Gordon which regardless of tactical intent sent a message

[PJ Thompson @pj_thomp]

@ConnorHolden00 Plus, Spence and Gordon showed great chemistry defending wide areas against Mexico. I get that defending Messi is different, but they could’ve used that direct experience. You saw on the winning goal that Spence and O’Reilly didn’t really have that chemistry.

[PJ Thompson @pj_thomp]

@ConnorHolden00 Plus, bringing on Konsa for Gordon meant that Reece James, who was never likely to last 95 (let alone 125) mins, was sitting out there as another likely sub whose usual backup (quansah) was suspended. Painted himself into a corner.

[PJ Thompson @pj_thomp]

@Zonal_Marking Also think Mainoo could’ve done a job in the Bellingham spot once Jude ran out of gas. Watkins for Kane would’ve made sense as well. At the very least, make a plan for Rogers to get out in transition with one other player. They had nothing.

[PJ Thompson @pj_thomp]

@Zonal_Marking I think the timing matters, too. The Konsa sub was right after the hydration break. It was the perfect time to say “hey, they are going to send everyone forward, here is how we get them in transition.” Instead that sub made it crystal clear: just bunker in. A shame.

[PJ Thompson @pj_thomp]

@UtdArena Instead Tuchel used the hydration break to sub in Konsa for Gordon and sit even lower. Just so bad. Not to mention going to a back 5 changes the spacing/marking which you saw come back to bite them on the Martinez goal.

[PJ Thompson @pj_thomp]

@UtdArena To me their biggest mistake wasn’t allowing the field to tilt a bit. It was having zero plan to generate transition opportunities once they went ahead. Argentina was always going to lean in. The hydration break was the perfect time to reset and say “here’s how we hit them.”