It Ain't Coming Home... Again

Thomas... What the Hell Were You Thinking?

This won't be a comfortable read for my English friends.

My husband Ken was born in 1947.

He was nineteen when England won the World Cup in 1966.

Football did come home once.

England have simply spent almost sixty years waiting for it to find the address again.

During the twenty years we've been together, we've watched five World Cups.

We've seen Italy, Spain, France and Argentina lift the trophy.

Yesterday morning, for one glorious hour, Ken thought England might finally witness England lift the World Cup again.

Then Thomas Tuchel changed the script.

And millions of people watching around the world found themselves asking the same question.

Thomas... what the hell were you thinking?

It Was All Going To Plan

For the first hour England were excellent.

They were organised.

They were disciplined.

They pressed.

They counter-attacked with purpose.

Most importantly...

They looked dangerous.

Argentina couldn't simply throw everyone forward because England always looked capable of hurting them on the break.

Anthony Gordon scored.

England led 1-0.

The World Cup Final was within touching distance.

Everything made sense.

Then...

Something changed.

The Great Retreat

We've all heard the expression "parking the bus."

This wasn't parking the bus.

This was parking the bus.

Locking it.

Putting wheel clamps on it.

Building a garage around it.

Then applying for heritage protection.

Tuchel switched England to a back five.

Now, before every coach reading this jumps into the comments, I know defensive substitutions work every week somewhere in the football world.

Sometimes they're exactly the right call.

The issue wasn't simply that defenders came on.

It was the message the changes appeared to send.

Footballers aren't silly.

They look around.

They see who's coming off.

They see who's coming on.

They feel the shape of the team changing around them.

Nobody has to say,

"Right lads... we're hanging on now."

The players already know.

Apparently...

So did Argentina.

Twelve Per Cent

Now before anyone reminds me...

No, I'm not a coach.

I don't have coaching qualifications.

I've simply spent the last twenty years alongside Ken, observing football at every level, from grassroots grounds to the elite game.

Had I collected a few coaching badges along the way, I would presumably be coaching the Matildas by now.

So I'll happily leave the detailed tactical analysis to others.

But one statistic made even me stop.

According to Opta, from the moment England took the lead until Argentina scored the winner, England had just 12 per cent possession.

Twelve per cent.

Read that again.

Not forty.

Not thirty.

Not even twenty.

Twelve.

Against Argentina.

In a World Cup semi-final.

While trying to protect a one-goal lead.

You don't need coaching qualifications to look at that and think...

What the hell?

Defending Wasn't The Problem

There is absolutely nothing wrong with defending.

Great teams know how to defend.

They protect space.

Win second balls.

Deal with crosses.

Manage difficult periods.

The problem wasn't that England defended.

The problem was that they became passive.

There is a difference.

For the first hour Argentina still had to respect England.

They had to worry about England's pace on the counterattack.

They couldn't simply commit numbers forward because England looked dangerous every time possession changed hands.

Once that attacking threat diminished, Argentina had fewer reasons to be cautious.

Their full backs pushed higher.

Their midfield squeezed further forward.

England dropped deeper.

Every clearance seemed to come straight back.

Wave after wave of pressure followed.

The substitutions didn't lose England the game on their own.

Football is rarely that simple.

But whether intentionally or not, they appeared to change the psychology.

England stopped looking like a team trying to reach a World Cup Final.

They started looking like a team trying to protect a one-goal lead.

Against Argentina...

That's a dangerous invitation.

Dear Thomas...

You've coached Chelsea.

Paris Saint-Germain.

Bayern Munich.

You've won the Champions League.

You've forgotten more about coaching than I'll ever know.

That is precisely why the decision was so bewildering.

England had found an approach that was working.

Argentina were behind.

They were being forced to respect England's attacking threat.

Then England changed.

Not just their formation.

Their mindset.

Harry Kane later revealed that the instruction was actually to keep attacking.

If that was the message...

It never looked like it from the stands.

Or from the lounge rooms of millions watching around the world.

Perhaps fatigue was a factor.

Perhaps the players simply retreated naturally.

Perhaps the substitutions unintentionally reinforced that instinct.

Whatever the reason...

England appeared to stop asking Argentina questions.

For the rest of the match...

They simply tried to answer theirs.

Why They Keep Singing It

It is easy for the rest of us to roll our eyes when It's Coming Home begins another tournament lap.

Here we go again.

The song.

The expectation.

The belief that this time will somehow be different.

But perhaps I understand it a little better after twenty years with Ken.

We've watched five World Cups together.

We've seen Italy, Spain, France and Argentina lift the trophy.

And at each tournament, Ken has carried the memory of the one England won before we ever met.

So perhaps It's Coming Home isn't really a prediction.

It's hope set to music.

Spare A Thought For Ken

I genuinely feel for England supporters.

Especially Ken.

He was nineteen when England won the World Cup in 1966.

He'd already been at Manchester United, sharing the dressing room and training ground with Bobby Charlton.

During the twenty years we've been together, I've watched him believe five times.

Yesterday morning, nearly sixty years after 1966, he allowed himself to believe one more time.

By breakfast...

That familiar hope was folded neatly back into the cupboard.

Waiting for 2030.

Final Thought

This isn't really about England.

It's about football.

We've all watched teams score first.

Then slowly retreat.

Possession disappears.

Confidence disappears.

Momentum disappears.

The opposition senses it.

And suddenly everyone watching can feel what's coming.

Yesterday morning it happened on the biggest stage of all.

The substitutions may have been intended to make England safer.

Instead, England became deeper, more passive and increasingly unable to keep the ball.

Football can be cruel.

But it can also be remarkably predictable.

Give a team of Argentina's quality enough possession...

Enough territory...

And enough encouragement...

Eventually they'll make you pay.

Yesterday morning, for one glorious hour, it really did look as though football might be coming home again.

It wasn't.

But in four years' time, I'll probably be sitting beside Ken once again.

Listening to It's Coming Home.

Because after twenty years together, I've finally realised something.

It isn't a prediction.

It's hope set to music.