The Details of the Small Coaches: Even Trump Noticed Them
Coaches in the world of football face relentless criticism, becoming the first to be blamed for any defeat, whether caused by a tactical error, an individual mistake, or even bad luck. This criticism intensifies when it comes to national teams, reaching its peak in major tournaments like the World Cup, where every match becomes a public trial of the coach’s decisions and selections. While some coaches face attacks that go beyond fairness, others give their critics every justification due to technical errors that seem obvious to everyone, to the extent that even US President Donald Trump noticed them, despite admitting he doesn’t know much about football.
Trump’s comment during the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) reception in New York was not just a passing joke; it became one of the most widely circulated statements following England’s exit from the World Cup semi-final against Argentina, with a score of 2-1. With a sarcastic tone that carried clear criticism, Trump said: “You have a great player in England, I played golf with him, Harry Kane. I think they maybe made a mistake when they turned him into a defender! What do I know about football? They took the lead, then they took their best player and put him in defense... We should be a bit more offensive, right?”
Although Trump followed his remarks with the phrase “What do I know about coaching?”, his words touched the core of the crisis that the English national team experienced that evening, reigniting the debate around German coach Thomas Tuchel’s technical choices, as many saw the team losing the match more from the technical bench than on the pitch itself.
Tuchel was not the only coach who found himself in the crosshairs of criticism during this World Cup. The tournament revealed that some of the world’s biggest national teams fell victim to controversial tactical decisions, starting with England, followed by France and Brazil, and ending with Argentina, which also faced criticism despite reaching the final.
England’s troubles truly began in the 55th minute, when Anthony Gordon gave his country the lead, a moment that was supposed to give the “Three Lions” a psychological and tactical advantage to impose their control over the match. However, Tuchel took a completely different approach, choosing to retreat into the back areas through a series of defensive changes, giving Argentina possession, space, and the initiative. The match gradually turned into a continuous siege on the English defense. This shift forced captain Harry Kane to stay completely away from the penalty area, often appearing more like a defensive midfielder than a striker and attacking leader.
This was clearly reflected in his statistics. He finished the match with only 26 touches, without taking a single shot on goal, while making 6 defensive interventions and clearing the ball twice from inside his own penalty area, a scene that summarized the extent of the transformation in the team’s character.
The numbers were no less harsh than the scene on the pitch. England’s possession dropped to 36% compared to Argentina’s 64%, while statistics showed that the English team retained the ball for only 12% of the period between Gordon’s goal and Lautaro Martínez’s winning goal, a figure reflecting the extent of Argentine dominance after England’s significant retreat.
This scene sparked a wave of anger in British media. English football legend Wayne Rooney launched a sharp attack during his technical analysis on the BBC, saying: “We retreated excessively and surrendered completely. This defeatist strategy is Tuchel’s sin, which caused us to crumble completely in the crucial moments.” Similarly, renowned analyst Paul Merson did not hide his shock during his appearance on Sky Sports, saying: “I feel completely shattered. Tuchel destroyed the players’ confidence with his defensive changes that invited Argentina to devour us.”
England was not the only case that sparked controversy during the tournament. In the French camp, Didier Deschamps found himself facing a similar storm after the “Blues” were eliminated, before suffering a harsh defeat against England in the third-place match in a historic game that ended six goals to four. That result ignited a wide wave of criticism in France, where the newspaper L’Équipe described Deschamps’ tactical performance as “absolute randomness and an inability to build a defensive system to protect the midfield,” considering that the national team lost its balance in the most important stages of the tournament and no longer possessed the collective system that created its successes in previous years.
The controversy was further fueled by former French football stars issuing direct criticisms, emphasizing that the national team had become almost entirely dependent on individual solutions from Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, Michael Olise, Dayot Upamecano, and Bradley Barcola, without a cohesive tactical system ensuring balance between attack and defense or providing necessary protection during quick transitions.
As for Brazil, it brought to the forefront an old crisis that has accompanied them in major tournaments, as the technical staff failed once again to overcome the European hurdle in the knockout stages, despite the national team having some prominent names in European leagues. Former Brazilian star Rivaldo did not hesitate to express the fans’ displeasure, saying: “What we see is tactical naivety that does not befit the name of Brazil. We rush forward with undisciplined intensity and leave the defensive line completely isolated against counter-attacks, and the coach bears full responsibility for poor management of substitutions and an inability to kill the rhythm of the game when we are leading.”
These words embodied a part of the frustration surrounding the “Seleção’s” exit, as Italian Carlo Ancelotti, the Brazilian national team coach, appeared unable to find a balance between attacking quality and defensive discipline, an equation that has long created Brazil’s glory in its historical tournaments.
Even the Argentine national team, which managed to reach the final, was not immune to criticism. Its coach, Lionel Scaloni, found himself at the center of a storm of criticism due to his tactical choices, primarily the excessive defensive approach, losing control of the midfield, and attacking ineffectiveness, evidenced by his team failing to take a single shot on goal throughout the 120 minutes.
Despite the harshness of the attack, Scaloni refused to look for excuses, admitting Spain’s superiority and emphasizing that refereeing was not the cause of the defeat, before strongly defending his players and taking full responsibility, in a scene that reached its peak when tears overcame him and he left the press conference, embodying the extent of the psychological pressures that national team coaches face in the world’s largest football tournament.
