Thomas Tuchel will have prepared for every eventuality before England\u2019s match with Argentina. He will have considered how his team could prosper in attack while remaining solid in defence. What to change if they scored first or if the opening goal went against them and, like so many managers before him, he will have put plenty of thought into how best to deal with Lionel Messi.<\/p>\n
For the first hour he was largely peripheral, with the data showing how England were limiting his involvement in dangerous areas. Messi\u2019s only possession in the centre of the penalty area was snuffed out by an Elliot Anderson tackle shortly after Anthony Gordon had scored. The proportion of the distance he covered that was defined by Fifa as sprinting speed (at least 20km\/h) was 4.3%, lower than against Switzerland (4.6%) or Egypt (5.4%) in the previous two rounds<\/a>.<\/p>\n The 39-year-old\u2019s relative lack of shots will have heartened Tuchel. The only effort Messi had was from long range and blocked before it had reached the England<\/a> box. In only one of his other 19 World Cup matches in which he played the full 90 minutes did he have so few shots in normal time, though he also played 120 with one effort (on target) against the Netherlands in 2014. Against Croatia four years later his only shot came from very close range. He has arguably never been so blunt from this perspective in this competition. So far, so good for England.<\/p>\n