England's upcoming semi-final match against Argentina will be a closely watched encounter, with both teams looking to secure a spot in the World Cup final. Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has highlighted the importance of exploiting Argentina's defense, particularly in regards to their goalkeeper and centre-backs.
Carragher believes that England should look to target Lionel Messi, Argentina's star forward, but also recognize that they have the quality to do so. "I think Argentina probably have the slight advantage in probably goalkeeper and centre-backs and the rest is much of a muchness really," he said. "England have to think about how they're going to deal with Messi but also they should be thinking about how they can exploit Lionel Messi as well."
Carragher pointed out that Argentina's defense often consists of nine outfield players, whereas most teams in the world of football now defend with ten. He believes that England can exploit this weakness to their advantage. "Argentina only defend with nine outfield players whereas the majority of teams in world football now defend with ten outfield players, so that's something England have got to look to exploit."
Meanwhile, Carragher has praised England's midfield, particularly Jude Bellingham, who has been a standout performer in the World Cup. "Jude Bellingham is a completely different player to Messi, who wants the ball to his feet, dribbling between the lines, whereas Bellingham is more powerful and making runs into the box and finishing," he said. "He crashes the box constantly, his timing is fantastic and he always seems to finish, so that's very difficult to stop."
Carragher also defended Thomas Tuchel's post-match comments after England's previous match against Norway, which sparked a heated debate. He believes that Tuchel's straight-talking is one of his major "plus points" as a head coach. "I didn't think there was anything wrong at all with Thomas Tuchel's comments," he said. "He's probably a little bit emotional after the game, England didn't play particularly well and could've easily lost that game against Norway."
Carragher also touched on the lack of rivalry and history between England and Argentina's current crop of players. "I always think international football is a bit different from club football in that we sort of know everybody's rival in club football, everyone has three or four of them," he said. "It's a little bit different in international football and sometimes something sparks that rivalry."
