Tactics Matter But Let Them Play

Cup game this year.

Things got a little better in the second half. Mexico’s goal in the 50th minute injected some urgency into the game but it wasn’t until the last 10 minutes that South Korea truly started going forward and when they did that, they looked a different side.

To be fair, South Korea, who went unbeaten in qualifying, have a decent attacking arsenal in Son Heung-min, Lee Kang-in and Oh Hyeon-gyu but what good is that if you aren’t going to put them to good use.

South Korea’s dour approach has led to criticism from fans and also shows why teams need to be brave. There’s so much more to a football match than tactics but if the approach is wrong, one can be pretty sure that the team is going to go nowhere.

In a tense, tactical battle, South Korea were gripped by fear. Mexico were perhaps the same and that is why they were booed as they left the field at the end of the first half.

“Tactically, we kind of nullified each other. It was the type of match where the first team to make a mistake was going to lose,” Mexico coach Javier Aguirre said in the post-match press conference. “It was a tactical game, difficult to digest for the fans who were immense.”

Both coaches could have taken a leaf out of Thomas Tuchel’s book. Earlier in the tournament, with the score tied at 2-2, the England coach told his team to take the shackles off.

“Sometimes if you want to get it so perfectly right, you sometimes want it too much and you overthink it,” he said after the game. “In the end, in doubt, we took the decision to go backwards, on and off the ball. We played way too many [passes] backwards, we played way too many back to our goalkeeper. It took us a while to find our confidence. That’s why I said maybe it’s also normal. I had the hope that the goals would help us. It was not the case.”

Reflecting on his half-time speech, Tuchel added: “I told them to calm down. We just conceded the goal. To calm down, calm their nerves. And encourage them to do it our way. I told them that my perception of them in the last 17 days will not change no matter what the result is. I want them to do it their way. Our way. I want them to be brave, courageous and tenacious on the front foot. And just go for it.”

Just go for it. It is harder than it seems because of what is at stake. But players are at their best when they can be themselves.

Go back to Euro 2024 and Spain. Luis de la Fuente had then chosen tactical freedom and trust. It allowed Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal to run riot. There was a twist too as the tactics were used to help the players dominate — for instance they would set up lots of one-on-one situations for Nico which are his forte and they would have overlapping runs when Yamal would have the ball.

And that is why tactics truly exist. You want structure, you want respect and you need to be prudent. But despite all that, you still have to come out and play; you still have to score.

And if tactics need to be changed, then they should be. The hydration breaks give managers enough opportunities to get involved and change things around, as Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti, had done in their first match, then you must.

The USA, for instance, started with a 4-2-3-1 formation but moved away from it as the match against Paraguay went on. They were very much going with the flow. Against more impressive opposition, they may revert to a more defined positional approach but here, this felt right.

South Korea manager Hong Myung-bo has plenty of World Cup experience, both as a player (1990, 1994, 1998 and 2002) and manager (assistant manager in 2006, manager in 2014 and 2026) and the idea of change shouldn’t be alien to him.

“In the World Cups I’ve experienced, relying on a single tactic was difficult,” he told reporters just before the tournament began.

And now, he’ll have to put that in practice. France have shown that it is very much possible. Their opening game against Senegal was truly a match of two halves.

In the first half, they were subdued by perhaps their own attitudes. But in the second, they started to widen the game by using the wings and then started to run. They won 3-1 but perhaps even more important than the win was the manner in which they shed the chains of worry.

It allowed their talent to shine and firmly established them as one of the favourites. Not every team has the same level of talent but there are lessons to be learnt and that is a tactic too.