Thomas Tuchel has outlined his strategy to neutralise Lionel Messi ahead of England's World Cup semi-final against Argentina, insisting the approach must be collective rather than fixating on the Argentina captain alone. The England manager described Messi as "being right up there" among the greatest players of all time, highlighting how he consistently finds a way to make his mark, having done so again with eight goals at this World Cup.
Tuchel warns against focusing only on Messi
Tuchel emphasized that Argentina's greatest threat stems from the entire squad's wholehearted embrace of the Messi masterplan. The players view him as their figurehead, battling fiercely in his honour, with every aspect of the team's set-up — from fostering a tight-knit family spirit and sharing barbecues together, to ensuring the ball reaches their talisman — centred entirely around the little magician. "They buy into the idea to support Messi, to help him, and they're just ready when he bursts into action to make the difference. We will prepare for that of course. Can you prepare for that and find a recipe and focus too much on him? No," Tuchel said.
"We need to be brave around him and we need to stop the support, and we need to take care of all the movements that happen when he's on the ball. We're totally aware that they cannot stop him all the time and for one hundred percent. It's a very different player than Erling Haaland, but we did very, very well in our way, in the way you maybe should play against Erling. We will find a way now."
Messi's unique walking pace stats
Remarkably, there have been just two occasions where a forward has covered more than 5km at walking pace during a World Cup fixture. On both occasions, it was Messi — 5.2km against Cape Verde and 5.3km against Switzerland. Yet when Argentina desperately needed Messi to burst into action against Egypt, he delivered precisely that. Trailing 2-0 and on the brink of elimination, Messi spearheaded a stunning comeback as Argentina triumphed 3-2 in the last 16 — and now the South Americans dare to dream of back-to-back World Cup glory.
This marks the first occasion Messi has faced England, and Tuchel is equally eager to pit his wits against the legendary Argentine. "First time I think that I personally played with a team against him," said Tuchel. "It is just incredible, how he pulls it out every single time, in so many different ways. He finds spaces, he finds moments, and I think the big thing is the whole team buys into that idea."
Tuchel on Messi's place among the greatest
When asked whether Messi is the greatest of all time, Tuchel responded: "One of them. I'm not the right person to ask all these greatest questions. And because I think there are so many different layers in football in so many different positions, but he is right up there for sure."
Tuchel has undeniably worked alongside some of football's most illustrious talents during his time managing Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain — and now England. He also gained invaluable experience working with South American luminaries such as Neymar Jr. and Marquinhos at PSG, though he had left the club before Messi's arrival in 2021.
Argentina's family approach
Messi, however, remains a one-of-a-kind talent. He enjoyed a glittering career at Barcelona before joining Inter Miami in Major League Soccer. Argentina do not simply build their team around him — they make him the very heart of everything, even relocating their training base close to his Florida home. When asked whether this is the right approach for handling football's biggest names, Tuchel said: "It's a way to handle these kind of players. I think what my experience with South American players, Brazilian players and Argentinian players is they love this family feeling. They love the feeling of being a family, eating together, having barbecues together and just having these strong, strong, strong connections. That's where they thrive and that's what they build."
"So I think it's not artificial and you cannot recreate in maybe in a northern European environment because. It's just a totally different mindset. And that is basically the strengths like they are ready to give everything for Leo Messi. Even if they are key players, big players in this club, it's just how it is. They thrive from that. This is totally normal for them and makes them very, very strong."
