England-Mexico: Tuchel's tactical choices for the round of 16.
When England take to the field to face Mexico at the famous Azteca stadium in the round of 16 match of the World Cup, they will know that they will have to play against the weather conditions as well as their opponents. It's no secret that Mexico City's altitude poses a problem for visiting teams, as the Azteca are located approximately 2,200 meters above sea level. This means England players may experience muscle fatigue earlier than usual, with less oxygen in the air making it harder to breathe. And in these conditions, Thomas Tuchel's team will have to solve the puzzle represented by Javier Aguirre's Mexican team, which has won all its matches in the tournament so far without conceding a goal. Getting past a stacked defense has been a problem for England so far in this tournament, but Tuchel could now opt for a more defensive strategy to try and solve this problem and help his team reach the quarter-finals. Facing Mexico represents a real tactical puzzle even for the best coaches, given the variety of schemes that Aguirre's team used in the tournament, moving from a 4-man defense to a 5-man defence, and also alternating a game of ball possession in the opponent's half of the pitch with counterattacks from a deep defence. There are, however, some choices that a manager can control before a match, regardless of the opponent, and Tuchel could, as Rene Maric, Tuchel's assistant at Bayern Munich, put it, "set the board" to try to outsmart his Mexican opponents. "You can choose your defensive strategy regardless of the opponent and have some success - unless there are huge differences in quality you can't do the same in the offensive phase" said Maric. "Basically, the defending team 'sets the board' and the attacking team plays the game." And knowing that Mexico can adopt different styles of play, 'setting the board' through a certain defensive approach could force opponents to play in a style that England can counter. This is where the idea of a 5-man defense comes in. England have struggled when faced with teams who have lined up with a 5-man defense - like Ghanache in the group, who managed a 0-0 draw.
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