If back to the wall defending was on the cards he could have done worse than bring Tyrone Mings along (big, happy to get in the way, left-footed, can pass the ball most of the time).
But the biggest error was not having a plan or counter for Messi moving out to the right in the second half.
The latter was identified by Vickery early on in the Argentinian campaign. He said they missed De Maria so Messi essentially took that role to successful ends.
Bringing up the DNA thing is a further abdication of responsibility, compounding his post match dismissal, almost casually that if he had done something different it wouldn't have made a difference. And if everyone blithely accepts this then England might as well pack up.
Smarts subs may have seen England through. Immediately after the goal you are going to be under pressure for 10 mins or so, and it's then that the manager plots his subs. We needed an outlet, however had a couple of options, he didn't use them and England lost. DNA my arse.
