England manager Thomas Tuchel is simply not skilled enough to take England, or any national team, to World Cup gold. Sporten.com’s experts were clear about this for a long time before this summer’s World Cup Playoffs.
England will fight for third place against France on Saturday.
Several of England’s star players were stunned by Thomas Tuchel’s defensive choices in the World Cup semi-final against Argentina – and believe the team wasted a golden chance to reach the final.
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This is revealed in a new report from The Telegraph, which claims that Tuchel’s decision to deploy three defensive players to defend a narrow lead left several in the squad completely speechless.
And the numbers speak for themselves: From the 55th to the 92nd minute, England had just 12 percent possession – the lowest of a team that has led for at least ten minutes in a World Cup match in over 60 years.
Gordon sent England into the lead – then came the collapse
Anthony Gordon sent England into the lead with a closer goal after a great play from Morgan Rogers. For 30 minutes, the dream of a final against Spain seemed to be coming true.
But then Tuchel decided to dig in.
Gordon was replaced by Ezri Konsa, and England switched to a back five. Then Dan Burn and Nico O’Reilly were brought in to hold off – with 82 minutes on the clock.
Argentina, on the other hand, did the opposite. Lionel Scaloni put in attacker after attacker and increased the pressure.
And with Lionel Messi in great form, it was only a matter of time before the fence fell.
“We should have continued to attack”
Marc Guehi, who started in central defence, was honest after the game:
“We should have continued to attack. We should have continued to push. It almost felt like we scored, and then the mentality became: “Now we have to go back and defend”.
Several in the squad are said to have thought that Argentina were “ready to be taken” after Gordon scored, and that England should have gone for counter-attacks with more pace.
Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke sat unused on the bench. Marcus Rashford came on first in injury time.
Argentina took advantage of England’s inaction
Lautaro Martinez, who headed in the winning goal, commented on England’s tactics:
“England pressed hard for about 60 minutes. After they scored, they withdrew, and that gave us more composure in possession and the opportunity to spread the game. In the end, we managed to score two goals.
Tuchel: “It’s the nature of the game”
When Tuchel was asked if he was wrong with his substitutions, he defended himself:
“I think it’s just the nature of the game. As soon as you lose, you are criticized. That’s just the way it is. No one knows what would have happened if we had made other choices, so it makes no sense to get hung up on it.
“I’m responsible for them, I took them, so I take the criticism. That’s just the way it is.
Another heartbreaking exit
For England, it was once again so close – and yet so far away. After leading for much of the game, it ended with another semi-final exit.
Messi served up an assist to Enzo Fernandez, who equalised with a dream strike from long range, before slotting in Martinez’s winning goal in injury time.
England go home with the questions hanging over them: Was Tuchel too defensive? Should they have continued to attack? And most importantly – what will it take for this team to finally take the final step?
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