England head coach Thomas Tuchel has defended his tactical decisions in the World Cup semi-final defeat by Argentina, describing the painful 2-1 loss as ‘the scar we carry now’ as his side prepare for Saturday’s third-place play-off against France in Miami.
England were minutes away from reaching their first men’s World Cup final for 60 years after taking a 1-0 lead, but Lionel Messi’s world champions turned the game around in the closing stages. In a tense news conference before the bronze final, Tuchel insisted he had no regrets despite admitting his team became ‘too passive’ in the latter stages.
“Tuchel defends decisions after England's World Cup semi-final defeat; Guardiola eyes England job.”
‘If you need someone to blame, I take the responsibility,’ Tuchel said. ‘This is the deal that you sign up for, but I will not engage. For me, there is no-one to blame. I’m the head coach.’ He added that the Mexico and Norway games had taken a lot physically out of his players, and that captain Harry Kane ended up so deep because ‘that’s what you do if you defend in a block’.
Meanwhile, speculation is mounting over Tuchel’s future after Pep Guardiola privately told friends he would like to manage England one day. Guardiola, 55, stepped down from Manchester City this summer after a glittering decade that brought 20 major honours, including six Premier League titles and the Champions League. The Mail reports that he will not return to club management anytime soon. Guardiola had verbally agreed to take the England job in 2024 but changed his mind at the last moment, opting to stay at City for two more seasons. Now, with England’s World Cup exit, the door may be open again. ‘Rest. No plans to train for a while,’ Guardiola said after leaving City. ‘I need to step back, I will not train for a while.’
Ahead of Saturday’s match, France have been dealt a major injury blow, though full details are yet to emerge. Tuchel, who signed a two-year extension with the FA just months ago, was asked if he regretted his decisions. ‘I don’t regret my decisions,’ he said. ‘I felt that the momentum switches in the match. And I tried to help my team... I took several decisions, trusting my instinct, my intuition, my experience, trusting my competitiveness, and I took the decision in order to help the team and get the result. We didn’t get the result.’ England will now face France in a bid to salvage some pride from a campaign that came agonisingly close to glory.