Thomas Tuchel reaction: How England failed to deal with Argentina’s ‘f*** it’ football in World Cup exit – ‘This is waiting for death’

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Thomas Tuchel has broken his silence on the tactical decisions that contributed to England's World Cup semi-final defeat by Argentina, insisting the loss is a "scar" he must live with as he reflected on the agonising 2-1 defeat which extended the country's wait for another major honour.

'Talking doesn't get you wins' - Tuchel calls for less 'drama' around England

Video credit: SNTV

The Three Lions were just minutes away from reaching their first FIFA World Cup final since 1966 when Argentina overturned their 1-0 lead, with Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez completing the comeback after Tuchel had switched to a back five.

Speaking to Daniel Sturridge for the FA's Reflections documentary, Tuchel offered an honest assessment of the tournament as a whole.

"You can try to kill me here. But it's my scar, it's not your scar," the England manager said.

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"I have to live with it. It's not you having to live with this. I'm in charge here and I take these decisions.

"No-one is more hurt than me, no-one wanted it more. They can endlessly torture you and think, if I had made different substitutions, then we would have won the match. You just don't know it."

Tuchel also provided an unusually detailed account of the tactical decisions that followed England breaking the deadlock through Anthony Gordon as he watched his side retreat deeper into their own half.

"We did quite well in the first half, it was totally an even match. We had good ball possession moments. I was actually happy, and I saw us growing into this match. I felt we were there.

"From the start of the second half, I felt us on the back foot. I felt Argentina were more liberated and free in their movements, finding better solutions. Then we score, we have the next chance straight away.

"We go after them, we have a ball win, we have a chance, we have another half chance, we lose the ball in another attack, and it's the [Djed] Spence tackle, and they almost score from a counter-attack.

"It did something to me, it maybe did something to the players. We suddenly shift into a mindset of: 'let's just overcome it'. We played like there were four minutes left, rather than 30."

Tuchel felt England were no longer using possession to control the contest or give themselves time to recover.

Tuchel continued: "From executions, the details of execution, playing around in deep build-up, playing around [Lionel] Messi, playing to one side then switching the side, bringing the game in the opponent's half, making them suffer, having time to recover physically and mentally in ball possession, we were lacking all these things."

Tuchel: We were waiting for death

Argentina responded to Gordon's opener by committing more players forward and repeatedly changing their attacking structure, creating a problem Tuchel felt England were struggling to contain.

"Argentina then played very, very quickly," Tuchel recalled. "Sorry for the language, [they played] f*** it football. 'We have nothing to lose. Let's f*** it.'

Leandro Paredes and Enzo Fernandez celebrate Argentina's win over England

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"They played four strikers. They played two wingers, the two strikers and Messi. They took a No 6 off and put a No 10 in. A central defender off and played a No 6. At some points, they played 3-1-6, and we struggled."

The decisive moment in Tuchel's thinking came shortly before the final water break. Jordan Pickford had made a major save to deny Nico Gonzalez, prompting the England manager to conclude that his existing shape was no longer providing enough protection.

"A key moment if I look back at it and what happened to my decision-making, we conceded a big, big chance right before the water break. I thought, 'we will not survive'," Tuchel said.

"This is waiting for death. We don't have ball possession, we're not defending good, we're not defending properly in our 4-4-2. We need help."

Tuchel replaced Gordon with Ezri Konsa and changed England's formation, drawing on the back-five system that had helped them see out their previous knockout matches against Mexico and Norway.

"I wanted to give the players something: this is what we do. This is what we do now," Tuchel explained.

"Coming with this mindset and this experience, we ended the game against Norway in a back five. We ended the match against Mexico in a back five. And we did it. I thought Argentina relied heavily on crosses, they have four strikers in the last line. I think: let's play in a back five.

"I changed to a 5-3-2, we changed the structure. Because I believe we can handle the width better and we still have three central defenders in the middle if crosses still fly in. We changed then to a 5-4-1. Even my mindset is maybe like: let's just overcome it. And it's too early. Too early for that mindset."

Tuchel: I am responsible for the decisions and I take the criticism

Video credit: SNTV

Tuchel defended the changes he made, insisting his decisions were shaped by the way the game was developing rather than a reluctance to attack.

The England manager acknowledged that he could have made more attacking substitutions, but argued that doing so would have introduced a different set of risks.

Asked whether he could have made attacking changes instead, Tuchel said: "Of course you could. No-one knows what would have happened.

"We could have done it and maybe lost 2-1 and could have gone: 'Is he crazy? He finished the game against Norway with a back five, why didn't finish the game of with five?'

"I think from what I saw and the experience, the information and the level of craziness from Argentina put in - change after change after change, it was just one offensive change after the other. That was my solution to the problem.

"That's what the intervention of a coach is. I try to help, you don't implement anything for your ego or whatever. You just try to help.

"If we would have been more stable in the game, with more percentage of ball possession, I would have not changed the structure, why would I? And I would have gone for offensive changes. But that is a very, very difficult road to have gone down. That can torture you."

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