England manager Thomas Tuchel looks on (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
England manager Thomas Tuchel defended his decision to adopt such a passive approach during the World Cup semi-final defeat to Argentina.
Anthony Gordon’s goal put England in the lead, but they soon became quite defensive as Tuchel made some substitutes and changed the shape of his team, even though there was still plenty of time left.
As a result, Argentina finally took the lead, winning 2-1 and qualifying for this Sunday’s World Cup final against Spain.
Tuchel has been widely criticized for his tactics, but speaking after the game he tried to explain why he felt he had to try to end the game in this way.
Thomas Tuchel talks about England’s negative tactics
Asked about his decision, Tuchel said he had no regrets and insisted he had done what he had to do, as he kept losing space against Argentina.
“I analyzed the game and played the game in a certain way, so that’s my responsibility,” Tuchel said, as reported by BBC Sport.
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“I have no regrets at the moment. The team gave everything and we were very close. We deserved to be 1-0 up.”
“We played the better game, probably the best game in the situation. The team was on top and although we couldn’t get over the line, we had no regrets.
“I think we saw throughout the game and a strong group mentality. We played the game as it was, played against strong teams in the group, traveled long distances, played at high altitudes, played with 10 men, played in the heat and overcame all obstacles.
“It was a very close game today. Now is not the time to analyze the whole tournament. We lost an important game, so we just played our game.”
Dan Byrne answers questions about England’s approach
After the match, England defender Dan Byrne also spoke about how Tuchel has set up his team.
The Newcastle manager appeared to be sympathetic to the Three Lions manager and admitted it was partly a reaction from his players, but for a time it seemed to be working.
“For most of the game I thought we had a pretty good game plan, but obviously when we scored we got a little bit passive and fell back and that ultimately punished us,” Byrne said.
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“Maybe we conceded too many chances. If we did that, they would have scored. It’s a shame for us. We defended the game better and beat them. When the World Cup final is this close, it hurts.”
He added: “It’s also human nature. You know how well we’ve held on to leads in previous games. That tends to happen to the majority of teams.”
Where do you stand on this? Should England have controlled the game better, instead of dropping their attacking players and sitting back? Or maybe it was the right idea, but we just had a little bit of bad luck in terms of quality? Share your thoughts in the comments!
