Head coach says the team still have “a gap to close” and vows to keep challenging
Thomas Tuchel says England have to turn all attention now to reaching a level where they can match the best teams in the world, after their World Cup exit at the hands of Argentina.
England face France in Saturday’s third-place playoff in Miami after losing in the semi-finals to Argentina. Tuchel acknowledged that everyone is disappointed by their defeat, but he wants all the focus to be on the work still needed to close the gap to the tournament’s strongest sides.
“I believe that three other nations [in the semi-finals] have almost expectations to win the title,” Tuchel said. “This is not us. France, Spain, Argentina expect almost they’re on that level that they expect to win. We are not there yet.
“There is still a gap to close. This is what we will do from tomorrow. We will not stop. We will not stop hunting. We will not stop challenging. We have things to improve in a football matter. And this is the context. So there is not a lot of room for drama. If drama is needed, if the blame game needs to be played, OK, we can do that. But I have the right to not engage.”
The England manager also said he stood by the tactical choices he made during the defeat, rejecting suggestions that he would have approached the game differently after reviewing it.
“I felt that we had to do something different for the team, and I took a decision, 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,” Tuchel said. “But the decisions are made under stress. The decisions are made in game. I would regret it if we didn’t react. But I have no regrets over the decision itself.”
Tuchel was also asked about criticism from Donald Trump, who questioned why Harry Kane had been used in a deeper role after England took the lead against Argentina.
Trump said in a press conference: “They took the lead, and they took their best player and put him on defence. We have got to be a little offensive, right? But no, I’m not going to call it. What do I know about coaching? It was unusual.”
“You use Donald Trump as your witness?” Tuchel rebutted, before explaining England’s approach. “We defended in a deep block. That’s what you do if you defend in a block. You defend in a block. We were not active enough. We could not escape the deep block.
“That is what teams build: togetherness and mentality is translated to in football terms. We defend as a 10 and as an 11. Together as a team, the team spirit, the togetherness, the mentality that this team built in the last six and a half weeks, is not to be questioned.”
