Thomas Tuchel won’t shy away from taking responsibility for England’s defeat after his side surrendered a second-half lead against Argentina to end their hopes of reaching the World Cup final, even if he believes he made the right decisions.
England were on course for a place in Sunday’s final after Anthony Gordon gave them the lead early in the second half. But Enzo Fernandez levelled with a powerful strike before Lautaro Martinez completed Argentina’s comeback in the second minute of added time, securing a 2-1 victory and a meeting with Spain in New York.
Tuchel admitted England became too cautious after going in front and said his decision to change shape had not produced the desired result.
“We decided to go to a back five because the gaps were far too open,” Tuchel said. “Argentina played with more risk, played with more rhythm and played with the feeling maybe that they had nothing to lose any more, which freed them up and pulled us back. Because we obviously played suddenly with a feeling that we had a lot to lose.
“Of course the responsibility is on the coach and if it doesn’t go well it’s easy to say it was wrong.”
The England manager rejected the idea that another collapse from a winning position showed a long-standing mentality of the England team.
“I don’t believe so much in an English thing and a curse or whatever,” Tuchel said. “It’s repeating itself in different moments. It’s different coaches, different players, different situations.
“What cost us today was that we were not active enough in any structure. I can understand these discussions are out there and of course a million coaches after the game know it better. You can discuss this with a million coaches. I have to make a decision on the pitch. It’s how I analyse the match and I take the responsibility.
“At the moment no regrets. The team gave everything and we were very very close. We deserved to be up 1-0. We played one of our better matches, maybe our best match under the circumstances. The team was top – we couldn’t bring it over the line.”
