Ian Wright launched into an expletive-filled rant after learning what Thomas Tuchel said about England's World Cup semi-final defeat to Argentina. The Three Lions lost 2-1, and Tuchel's post-match comments sparked fury from the Arsenal legend.
Tuchel's 'No Regrets' Comment
On the latest episode of Stick To Football, Gary Neville read out a direct quote from Tuchel: “It was not a structure problem, we played maybe our best game, no regrets.” Wright immediately responded: “That's b*******. You can't say we played our best game because we didn't play our best game, how many times did we touch the ball in their box? Seven [times].”
Wright continued: “Come on man you're not asking a lot of yourselves if you have seven touches, Argentina had 28. Why is he saying that? He's actually insulting our intelligence, we watched the game. Saying that he's got no regrets.”
Tactical Decisions Questioned
Tuchel had changed formation to a back five, replacing Anthony Gordon with Ezri Konsa after Gordon scored the opener. Dan Burn later came on for Reece James, and Declan Rice was also substituted. This created gaps that allowed Argentina to score twice in seven minutes. Wright questioned why Tuchel didn't bring on Kobbie Mainoo to control the ball or Marcus Rashford for pace to relieve pressure on defenders.
Wright added: “Even if he was thinking ‘could I put Kobbie Mainoo on' and he could have maybe looked after the ball. 'Should I have put Rashford on and maybe take off Morgan Rogers', so we get some pace to get down there so we can actually give the f****** defenders a breather, or something. Can’t come out with a quote like that.”
Kane Defends Tuchel
England captain Harry Kane defended Tuchel's tactics, saying: “We struggled to get pressure on the ball. Especially first half and start of the second half, we pressed them well, we put them under loads of pressure high up the pitch which then allowed us to win balls and control the game a bit better. After the goal, whether it was them putting more men forward or us not being able to match them man for man, it was just wave after wave. Lads were putting blocks in but, in the end, it just wasn't enough.”
However, a second Tuchel quote read on the show described England as 'too passive', which Wright, Roy Keane, and Neville all agreed with.
