Thomas Tuchel was brought in to solve England’s failings, not confirm them. Yet amid the painful fallout of another World Cup disappointment, Tuchel found himself addressing England’s age-old problem of not being able to keep the ball. In March, Tuchel had criticised former boss Gareth Southgate’s team for being “afraid” to lose in Euro 2024 rather than “having the excitement and hunger to win it.” Fast forward four months, and it felt as if Tuchel himself had caught the English disease, as his side looked most in danger of defeat after taking the lead.
Tuchel's Tactical Retreat
After England took an early lead against Argentina in the World Cup quarter-final, they retreated deep and surrendered control. Tuchel spoke of players being “passive,” insisting they were told to step up but could not keep the ball. However, it felt as if Tuchel himself had gone defensive as soon as England went ahead, ready to sit and defend the lead. The data makes for depressing reading: England had just 12 per cent possession between taking the lead and conceding the winner in stoppage time.
Tuchel said: “If then it happens then it has to be changed. But I’m not sure, I always try to think in football terms, in football matters. I haven’t seen the data yet but I think right after the goal, the momentum swings completely in ball possession, chances and it drops dramatically. I think ball possession plays a crucial role. It’s maybe not in our DNA like it is in the Spanish DNA or Argentinian or Brazilian DNA. To take the ball, control the game and the ball which is also a big problem.”
Blame Game or Managerial Responsibility?
Tuchel added: “We got too passive within our structure. I tried to help, not to become more passive with a back five in our structure but to be more active, to be quicker out to the wingers, not to open up the gaps between the back four. We encouraged everyone to step out, to be more active within the structure but we just struggled.” He also noted the quality of the opposition: “We also played against a lot of quality, urgency, quality and there was one offensive player after another. They were strong on the ball, they got stronger and stronger in the first contacts in the technical execution they were at the highest level.”
Critics argue that it is Tuchel’s job to take away the fear, improve England’s quality in possession, and get the tactics spot on. That was why he was brought in: to be the experienced, top-level winning manager to help England over the line after so many near-misses in tournaments. Instead, England played like they did under Southgate when they surrendered a lead in the 2018 World Cup semi-final or in the Euros in 2021.
History Repeats Itself
To say England had lost control of the game might be the understatement of the year. That has to be on Tuchel, just as it was on Southgate in the past. England needed a leader on the sidelines, and all they got was a tactician who tried to shut up shop against Lionel Messi and Co. That must go down as a huge mistake because you cannot protect a lead for so long against such quality. That is the reason why England missed out on the World Cup final. They said goodbye to Southgate, brought in a well-paid, high-profile manager, and ultimately he did just the same as the last guy.
Tuchel defended his tactics, insisting he was happy with his players and similar efforts against Mexico in the last 16 when they finished as heroes. He added: “Very pleased with them, I’m very pleased and I enjoyed every single day and I enjoyed every single minute of the first 55 of the Argentina game. Because I think we were there, ready to go for it, not be passive and actually go for it and try. We just couldn’t cope with the momentum swing. You can also defend. You can also defend deep. You can stay active. We did this for example in Mexico and did this in matches. It can happen that you can get deep but you have to stay active and we struggled.”
