Thierry Henry has backed Thomas Tuchel's decision to substitute Declan Rice at half-time during England's 2-1 World Cup quarter-final victory over Norway, and suggested the German manager was also dissatisfied with Noni Madueke's performance.
England's Gritty Win Over Norway
England booked their place in the World Cup semi-finals, where they will face Argentina, after a hard-fought extra-time win against Norway on Saturday. Jude Bellingham scored twice to secure the victory, with Harry Kane also playing a key role in the team's attacking play.
Rice, who had been struggling with illness throughout the week, started the match but was replaced at half-time alongside his Arsenal teammate Madueke, who failed to make an impact on the right wing.
Henry Praises Bellingham and Kane
Speaking after the match, Henry told Fox Sports: 'Grit, despite, wanting to, I said before, who wants it the most? You saw the desire of Jude Bellingham. Bellingham scores but Harry Kane, the amount of time he recovered the ball, he defended for everybody, he held the ball, he gained free-kicks, but you have two guys here who are almost, not almost… they are carrying England, they are.'
Henry added: 'But the way they played you have to give them that. A lot of people are lucky but they are playing with heart and you have to give them that. Well done, England.'
Tuchel's Post-Match Reaction
Tuchel took issue with questions about England's mentality in his post-match interview with ITV, and Henry believed the German's reaction was justified. Henry said: 'I didn't understand the questions, the guy was telling you it was all effort and mentality and you're asking about mentality. He was talking about the technical aspect of the game. I think he wasn't happy with Madueke, he wasn't happy with the speed, he wasn't happy about it, that's why he changed stuff straight away, you don't even need to ask that question, if he's changing stuff it's because he's not happy with what's on the field.'
Henry Defends Tuchel's Decisions
Henry also praised Tuchel for his bold substitution of Rice, saying: 'He took Declan Rice off, nobody does that usually, I don't know what happened, something very important, he does that. What I like about him is he answers straight, he does, he's not happy with the performance of his team, that's his right.'
Henry added: 'I have to say something, I'm not English but I could relate to the fighting spirit and it's very much how they are. Living in England, people were always complaining that they couldn't relate to that team, but if you don't relate to that team and the way they play and the way they go about it… hopefully the technical aspect of the game will come but the fighting spirit is back, the one I've known for a very long time since I've lived in England, I can see the fans are happy to see this team fight at least, and not give up.'
Tuchel Explains Rice Substitution
When asked about his decision to replace Rice at half-time, Tuchel admitted the Arsenal midfielder had been bedridden due to illness. Tuchel said: 'Declan we made a decision at half-time to become more offensive, a bit of an offensive shift. I made the decision when we were 1-0 down and I didn't want to go back on the decision because of the equaliser, I thought this is the right signal to give the team to have higher positions when Norway defends in a deep block, higher positions, more connections, be closer to the opponent's box, so we put in Ebs [Eze] and Bukayo [Saka] on the right wing which meant we had to take Elliot [Anderson] or Declan out, knowing Declan's struggles in the last three days where he was most of the time in bed, I knew he could not survive 90 minutes and there was a possibility of 120 minutes, so I didn't want to waste another change so the decision was to take Declan earlier out than he needed to go out just to save us another change later down the match.'
