Thierry Henry has revealed that Marcus Rashford was set for a far more prominent role in England's World Cup semi-final defeat to Argentina, but Thomas Tuchel shelved the substitution after taking the lead, a decision Henry criticised as going defensive too early.
England's World Cup heartbreak against Argentina
England failed to end 60 years of hurt in the United States as Thomas Tuchel's side lost 2-1 to defending champions Argentina. The Three Lions had one foot in their first World Cup final since 1966 when new Barcelona signing Anthony Gordon broke the deadlock shortly after half-time. However, Tuchel's decision to adopt a defensive approach proved disastrous, as huge Argentina pressure finally resulted in an equaliser through Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez. England had six defenders on the pitch by that stage, and with no outlet, Argentina came forward again and scored an injury-time winner through Lautaro Martinez.
Tuchel's controversial substitution plan
Tuchel threw on Rashford and Ivan Toney in stoppage-time, but England were unable to score an equaliser as they suffered more World Cup heartbreak at the hands of old foes Argentina. Rashford had shown promising signs earlier in the tournament but lost his place in the team to the lively Gordon. Henry revealed that Tuchel was preparing to bring Rashford on just before Gordon gave England the lead at the Atlanta Stadium. Tuchel abandoned the idea of any attacking substitutions after England went in front, and Henry criticised that decision.
'When you're on the bench as a coach, things happen so quickly,' the Premier League legend and French World Cup winner told FOX Sports. 'We need to analyse something because Marcus Rashford was supposed to come on just before Anthony Gordon scored. After Gordon scores then suddenly you go into a back-five which seemed too early. Then they lose Reece James and they bring on Nico O'Reilly but he's playing on the wing. Boom – Argentina score and then where do you go with that formation? Then boom they score again and now you need to try and bring on guys to score yourselves.'
Henry's critique of Tuchel's tactics
'It's not easy but I'll repeat again, they went into a back-five too early. It's not easy on the bench but they went defensive too early – you don't beat that team [Argentina] like that. So, Thomas Tuchel, what he did wasn't bad. They just did it too early. I think that England went into a back five too early for my liking, giving them the ball. I'm not saying that they thought they won the game. It's not true. But they thought they had to defend the lead a tiny bit too early. After that, if you're Argentina, you're going to throw strikers and put [them] in the box.'
Henry also praised Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni's tactical adjustments, noting that he put Lionel Messi on the right to create one-on-one situations. 'One thing that Scaloni did exactly the same against Switzerland and Egypt, he put Lionel Messi on the right – not in the middle, into traffic. But he put him on the right. They attracted him to the right of the opposition, to give him the ball in a [one-on-one situation] to go back to his left and cross. And actually, he went on his right to cross. So, what I'm saying is, they're the world champion for a reason.'
Zlatan Ibrahimovic's perspective
Legendary striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic added: 'That's why I asked Thierry to explain what happened with Rashford because it shows you the dynamics for the coach and what was supposed to happen and what really happened. He was supposed to bring Rashford in and push on the counter-attacks but then they score and they go to a back-five. They had six defenders on the pitch at one point. These are the different feelings you have as a coach during a game and this time it didn't go Thomas Tuchel's way. Tuchel didn't play the cards right and for Argentina, it's not about how you start but how you end. I think England stopped playing. Tuchel made some changes. He went too defensive, and Scaloni went more offensive. The way Argentina was playing, they didn't panic. They kept attacking. They hit the post. They had a couple of chances before scoring their first goal, and they kept pushing. They didn't make some panic move. Scaloni kept pushing by putting in more offensive players. Martinez came in, in the end. So, the best team won, like Thierry said.'
Tuchel's defence of his decisions
Tuchel himself explained his controversial substitutions, saying: 'You can discuss this with a million coaches [but] I have to make a decision on the pitch. I analysed the match and I did it a certain way so that's my responsibility. In 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 in the circumstances. The team was top, we couldn't get over the line but no regrets.'
Defending champions Argentina will face Spain in the World Cup final on Sunday night after the European champions knocked out France.
