Several high-profile pundits have turned on England manager Thomas Tuchel after the Three Lions were knocked out of the World Cup semi-final by Argentina. England took the lead through Anthony Gordon in the 55th minute and held it until the 85th minute, when Enzo Fernandez equalised with a stunning strike from 25 yards. Lautaro Martinez then headed in Lionel Messi's cross in the 92nd minute to seal a 2-1 victory for the defending champions, sending them to a final against Spain.
Tuchel's Tactical Shift Backfires
Tuchel reverted from a back four to a back five after England took the lead, allowing Argentina to dominate possession. Messi, who had been quiet for the first hour, dictated the game and provided two assists. Pundits were quick to criticise the decision.
Wayne Rooney, speaking on the BBC, accused Tuchel of panicking: "It's a panic, it's a real panic. You can't go a goal up and then surrender, surrender the ball and surrender any opportunity of trying to get the second goal. You want to be on the front foot when the pressure is on Argentina to get back in the game." Rooney added that the players would lose belief seeing the changes: "If you're on that pitch, go 1-0 up and then see the changes the manager is making…you are losing belief. There's only so many times you can get away with it."
Former Players Question Decision-Making
Former German international Thomas Muller expressed bafflement on X: "I cannot believe and understand how England approaches this game, especially after they are leading. I cannot understand, to invite the whole Argentina game to hit one cross after another from perfect crossing positions, but no matter."
Ex-England goalkeeper Joe Hart pointed out that Tuchel fell into the same traps as his predecessor, Gareth Southgate. Hart said: "Gareth Southgate will be at home watching this game, and he took a lot of criticism when it came to big moments with England when they had the lead and shutting up shop but I don’t see anything has changed in the big moment out there. For Thomas Tuchel, for all the praise we have given him, for him to change it as soon as he did. I think he realised he didn’t believe in his team, they could land any more punches on Argentina."
'Coaching Catastrophe' and Calls for Change
Chris Sutton, speaking on BBC Five Live, called it a "coaching catastrophe": "It was a coaching catastrophe from Thomas Tuchel. The fact that England get themselves in front and then basically hand Argentina the initiative, defending deep, another defender on. It’s quite a simple game football, you have to get up the pitch. You can’t expect to defend for 30 minutes against the quality Argentina have and keep giving the ball back to them, that’s what England did and it’s all on the coach as far as I’m concerned." Sutton questioned whether Tuchel could be trusted to take the team forward, noting that England had a generous run in the competition and didn't play well in any 90-minute match.
World Cup winner Iker Casillas also weighed in, writing on X: "He has committed 'hara-kiri' … They [England] score the goal and drop back. A cowardly approach. They haven’t ventured out of their own half and have allowed [Argentina] to push forward more. The inevitable happens."
