Donald Trump has criticised Thomas Tuchel and the England football team following their semi-final World Cup elimination. England succumbed to old foes Argentina 2-1 on Wednesday night, knocking the Three Lions out of the competition and leaving some supporters deeply frustrated with England's approach after going ahead in the second half.
Trump Questions Kane's Defensive Role
President Trump seized the chance to remark on England captain Harry Kane's display while standing alongside FIFA President Gianni Infantino. Both Trump and Kane have acknowledged playing golf together last year in Florida. The US President was especially baffled by the manner in which the German manager deployed captain Kane, who disclosed last week that they had enjoyed a round of golf together around 18 months ago in Florida.
"You have a great player in England, who I played golf with," Trump said in a press conference. "You know that, right? He is Harry, who's been fantastic. I think they perhaps made a mistake when they made him a defensive player. What do I know about soccer? They took the lead, and they took their best player and put him on defence."
FIFA president Gianni Infantino chuckled beside Trump, who shrugged and then applauded his own comments. President Trump added: "We have got to be a little offensive, right? But, no, I am not going to call it. Look, what do I know about coaching? But that was a little unusual, but Harry is a great guy, actually."
Tuchel Hits Back at Criticism
"Do you use Donald Trump as your witness for the case or...?" asked the German manager when a question regarding the nature of the Argentina defeat mentioned that even the US President had weighed in. Tuchel was questioned about the way record goalscorer Kane was deployed and it clearly irritated him.
"In which situation did Harry play too deep? What do you mean? Like in the last 30 minutes? Well, we defended in a deep block," Tuchel said. "That's what you do if you defend in a block. You defend in a block. We were not active enough, we could not escape the deep block but if you defend in a deep block, everyone defends in a deep block. That is what team spirit, togetherness, and mentality is translated to in football terms. We defend as a 10 and as 11, and if we are pushed back to a deep block, Harry defends in a deep block. This is what he did for moments in the first half. The difference is that we pushed back and we stepped out and we found the triggers to come out of the deep block. But we do everything together as a team. The team spirit, the togetherness, the mentality that this team built in the last six and a half weeks is not to be questioned and it showed even in defending. We became too passive in the last 30 minutes. We could not get hold of the ball, we could not find duels anymore. This is the next step that we want to take and from there we go."
