England manager Thomas Tuchel has refused to take responsibility for the FIFA World Cup semifinal loss to Argentina. He believes that the substitutions were not the issue today, adding that the structure did not change in the second half.
Speaking to the media after the game, Tuchel said that England conceded too many chances after going 1-0 up. He claimed that bringing on an attacker would not have made things better for his side and they needed to do better to see out the game.
Thanks for the submission!
The German coach added that he has no regrets about the changes made during the second half. He believes that his side deserved to take the lead, but ended up not going for the second goal and said:
“We were so close but we got to passive after we scored and conceded a lot of chances and could not turn the ball possession around. We conceded so many crosses and chances and shots. We were close but we could not keep the level up after we scored. Of course we wanted to go for the second goal, but I did not feel an offensive substitution would help.”
“We stayed in our 4-4-2 but became passive and we couldn’t win any balls and couldn’t keep the ball, so I don’t think it was a structural problem. No regrets, the team gave everything and we were very very close. We deserved to be up one nil, we played one of our better matches, maybe the best match, at the moment, no regrets.”
Anthony Gordon gave England the lead in the 55th minute, before Enzo Fernandez pulled Argentina level 30 minutes later. Lautaro Martinez scored the winner in the 94th minute, and the defending FIFA World Cup champions held on.
Pundit comments after England lost FIFA World Cup final to Argentina
Footballer-turned-pundit Wayne Rooney has claimed that England were in a good situation but threw their chance away. He added that the Three Lions were pinned back after and said:
“We got ourselves in such a good position and then we didn’t know what to do, we sat back and allowed then to come on to us. They were creating a number of chances, put us under pressure, we couldn’t get out and we cracked. As soon as they got the first goal it was inevitable they were going to get the second. Really disappointed.”
England will face France in the third-place play-off, while Argentina take on Spain in the FIFA World Cup final.
Edited by Sripad