Thomas Tuchel says he fully intends to carry on as England manager as he blamed the country’s ‘football DNA’ for their World Cup exit.
His side suffered a heart-breaking loss to Argentina in their semi-final clash on Thursday morning.
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Having taken a second-half lead through Anthony Gordon, England conceded twice late on to succumb to a 2-1 defeat.
Despite Tuchel’s tactics coming under fire following the match, there are reports in the UK the FA have no plans to part ways with their manager.
His current deal runs through until the end of Euro 2028 in two years’ time.
It comes despite a report England players were shocked by Tuchel’s tactics.
According to The Telegraph, Tuchel’s defensive changes – sending on Ezri Konsa, Dan Burn and Nico O’Reilly to try to see out a 1-0 win – left several players totally confused.
After Argentina had equalised, Jude Bellingham was seen waving his arms around and trying to understand who was playing where.
A lot of the confusion seemed to stem from Tuchel replacing Declan Rice with a defender in Manchester City’s O’Reilly.
“There was belief within the squad that Argentina were there for the taking once Gordon put England ahead and that Lionel Scaloni’s men could have been hit on the counter-attack with the introduction of more pace,” the report stated.
“Bukayo Saka, Ollie Watkins and Noni Madueke were all left on the bench and there was surprise that it took Tuchel until four minutes after Argentina had gone ahead to finally throw on Marcus Rashford and Ivan Toney.
“There is also a sense that England paid for Tuchel replacing Declan Rice with a defender, rather than a midfielder, as Enzo Fernández scored from exactly the position in which Rice or another defensive midfielder would have been expected to occupy.”
While The Independent reported that Argentina planned for one, if not both of, Saka and Madueke to be introduced to the game.
“Scaloni and his staff were aware that their side’s main vulnerability is when a game is stretched, leaving them vulnerable to speed in behind,” the report stated.
It added: “Scaloni and his staff were still preparing themselves for one of Saka or Madueke to come on by the second hydration break, but then saw how Tuchel was planning to introduce a series of defensive-minded players, further removing England’s out-balls and threat on the counter-attack.
“It meant Scaloni felt free to go even more attacking – including bringing on match-winner Lauturo Martinez for left-back Nicolas Tagliafico – to eventually win the game in stoppage time.”
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Tuchel has now addressed his future, revealing he believes the Three Lions can still win a trophy with him in charge.
When asked if he plans to stay on, he explained: “100 per cent, and there’s still enough to improve, still enough to improve and I’m more than happy to do that.
“I still think we can impose ourselves more on the ball, I still think we can still show how good football players we are.
“I think it’s still in us because I see it in training in every camp and here also in the World Cup and I still feel there is an extra level that we need to conquer and we need to step up on the next level and then to get the big prize.”
Tuchel signed a new two-year contract extension in February. His deal will now run until at least the end of Euro 2028, which England will co-host with Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland.
Prior to the extension, his contract had been due to expire at the end of this summer’s World Cup.
Tuchel also defended his formation change against Argentina, having brought on three defenders in a bid to protect England’s 1-0 lead.
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Instead, he has claimed a weakness in English football’s ‘DNA’ is to blame for their late collapse.
Specifically, Tuchel pinpointed the players’ inability to keep hold of the ball under pressure.
He added: “In this moment my feeling was no structure in the world could have helped us.
“Because actually we were too passive and we were not physical enough, we didn’t stop runners arriving in our box and the deliveries were wrong too.
“I haven’t seen the data yet, but I think just right after the goal the momentum swings completely and ball possession drops dramatically.
“We couldn’t find any duels anymore; that’s why we dropped deeper and deeper. It was never the plan, but it happened.
“(We) couldn’t stop the runners from the second line, the midfielders, through our gaps, and the deliveries were on the highest level.
“You need to get back on the ball; otherwise you cannot break the pressure, and you cannot get the momentum back.
“I think ball possession plays a crucial role; it’s maybe not in our DNA like it is in our Spanish DNA or in our Argentinian-Brazilian DNA, to take the ball and control the game with the ball.”
Tuchel’s comments come ahead of England’s final match at the tournament. The Three Lions face France in Miami on Saturday night in the third-place playoff.