Under-fire Thomas Tuchel still has “no regrets” about his decisions in England’s painful World Cup semi-final loss to Argentina and defiantly claimed fan opinion will not impact how he views his future.
The nation had been dreaming of a first men’s World Cup final since lifting the trophy since 1966 but are now in the midst of an uncomfortable examination of all too familiar shortcomings.
Sir Gareth Southgate’s successor was brought in to turn nearly men into trophy winners, but England stumbled after taking a 55th-minute lead on Wednesday and Argentina capitalised in a chaotic late 2-1 turnaround.
The statistics are as bleak as the second half was to watch, but Tuchel stuck to his guns ahead of Saturday’s unwanted bronze medal match against France, having had 48 hours to stew on the defeat.
“I view them in the same way,” the England boss said when asked if his view on the performance had changed. “I view them in the same way that we were too passive, we got too passive.
“If you are asking if I regret my decision, if this is the question then, no, I don’t regret my decisions because I felt that we’d become too passive.
“I felt that the momentum switches in the match and I tried to help my team. I tried to help, I tried to support.
“I took several decisions trusting my instinct, my intuition, my experience, trusting my competitiveness, and I took the decision in order to help the team and get the result.
“We didn’t get the result, so I take, of course, the responsibility for these decisions but the decisions are made under stress, the decisions are made in-game. This is in-game life, live coaching.
“I would regret if I didn’t help. I would regret if we didn’t react. But I have no regrets over the decision itself.”
That answer started with him giving short shrift to United States President Donald Trump’s criticism – “do you use Donald Trump as your witness for the case or…?” – and set the tone for a tense press conference.
Tuchel spoke of the “scar” they all now “have to live with” and refused to engage in the “blame game” as outsiders question the Football Association’s decision to hand him a two-year contract extension ahead of the World Cup.
The England boss retains the governing body’s backing and stressed after the Argentina match that he was “100 per cent” committed to leading the side into the home Euros in 2028.
Asked if a change in fan sentiment could alter his stance, Tuchel said: “I would like to make my own picture.
“I think it is a strong statement that you give here and be the advocate for half of the country being against me and a split country. Let’s wait for that. I have nothing more… what is the question?”
When the reporter asked whether more fans deciding he should go would change his thoughts about staying on, he retorted: “No, it can never change my thinking if I would like to carry on.”
That is a sea change in approach to predecessor Southgate, who walked away after the Euro 2024 final defeat to Spain having repeatedly said he did not want to outstay his welcome.
But Tuchel is ready to plough on undeterred as he looks to close the gap on Sunday’s World Cup finalists and third-placed play-off opponents France.
“I think the gap is there because of the titles that Argentina, France and Spain have has national teams, as countries, what they built over many years with the coaches and the team,” the England boss said.
“There is still a slight gap that we have to close. The gap shows in almost the expectations of these countries to win the World Cup and be in the final.
“I think we demanded it from ourselves within camp, for sure. We dreamed about it, we pushed for it and we competed for it but there is still a gap to close in the way how to play football under pressure and the way to implement yourself on the very next level.”
PA
