THOMAS TUCHEL has been accused of blaming England players for their World Cup defeat to Argentina.
The Three Lions held a 1-0 lead as late as the 84th minute, before Lionel Messi inspired the reigning world champions to a dramatic late comeback to book a spot in the final.
Thomas Tuchel has been accused of blaming England players for defeat Credit: BBC
Tuchel defended his position on his subs Credit: Alamy
Enzo Fernandez hit a stunner from outside the area for the 85th minute equaliser, before Lautaro Martinez broke England hearts with an injury-time header.
Tuchel’s side were asking for trouble as they sat deeper and deeper trying to defend their lead, earned through Anthony Gordon’s 55th-minute strike.
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And the German boss then made a string of defensive changes, with defenders Ezri Konsa, Dan Burn and Nico O’Reilly all coming on.
Former captain Wayne Rooney slammed that mindset after the final whistle, with fellow BBC pundits Alan Shearer, Micah Richards and Joe Hart adding to the criticism.
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Fans rage ‘this is on Tuchel’ as England manager is slammed for ‘cowardly’ subs
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While disappointed fans at home accused Tuchel of making “cowardly” changes.
But Tuchel quickly defended his decisions when speaking after the game, with his comments seeing some fans suggest he was shifting blame to his players.
First came a moment of total confusion.
Tuchel was asked “Did we ever really see Thomas Tuchel’s England that we wanted to see?”And the shocked boss was immediately on the defensive, replying: “I don’t know, I have no answer to that question because I don’t really know what that means.”
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Quizzed on his substitutions, Tuchel added: “In the previous match, we also made attacking substitutions.
“But today we decided to go back to a five-player defensive line because the opposing team was sending more and more crosses, so we had to close the spaces and be strong in the aerial duels.
“After the goal, we dropped back and waited too much, and the crosses and chances kept coming.
“I tried to help the team, but the responsibility certainly falls on the coach, and there’s no dodging that at this level.”
Asked whether he thought about grabbing a crucial second goal, Tuchel hit back: “Yeah but it doesn’t help if we don’t have the ball. We couldn’t get out, of course we wanted to go for the second goal.
“But I had the feeling an offensive substitution wouldn’t help. We stayed in our 4-4-2 and we got more and more passive and we couldn’t win or keep the ball.
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ENGLAND’s bid to reach their first World Cup final since 1966 ended in a heartbreaking, yet predictable, defeat to Argentina.
Thomas Tuchel’s side suffered a devastating 2-1 defeat to Lionel Messi and Co at the Atlanta Stadium this evening.
Anthony Gordon sent the travelling Three Lions fans into a state of ecstasy in the 53rd minute when he ghosted in at the back post to tap the ball home inside the 18-yard box.
England tried to protect their lead as Thomas Tuchel made a host of defensive substitutions.
And they inevitably sat way too deep, allowing Enzo Fernandez to rifle the ball past Jordan Pickford in the 85th minute with a rocket from outside the 18-yard-box.
England were shell-shocked and never looked like holding out until extra-time.
And super-sub Lautaro Martinez was at hand to break Three Lions fans’ hearts across the globe with a free header at the back post in the 92nd minute.
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“It wasn’t a structural problem, we changed nothing after the goal but the match changed completely.
“But it’s no problem, I can understand these discussions take place out there, millions of coaches know it better.”
And supporters certainly weren’t happy with what the boss was saying.
Reacting to the comments on social media, one fan said: “Tuchel was very quick to criticise his players after most of their games but never took responsibility himself for any of his decisions.”
A second said: “Tuchel quick to blame the players last week but won’t take any responsibility for his decisions tonight.. rather cowardly.”
A third added: “Just listened to Tuchel being interviewed and was hoping he’d be honest and say he got it wrong being too defensive but instead seemed to blame the players.”
While the inquest continues into the defeat, England will be left to lick their wounds before the third place play-off against France on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Argentina face Spain for football‘s ultimate prize.
