Thomas Tuchel looks stupid as Gareth Southgate verdict comes back to bite England boss

Thomas Tuchel's comments on Gareth Southgate's tenure as England manager have come back to haunt him following the World Cup semi-final defeat to Argentina. The former Bayern Munich and Chelsea boss was appointed by the FA with the aim of winning major silverware with the Three Lions and succeeding where Southgate had failed. However, the manner of England's crushing loss at the hands of Argentina left a familiar taste in the mouths of many supporters.

Rather than pushing for an insurance goal after Anthony Gordon opened the scoring, England sat back and invited pressure, a strategy that ultimately backfired. They retreated in an attempt to protect their narrow lead, essentially allowing Argentina to launch repeated attacks. An equaliser felt inevitable and it eventually arrived when Enzo Fernandez struck with five minutes of normal time remaining.

At that point, England had six defensive players on the pitch and were sitting deep in a 5-4-1 formation. They only had 12 per cent of possession between Gordon's opener and Lisandro Martinez's winning header in the second minute of stoppage time.

Argentina were totally dominant for large parts of the second half, with Tuchel's ill-fated defensive shift widely blamed for allowing them to mount a late comeback.

England looked frightened as Argentina ploughed forward in the latter stages of the second half, totally unable to cope with the growing threat of their opponents.

It came just over a year after Tuchel accused the Three Lions of "playing with fear" under Southgate, who was regularly criticised for being too defensive in crucial knockout fixtures.

Following his appointment as manager, Tuchel was quizzed on the Euro 2024 campaign and whether England had a clear playing style.

"Not last summer, no," he replied. "The identity [was missing], the clarity, the rhythm, the repetition of patterns, the freedom of players, the expression of players, the hunger.

"They were more afraid to drop out of the tournament, in my observation, than having the excitement and hunger to win it."

Asked what he thought the missing piece was, Tuchel said: "Excitement, the view that people feel that's the team to beat. That we arrive with a group to beat, that we know already when we arrive, once we qualify, that everyone knows this is the team to beat."

England showed very few of those qualities against Argentina, leaving Tuchel red-faced over his comments on the Southgate era.

The submissive nature of the defeat to Argentina has led to calls for his sacking, but the 52-year-old has already confirmed that he will see out the remainder of his contract, which runs until Euro 2028.

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