Thomas Tuchel has insisted he has “no regrets” over the decision to make sweeping defensive substitutions after England took the lead in their World Cup semi-final exit to Argentina.
The Three Lions suffered a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat in Atlanta, with Argentina pulling off a stunning comeback after Anthony Gordon put England in front.
Tuchel opted to sit back and deploy very defensive tactics from around the 70th minute, switching to a 5-4-1 formation in a move that backfired spectacularly.
Giving up territory for Argentina to attack into, the World Cup holders ramped up the pressure in the final stages and snatched two deserved late goals courtesy of Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez to flip the result on its head.
Wayne Rooney said England “crumbled” and put blame on the German manager for his change in tact – but Tuchel, while recognising that his team were “too passive” after scoring, stuck by his decisions.
“You can discuss this with a million coaches [but] I have to make a decision on the pitch,” he told the BBC.
“I analysed the match and I did it a certain way so that’s my responsibility.
“In the moment, no regrets. The team gave everything and we were very, very close. We deserved to be up 1-0.
“We played one of our better matches, maybe our best match in the circumstances. The team was top, we couldn’t get over the line but no regrets.”
England had just 12 per cent of possession after taking the lead, but Tuchel denied there was a “structural problem” as he explained his substitute strategy.
”I did also offensive substitutions in the last games, we just tried to help the players. We conceded [a chance] straight away and we decided to go to a back five because the gaps were far too open,” he said.
“They won every header, they kept crossing and crossing so we went to a back five to close the gaps inside and be strong in the air. Straight after our goal, without any substitutions, we conceded way too many crosses and way too many chances so we tried to help.
“Of course we wanted to go for the second goal but I did not have the feeling that offensive substitutions would help. We stayed in our 4-4-2 but we became passive, more and more passive. We couldn’t win any balls, we couldn’t keep the ball so I think it was not a structural problem, we changed nothing. But the match changed completely.
“It’s no problem, I can understand these discussions are out there and there are millions of coaches after the game who know it better.”
