‘Passive’ and ‘crumbled’ – did Tuchel’s defensive tactics cost England?

England were on the brink of their first men’s World Cup final since 1966. They led 1-0 against defending champions Argentina when the clock at Atlanta Stadium hit 84 minutes – and then everything unravelled. Enzo Fernandez smashed in the equaliser in the 85th minute, and Lautaro Martinez headed the winner three minutes into stoppage time. Both goals were set up by Lionel Messi. In an instant, England’s dream was shattered. Anthony Gordon had put them ahead in the 55th minute after a hard-fought performance, but then England retreated and paid the price. Manager Thomas Tuchel’s decision to turn defensive backfired spectacularly. From the moment they took the lead until Argentina’s second goal, England had just 12% possession. Tuchel did not send on forwards Marcus Rashford and Ivan Toney until deep into added time. Instead he introduced defenders Ezri Konsa, Dan Burn and Nico O’Reilly after going ahead. “We crumbled,” former captain Wayne Rooney said. “It started with the manager and his decisions. It was too passive. Against the world champions you don’t get away with it.” Alan Shearer added: “Tuchel played his cards very early and it backfired.” Chris Sutton called it “a coaching catastrophe”. “You can’t expect to defend for 30 minutes against that quality. It’s all on the coach – how can you trust Thomas Tuchel to take this team forward?” England had shown character earlier in the tournament, coming from behind against DR Congo and Norway, but this time the fightback never came. “Norway and Mexico panicked against England,” former goalkeeper Joe Hart noted. “I didn’t see one bit of panic from Argentina. They freed up Messi and ran all over us.” Gareth Southgate once faced similar criticism for shutting up shop in big games. “I don’t see that anything has changed,” Hart said. Tuchel will keep the FA’s backing, but the questions after this semi-final defeat will linger for years.