Tuchel defends England tactics in heated response but admits Argentina defeat is 'scar'

Thomas Tuchel has admitted he has been left with a “scar” after England’s

World Cup

heartbreak.

England boss

Tuchel

insisted he would shoulder full responsibility but insisted he wants to carry on even after the backlash following the semi-final defeat to Argentina.

It was a brutal and painful press conference ahead of the third place play-off with France and Tuchel looked visibly upset but defiant as he faced a tough grilling.

The biggest questions were around the

“blame game”

and whether it should be the manager or the players who should shoulder responsibility.

Tuchel got

rattled

at first but dismissed

Donald Trump’s criticisms

about

England’s tactics

but quickly got into a full explanation of the defeat.

Tuchel said: “I take responsibility. Listen, if it's easier, easier if someone takes the blame, I take the blame. It's not wrong. This is the death that you sign up for, as I understand it. But you have every right to do so.

“But I will not engage. I will not engage in this kind of game. For me, there is no one to blame. Need someone to blame? I take the responsibility and the head coach.

“Like I say, we make in-game decisions based on trust, on our competitiveness, on the experience, and on what we actually feel and I feel in the game.

“And then from there we go. Every other scenario is just a scenario. No one knows the outcome of any other substitution or any other change.

“It's an easy approach to think in structures and to think in offensive and defensive. I think the game is more complex. It is about how you live a structure. It is always how you play within a structure.

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“We had problems in the four for two. We couldn't solve the problems later in the other structure. That's just how it is, and we have to live with this. So it's our pain, my pain, and the players' pain.

“We feel the most pain of all, and it is our scar that we carry now. It's a very painful defeat, and we have to live with it.

“First and foremost, not the critics, not the experts, not our family members who suffer as well with us.

“We will, like always, because we are competitive, and every single player in camp is so competitive, doing every single good phase.

"So we will overcome it. We will use it. We will have a reaction, and it starts from tomorrow. We have a gap to close, and we are aware of that, and it's worth it.”

Tuchel did insist that the World Cup schedule - plus also playing at altitude in Mexico City - leave his players running on empty.

Tuchel said: “I think even if we don't want to admit it, because it always feels like an excuse, and we would never talk about it, but I feel that the game in Mexico, the altitude, the travelling, we lost a complete amount of sleep, and the game in the heat in Norway in extra time and was smaller than.

“So I felt that, and I think it is part of the development of the game. The players; these players are very important. They will literally gain everything physically in every single match.

“If you see these data drop, there must be a reason behind it because the motivation was through the roof, like for every other team who made it into.

“We could not reach these kind of intensities. I think Argentina found another year, found another moment, found another belief.

“They built something over several years and have of course the experience of overcoming these kind of moments and these kind of matches and winning titles together. So this came into play. Messi was on the other side.”

Tuchel was also asked about public mood changing and whether that would affect his desire to carry on and he said: “Not. It never changed my thinking. If I would like (to carry on).”

Tuchel, as headstrong as they come, insists that he has no regrets over the decisions he made.

He said: “I felt that we had to do something different for the team, and I took a decision, 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. But the decisions are made under stress. The decisions are made in game. I would regret it if we didn’t react. But I have no regrets over the decision itself.”

His calls have ultimately seen fans question whether he's the right man to take England forward - and Tuchel has called out the divided supporter base.

"I would like to make my own picture. I think it is strong statement that you give here and be the advocate for half of the country being against me or a split country. Let's wait for that. What's the question?"

He was then asked whether any negativity from supporters would change his mind about remaining in the role. "It will never change my thinking if I would like to carry on," he said.

Tuchel also insisted that England should remember this is only their fourth semi final and they were the outsiders in the top four ranked nations - but wants to close the gap.

Tuchel added: “I think the gap is there because of the titles that Argentina and Spain have as national teams. What they built over many years with the coaches and the team. There's still a slight gap to close.

“I think the gap shows the expectations of these countries winning the World Cup and European final, and we did not. I think we demanded it from ourselves within camp for sure, and we dreamed about it, and we pushed for it, and we competed for it.

“But there's still a gap to close in the way how to play football under pressure, and the way to implement yourselves, and the way to reach the next level.”

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It was genuinely one of the most intense and tense press conferences I have seen in 27 years covering England.

And that is because the fall-out from Wednesday has been huge. But then - even by England’s standards - it’s hard to digest when you go from having so much hope to feeling so flat and deflated.

That is what football does to you. It is, as they say, the hope that kills you.

Even US president

Donald Trump

has questioned England’s tactics and use of

Harry Kane

. “What do I know about soccer?” Trump said. “They took the lead, and they took their best player, and they put him on defence.”

But it is the way it has played out which has also been so fascinating. England blew it. The frustration and disappointment quickly turned to anger and recriminations.

Tuchel was held up as public enemy No1. The

Football

Association quickly put out a statement from chief executive Mark Bullingham saluted the team. They also backed Tuchel.

But that only ended up turning Tuchel’s future into more of a debate. Why? He has got two years left on his contract.

Then came the blame game. The players were definitely surprised by Tuchel’s substitutions. One source close to the dressing room claimed the manager had “failed the players.”

Tuchel’s remarks also caused raised eyebrows among the players and those close to them. That was deflecting all of the blame onto the players, suggesting they had simply not followed his instructions.

It is not in the FA’s thinking to get rid of Tuchel. They remained convinced he is the right man for the job and, if England were to beat France, they would finish third and that would be their best-ever World Cup campaign on foreign soil and the best since they won it in 1966.

But Tuchel does have a habit of being combustable and his exits from

Borussia Dortmund

,

Bayern Munich

, Paris Saint Germain and

Chelsea

were pretty acrimonious.

So it would not be beyond the realms of imagination for him to quit. But it would need him to walk for there to be a change in manager.

The far bigger issue - and the biggest of all - is winning back the trust of the fans. And there has to be a question whether that is even possible. Few managers lose the fans - and get them back onside.

That is the battle facing Tuchel. Loyal England fans had been won over - then he lost them. They are genuinely angry and some want him gone. They see him as a busted flush.

Are we overreacting? Well, no. Even impartial observers think England have the best range and squad of players at this tournament. Mind you, they certainly do not have the experience and proven winners of Spain or Argentina.