Thomas Tuchel insists he is committed to leading England to Euro 2028 after their semi-final exit in the tournament. World Cup.
England’s dreams of winning their first World Cup since 1966 were dashed in Atlanta after they squandered a 1-0 lead in a 2-1 defeat by fierce rivals Argentina.
Tuchel received heavy criticism for his overly defensive style after England took the lead through Anthony Gordon 10 minutes into the second half.
There have already been calls in some corners for Tuchel, who signed a contract extension until Euro 2028 before the World Cup, to lose his job. However, he and the players received support from Football Association chief executive Mark Billingham in the wake of the defeat.
It is clear that an early exit from this contract is not on Tuchel’s mind.
When asked if he would like to lead the team for the next two years, the German replied: “Yes. One hundred percent. There is still enough to improve and I am very happy to do so. I loved every day at the World Cup. I loved every day at the World Cup.”
“I said after the quarter-final win over Norway that I see a break from what I see in training at football level and in matches. We can impose ourselves more on the ball. We can show how good our footballers are.
“This is still in us as I see it in training and in every camp. And here too in the World Cup. I still feel that there is another level to overcome. We need to rise to the next level to get the big prize.”
Tuchel points out the difference in DNA after England’s collapse
England’s efforts to protect their lead against Argentina backfired spectacularly, with Tuchel taking the blame for a series of defensive substitutions.
Tuchel removed top scorer Gordon in the 72nd minute and replaced him with right-back Ezri Konsa. Ten minutes later, Reece James was replaced by centre-back Dan Byrne, while Declan Rice made way for Nico O’Reilly, who has played as a left-back throughout the tournament but can also operate in midfield and even as a number 10.
At that point, England had six defenders on the pitch. But three minutes after that double substitution, Argentina equalized through a long-range effort from Enzo Fernandes, and with England pressing in their own half and lacking the creative players to turn things around, they collapsed when Lautaro Martinez scored the winner in the 92nd minute after a cross from Lionel Messi.
Between Gordon’s opener and Martinez’s goal, England had just 12% of the ball. Although most of the criticism was directed at Tuchel, the former Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich coach cited the difference in DNA in English football as a reason to give up.
“We have become very negative within our structure,” Tuchel explained. “I tried to help…to be more active in defense, to be quicker on the wings. Everyone encouraged us to come out, to be more active, but we struggled.”
“We couldn’t find any duos anymore, and that’s why we dropped deeper and deeper. That was never the plan but it happened. We couldn’t stop the runners from the second line, the midfielders through our gaps. Their passing was at the highest level.”
“We needed to get the ball back otherwise we wouldn’t be able to break the pressure and we wouldn’t be able to regain the momentum. We couldn’t deal with the momentum swing. Possession of the ball plays a crucial role. Maybe it’s not in our DNA as much as it is in our Spanish DNA or Argentine or Brazilian DNA – to have possession of the ball and control the game.
“Defending deep is not a problem either. You can stay active. But we suffered. We suffered physically as well. Throughout the tournament… we played in high temperatures, we played at heights (against Mexico) and with a low player (after Jarel Quansah’s red card). It cost us a lot in the end. We gave everything, but it wasn’t enough.”
“My feeling is that there was no structure in the world that could have helped us because we were so passive. We weren’t physical enough, we didn’t stop the run from getting into our box and the deliveries at that time were very good.”
