England manager Thomas Tuchel insisted he has no regrets over the decisions he made during Wednesday’s 2-1 World Cup semi-final defeat to Argentina, despite criticism of his second-half tactics.
England led through Anthony Gordon before Argentina scored twice late to reach Sunday’s final against Spain. Tuchel faced repeated questions about the defeat before Saturday’s third-place play-off against France in Miami.
“If you are asking if I regret my decisions, if this is the question, then I say no. I don’t regret my decisions because I felt that we became too passive,” Tuchel told reporters.
“I took several decisions, 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. I would regret if I didn’t help. I would regret if we didn’t react, but I have no regrets over the decision itself.”
Tuchel said England’s demanding schedule may have affected the squad. He pointed to the last-16 win over Mexico at altitude, the extra-time quarter-final victory over Norway in Miami’s heat and the travel throughout the tournament.
He also rejected suggestions that his substitutions reflected a purely defensive approach.
“No one knows the outcome of any other substitution or any other changes,” he said. “If drama is needed and if the blame game needs to be played, okay, you can do that. But I have the right to not engage in that.”
Tuchel refused to respond to criticism that labelled his changes “cowardice”.
“I don’t read praise and I don’t believe in comments like this,” he said. “If we win the game tomorrow, we have the best results of a World Cup in 60 years. That’s the perspective to it.”
England have never won a World Cup third-place play-off, losing the previous two in 1990 and 2018. Tuchel confirmed he will rotate his squad against France but stressed the match offers another chance to test his side against one of the world’s strongest teams.
