England was ‘waiting for death’ in World Cup semifinal defeat: Tuchel

Tuchel was widely criticised for surrendering the initiative to Argentina by making a series of defensive substitutions in the second half. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Thomas Tuchel said that England was “waiting for death” in its World Cup semifinal defeat against Argentina as the Three Lions boss mounted another defence of his controversial substitutions.

Tuchel is preparing to name his squad for England’s first matches since its heartbreaking exit at the World Cup, where the side threw away a 1-0 lead to lose 2-1 against Lionel Messi’s Argentina.

But, ahead of Nations League matches against Spain, Croatia and the Czech Republic, he revealed that he is yet to move on from England blowing up its chance of reaching a World Cup final for the first time since 1966.

Tuchel was widely criticised for surrendering the initiative to Argentina by making a series of defensive substitutions in the second half.

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But the German felt that he had to act because England were unable to cope with Argentina’s changes, which were far more attacking than his as they chased the win.

“You can try to kill me here. But it’s my scar, it’s not your scar,” he said in a documentary on the England app. “No one is more hurt than me, no one wanted it more.

“They can endlessly torture you and think, ‘if I had done different substitutions, then we would have won the match’. You just don’t know it.”

Tuchel said that a combination of England’s visible fatigue and its success at defending with five defenders in World Cup wins against Mexico and Norway influenced his decision to sit on the lead.

The former Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich boss was hired because of his vast experience and success at club level.

He had promised to make England more attacking than under his predecessor Gareth Southgate.

But instead -- influenced by Tuchel’s conversative substitutions -- it retreated into its shell and cracked when the pressure mounted against Argentina.

“A key moment if I look back at it and what happened to my decision-making, we conceded a big, big chance right before the water break,” he said.

“And I thought, ‘We will not survive. This is waiting for death’. We don’t have ball possession, we’re not defending good, we’re not defending properly in our 4-4-2. We need help.

“I think from what I saw and the experience, the information and the level of craziness from Argentina, it was just one offensive change after the other. That was my solution to the problem.

“That’s what the intervention of a coach is. I try to help, you don’t implement anything for your ego or whatever. You just try to help.”