When questioned about his view of the final 35 minutes after having time to ponder, Tuchel responded that he still felt “the same way—that we were far too passive.”
“If you’re wondering whether I regret my choice, then let me be clear: I don’t regret the decisions I made,” he continued.
“I sensed a shift in momentum during the match. And I attempted to support my team…”
“I made several choices, relying on my gut feeling, my instincts, my knowledge, and my competitive drive, all aimed at helping the side secure a result. We fell short.”
“So naturally, I accept accountability for those calls. I would have regretted it if I hadn’t tried to help. I would have regretted it if we hadn’t responded.”
Tuchel made it clear he had no interest in taking part “in this sort of blame game.”
“No issue,” he said. “That comes with the job, but I’m not going to get involved in that.”
“In my view, there is nobody at fault. If you need to point a finger, then I’ll shoulder the responsibility. I’m the head coach.”
Pressed on why England’s all-time top scorer Kane dropped so deep during the closing stages, he replied: “What exactly do you mean? Like in the last half-hour?”
“The reason we sat in a low block. Well, that’s what happens when you defend compactly. We lacked sufficient activity.”
Tuchel remarked that Argentina “built up a great deal of momentum after we scored.”
“They introduced many attacking alterations and took up numerous forward positions,” the 52-year-old continued.
“We were unable to prevent the deliveries into the box, nor the late runs attacking them.”
“That’s why we switched to a back five—to increase our width, to stay tighter to their wide players who were crossing.”
“We simply grew too passive, and Argentina, incidentally, found another level and hit their stride completely.”
“We faced the reigning world champions in the semi-final.”
“We led 1-0 for 85 minutes. We came up against the finest player on the planet, and we lost 2-1—it hurts.”
Tuchel was then asked whether he had examined data indicating that England’s physical output against Argentina was below the level shown against DR Congo in the same venue earlier in the competition.
He answered that “even if we hesitate to accept it because it sounds like an excuse,” the match against Mexico played with 10 men at the high altitude of the Azteca Stadium, plus the heat versus Norway in Miami, “took more out of us than we perhaps realized.”
“The squad gave absolutely everything physically in every single fixture. If you notice that drop in data, there has to be an underlying explanation, because their motivation was sky-high,” he said.
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