Thomas Tuchel provides shock verdict on England’s defeat with ‘not in our DNA’ declare
England manager Thomas Tuchel has defended his tactical approach after his side’s World Cup exit against Argentina, blaming his players for being too passive as Lionel Messi proved unstoppable
Tuchel issued a bizarre DNA claim(Image: Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)
Thomas Tuchel has stood firm and backed his tactical decisions against Argentina – while admitting “crucial” football style may not be “in our DNA”. The England boss has come under heavy fire from ex-players and pundits for deploying a back five in a bid to stay solid against Argentina.
Tuchel maintained his strategy might have worked, but placed the responsibility squarely on his players’ shoulders. The German claimed they dropped too deep and lacked bite, but ultimately argued no team on the planet could have stopped Messi and his colleagues.
Tuchel said: “There were two wide wingers suddenly. Two very wide wingers that they didn’t have before and two strikers in the middle and started to cross. So we went to a back five to be closer to the wingers, to not let them have 20 metres to them, but maybe only 10 and be more aggressive.
Thomas Tuchel subbed off Anthony Gordon while England led 1-0(Image: Getty)
“Still he had three centre-backs as we struggled to defend the crosses before. I thought if they start crossing now with Messi we will not close every left foot of Messi. Crosses will always come in so we will have three central defenders.
“And of course like in every structure it was important to stay active and push out and step out and fight duels. We just couldn’t. I think in this moment my feeling is that no structure in the world could have helped us because we were too passive.
“We were not physical enough, we didn’t stop runs arriving in our box and the deliveries were then too good,” reports the Express.
Tuchel labelled his players as “passive”, insisting they had been encouraged to step up but found it difficult to maintain possession.
Tuchel said: “If then it happens then it has to be changed. But I’m not sure, I always try to think in football terms, in football matters. I haven’t seen the data yet but I think right after the goal, the momentum swings completely in ball possession, chances and it drops dramatically.
“I think ball possession plays a crucial role. It’s maybe not in our DNA like it is in the Spanish DNA or Argentinian or Brazilian DNA. To take the ball, control the game and the ball which is also a big problem.
England suffered late heartbreak in Atlanta(Image: Getty)
“We became too passive within our structure. I tried to help, not to become more passive with a back five in our structure but to be more active, to be quicker out to the wingers, not to open up the gaps between the back four. We encouraged everyone to step out, to be more active within the structure but we just struggled.”
“But we also played against a lot of quality, urgency, quality and there was one offensive player after another. They were strong on the ball, they got stronger and stronger in the first contacts in the technical execution they were at the highest level.
“We couldn’t fight any duels any more which was why we dropped deeper and deeper which was never the plan but it happened.
“Couldn’t stop the runners from second line, the midfielders through our lines and the deliveries were on the highest level. We needed to get back on the ball otherwise you cannot break the pressure and you cannot get the momentum back.”
