In the wake of England’s dramatic World Cup semi-final loss, star player Marc Guehi has voiced his frustration over the team’s overly cautious strategy. The spotlight is now on head coach Thomas Tuchel, whose tactical substitutions during the match have come under heavy scrutiny.
The match saw Anthony Gordon break the deadlock with a goal in the 55th minute, after England endured a punishing first half. Argentina employed a physical game, relentlessly targeting midfielders like Jude Bellingham and Elliot Anderson with fouls.
Despite having more than 20 minutes plus injury time to play, Tuchel opted for a series of defensive changes. This move limited England’s ability to build on their lead and put further pressure on their opponents.
The decision proved costly, as Enzo Fernandez netted an equalizer in the 85th minute. To compound England’s woes, Lautaro Martinez dealt the final blow with a header during injury time, clinching the victory for Argentina.
While Tuchel faces widespread criticism from outside the team, Guehi has openly questioned England’s game plan. He suggested that the tactics didn’t match the magnitude of the occasion, hinting at a mismatch between strategy and execution.
‘Once we went 1-0 up, we seemed to just try and hold on, which at this level is just not enough, so I’m gutted,’ the Manchester City defender told BBC Sport after the final whistle.
England defender Marc Guehi has hit out at England’s negative approach in the World Cup semi-final defeat by Argentina
The Manchester City defender appeared to suggest a tactical mis-step from Thomas Tuchel
‘We should have carried on. We should have carried on pushing. It kind of felt like we scored and the mentality was, go back, defend.’
Tuchel later threw on Marcus Rashford and Ivan Toney as the game ticked into added time, but it was too little, too late, for England to force extra time and seek a potential winner.
When asked whether he thought that this was the squad that could finally win England silverware, Guehi continued to cut a deflated figure.
‘I don’t know. I don’t know,’ he said. ‘It’s hard to think about the future right now.
‘At the moment, it’s just disappointment. That’s all.’
Tuchel defended his decision-making in the aftermath of his defeat, suggesting that his critics would have had a different view with an alternative outcome.
‘If it doesn’t go well, it’s easy to say that it was wrong,’ Tuchel told the BBC – and then suggested England were on the back foot before his changes.
‘We just tried to help the players. We conceded straight away. We decided to go to a back five because the gaps were far too open.
‘Straight after our goal, without a substitution we conceded way too many crosses and chances. We tried to help but the responsibility was on the coach.’
Between Gordon’s opener and Enzo Fernandez’s leveller, England had just 12 per cent of possession.
‘We couldn’t get out,’ Tuchel said. ‘Of course we wanted to go for the second goal but I didn’t feel an offensive substitution would help.
‘We stayed in our 4-4-2 but we became passive, couldn’t win any balls or keep the ball. It wasn’t a structure problem.
‘We changed nothing after the goal but the match changed completely. I understand these discussions are out there and other coaches know it better after the game.’
Among those to hit out at Tuchel were Alan Shearer and Wayne Rooney, who claimed that his tactics had ‘cost’ England their meeting with Spain in New York.
World Cup-winning goalkeeper with Spain Iker Casillas described his coaching as ‘cowardly’, while Chris Sutton was unafraid to speak out, dubbing it a ‘coaching catastrophe’ from the former Chelsea manager.
England might have however considered themselves unlucky in the first-half after a number of rough Argentine challenges went unpunished.
In the third minute of the match, Enzo Fernandez ploughed into a heavy challenge on Anderson which left the England player clutching the back of his neck.
Anderson, who was repeatedly targeted throughout an attritional first 45 minutes, took a minute or two to haul himself off the turf as England and Argentina players came together in an early showing of the bitter rivalry between the two teams.
Referee Ismail Elfath battled to separate the sets of players, but did not hold up a card of either colour to punish Fernandez.
An extended replay for television audiences however shows Fernandez barrelling into Anderson with little thought for the ball at his feet, and appearing to chop him in the neck with his elbow.
Arguably an outright red, Fernandez might have at least seen a yellow card for his clumsy play – with the Chelsea star then dodging a second punishment minutes later for skittling an on-rushing Jude Bellingham yards from the Argentina penalty area.
It was instead Anderson himself who received the first yellow card of the match, the midfielder lashing out at Lionel Messi after suffering persistent tackles.
Some England fans watching from home also claimed that Martinez’s winner should not have stood, with Lionel Messi appearing to foul Djed Spence in the build-up.
After Alexis Mac Allister hit the post for the second time, the ball cannoned back out on England’s left-hand side, leading to a foot race between Spence and Messi in the penalty area.
Spence beat Messi to the ball but appeared to be caught by Messi in the process.
Immediately the full back spun around in some discomfort but the referee waved play on – and just seconds later England were punished as Messi crossed to an unmarked Martinez to score.
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