Thomas Tuchel blames weakness in English football 'DNA' for World Cup exit in strong outburst

Thomas Tuchel has played down suggestions that his tactics were to blame for England’s World Cup exit, instead pointing to a weakness in the English football 'DNA' compared to other nations.

It was reported on Thursday (July 16) that some England players were 'stunned' by Tuchel's tactical decisions, including his defensive changes, in their World Cup semi-final defeat to Argentina.

Shortly after Anthony Gordon opened the scoring in the 55th minute, England dropped into a deep block and soaked up a significant amount of pressure.

In fact, the Three Lions had just 12 per cent possession from the 55th to the 92nd minute, which is the lowest by a team to be winning for at least 10 minutes in a World Cup match in the last 60 years.

Tuchel's decision to replace Gordon with Ezri Konsa and move to a back-five backfired, and in the final stages, Argentina looked as if they would score three or four after making positive changes.

A report from The Telegraph claimed Tuchel’s decision to bring on Ezri Konsa, Nico O’Reilly and Dan Burn to defend their narrow lead 'stunned' some members of the England team.

Tuchel has been criticised for how he managed the final half hour of Wednesday's game against Argentina. Image credit: Getty

It is said there was 'belief' within the squad that Argentina were 'there for the taking' after Gordon opened the scoring. They also believed their opponents could have been hit on the counter-attack with an injection of pace.

Thomas Tuchel hits back at criticism with strong outburst

In his post-match interview on Wednesday, Tuchel was asked if he believed he got his decisions wrong.

"No, I believe that's just the nature of the game," he said. "As soon as you lose, you get criticised. No one knows what would have happened if we made different decisions."

Now, almost 24 hours after the result, an adamant Tuchel has hit back at those who questioned his tactics. In fact, he has pointed to the English football DNA as a weakness.

"In this moment my feeling was no structure in the world could have helped us because actually we were too passive and we were not physical enough, we didn't stop runners arriving in our box and the deliveries were wrong too," he told Sky News.

"I haven't seen the data yet, but I think just right after the goal the momentum swings completely and ball possession drops dramatically.

"We couldn't find any duels anymore, that's why we dropped deeper and deeper, it was never the plan, but it happened.

"(We) couldn't stop the runners from second line, the midfielders, through our gaps, and the deliveries were on the highest level. You need to get back on the ball, otherwise you cannot break the pressure and you cannot get the momentum back.

"I think ball possession plays then a crucial role, it's maybe not in our DNA like it is in our Spanish DNA or in our Argentinian-Brazilian DNA, to take the ball and control the game with the ball."

Tuchel, who believes switching to a back five at 1-0 up was not a negative step, continued: "We just get too passive within our structure and try to help.

"Not to help in a back five, to become more passive, but actually to be more active, to be quicker out to the wingers, to not open up the gaps in between the back four.

"We encourage everyone to step out and to be more active within the structure, but we just struggle."

Tuchel went on to suggest that the conditions at this summer’s tournament had hampered their overall preparation.

"We struggled a bit physically as well, I think, over the whole tournament, playing in the heat, playing at an altitude, playing with a man down and so on. It cost us in the end a lot," he added.

Thomas Tuchel believes England can still win a major tournament under his leadership

Despite England's World Cup exit, Tuchel has the backing of the FA, according to ESPN. The 52-year-old's initial deal was only due to last until after the World Cup, but he signed a contract extension in February to keep him in the position for another two years.

Tuchel strongly believes he can lead England to success in the future.

"There's still enough to improve, still enough to improve and I'm more than happy to do that," he said. "I still think we can impose ourselves more on the ball, I still think we can still show how good football players we are.

"I think it's still in us because I see it in training in every camp and here also in the World Cup and I still feel there is an extra level that we need to conquer and we need to step up on the next level and then to get the big prize."