Thomas Tuchel insists he has 'no regrets' over England tactics as Donald Trump weighs in

Thomas Tuchel has refused to admit he got his tactics wrong during England’s World Cup semi-final defeat to Argentina.

England led for most of the second half thanks to Anthony Gordon’s strike in Atlanta, but late goals from Enzo Fernández and Lautaro Martínez secured the reigning champions a 2-1 win and progression to Sunday’s (July 19) World Cup final against Spain.

Meanwhile, England face France in the dreaded bronze medal match in Miami on Saturday (July 18).

After the match, Tuchel was heavily criticised for his defensive substitutions, with Ezri Konsa coming on for Gordon, Dan Burn for Reece James and Nico O’Reilly for Declan Rice.

After taking the lead, England regressed to the edge of their own penalty area and invited pressure from Lionel Messi and Co., which ultimately led to the defeat and widespread criticism of Tuchel.

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On Friday (July 17), Tuchel blamed English football’s ‘DNA’ for the Three Lions’ World Cup exit, while reiterating his commitment to the job until at least Euro 2028.

"In this moment my feeling was no structure in the world could have helped us," Tuchel said.

"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 added: “I think ball possession plays 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."

The German has since doubled down on his stance in a press conference ahead of England’s match against France, with Tuchel defending his decisions in the loss to Argentina.

When asked how he viewed the final 35 minutes of the match after having a couple of days to reflect, Tuchel explained how he still felt “the same way”.

“If you're asking if I regret my decision, if this is the question, then I don't regret my decisions," he said.

"I felt that the momentum switches in the match. And I tried to help my team...

"I took several decisions, trusting my instinct, my intuition, my experience, trusting my competitiveness, and I took the decision in order to help the team and get the result. We didn't get the result.

"So I take, of course, the responsibility for these decisions. I would regret if I didn't help. I would regret if we didn't react."

The Three Lions boss also explained how he was not willing to take part in the blame game, adding: “This is the deal that you sign up for, but I will not engage.

"For me, there is no-one to blame. If you need someone to blame, I take the responsibility. I'm the head coach."

Donald Trump offers take on Thomas Tuchel’s tactics

On Saturday (July 18), US President Trump criticised England’s tactics in their semi-final loss and asked why Harry Kane was given a “defensive” role as the Three Lions tried to defend their lead against Argentina.

"You have a great player in England who I've played golf with. And he is Harry [Kane] who has been fantastic," said Trump.

"I think they perhaps made a mistake when they made him a defensive player. What do I know about soccer? They took the lead, and they took their best player and put him on defence.

"We got to be a little offensive, right. But no, I'm not going to call it, what do I know about coaching? But that was a little unusual."