Thomas Tuchel doesn’t need a lecture from foreign leaders on his World Cup strategies.
The embattled England manager fired back at President Donald Trump after he joined the growing list of those criticizing Tuchel for his maneuvers that backfired in the 2-1 World Cup semifinal loss to Argentina.
“Do you use Donald Trump as your witness for the case or…?” Tuchel responded Friday to a reporter who referenced President Trump’s comments on the matter.
The reporter finished his inquiry by asking Tuchel for his views on the final 35 minutes of Wednesday’s loss, in which England blew a 1-0 lead by allowing two goals in roughly seven minutes.
“I view them in the same way that we were too passive, we got too passive. If you’re asking me if I regret my decision, if this is the question, then I say no, I don’t regret my decisions. I felt that we become too passive,” Tuchel said. “The momentum switches in the match and I tried to help my team. I tried to support. I took several decisions trusting my instinct, my intuition on 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 have no regrets over the decision itself.”
Tuchel has become a punching bag after England collapsed against Argentina and blew its chance to win its first World Cup in 60 years and also end a 60-year drought without a title-game appearance.
The Three Lions allowed a game-tying goal in the 85th minute and later allowed the game-winning score in the second minute of stoppage time in a shocking turn of events.
Many have questioned why Tuchel made three substitutions to help his defense after England grabbed a 1-0 lead in the 55th minute, which allowed Argentina far too long to attack.
Tuchel is surely used to hearing criticism from soccer pundits, but hearing another nation’s leader criticize him may have been a first.
“You have a great player in England who I played golf with, you know that, right?” Trump said Friday during a FIFA event at Trump Tower. “Harry [Kane], who’s fantastic. 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 defense. … We gotta be a little offensive, right? Look, what do I know about coaching but that was a little unusual. But Harry is a great guy, actually.”
While some have called for Tuchel’s job, he’s under contract through 2028 — which would take him through the Euros — and the plan is to retain him, according to ESPN.
A win over France on Saturday in Miami in the third-place game could help cool some of the negative talking points against him.
“By the way, we have to live with this, so this is our pain,” Tuchel said, “my pain and the players’ pain. We feel the most pain of all. This is our scar that we carry now. It is a very painful defeat. We have to live with this defeat first and foremost, not the critics, not the experts, not our family members…
“We will overcome it, we will use it, we will have a reaction and it starts [Saturday].”
