England’s senior players ‘not happy with Thomas Tuchel’s decisions’ after ‘hyper-defensive’ World Cup semi-final changes

SENIOR members of the England team are reportedly not happy with Thomas Tuchel’s tactics against Argentina. The Three Lions crashed out of the World Cup despite having one foot in the final during the Atlanta showdown. Thomas Tuchel made defensive changes during England’s semi-final Credit: Getty England players were not happy with the decision Credit: Getty Anthony Gordon had given England a second-half lead, but Tuchel’s substitutions forced the team into a defensive position. The German boss put on Ezri Konsa, Dan Burn and Nico O’Reilly after the goal, while taking off Anthony Gordon, Reece James and Declan Rice. Sign up for the Football newsletter Thank you! Despite the defensive reinforcements, Argentina were able to take advantage of the lack of an outlet for England. Enzo Fernandez scored the equaliser from range before Lionel Messi’s cross was headed in for the winner by Lautaro Martinez. READ MORE ON THE WORLD CUP Sky Sports have reported that senior members of the team have been left unhappy with Tuchel’s in-game decision. Reporter Rob Dorsett said: “A lot of England’s players, and some of the senior players, I might say, are not happy with the decisions that Thomas Tuchel took. “They’re not happy that he went hyper-defensive, that he went to a back five and then brought Nico O’Reilly on. “So there were six defenders on the pitch, five of them centre-backs by the way, for the closing stages, which just handed the ball to Lionel Messi. Most read in Sport WORLD CUP 2026 FREE BETS AND SIGN UP OFFERS “And of course, he punished England eventually. “A lot of the players thought it was a mistake.” Former Chelsea and Bayern Munich manager Tuchel has come under fire for the manner of the semi-final exit. Ex-Manchester United star Nicky Butt has called for Tuchel to be axed from his position by the FA. Despite the criticism, the German appeared to put the blame on the players as he accused them of dropping deeper than instructed. England’s World Cup is not over despite the defeat as they face France in the third-place play-off in Miami on Saturday. The match does give the team the chance to achieve the nation’s second-best ever finish at the tournament. England have played in two third-place games before and lost both, first to Italy 2-1 in 1990 and 2-0 to Belgium in 2018. England players are preparing for their third-place play-off match Credit: Reuters They face France who were beaten by Spain in the other semi-final Credit: Getty The team’s preparation for the match against the French has hit a snag after they faced delayed travel due to thunderstorms in Kansas. England’s semi-final opponents Argentina, have also faced travel problems ahead of the final on Sunday, Lionel Messi and co were left stranded in Atlanta due to thunderstorms which could impact their preparations ahead of facing Spain. Comment now