The quote that came back to haunt Thomas Tuchel

Thomas Tuchel was appointed to make England a little more continental in clutch moments, to protect us from ourselves and divine a way to win. Instead, we have made him a little more English, expert at hitting reverse with the finish line in sight. The question of culture arises here to explain how a team in relative control, having taken the lead, could surrender it so absolutely against an opponent not obviously superior. Is there something inherent in the quality of the English player that leaves them exposed in elite company? If that were the case then how did England have the measure of Argentina in Atlanta for the best part of an hour? So much so the lead they took felt like fair reward. If is difficult to argue for technical deficiencies in a group fielding two £100m midfielders, one of whom claimed a Premier League winners’ medal and contested the Champions League final, a Ballon d’Or contender and a Real Madrid icon. Tuchel speaks with Jude Bellingham during the match. It was not a quality issue that cost England in Atlanta (Photo: Getty) There is also the matter of the talent left behind. It is absurd to maintain that the likes of Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, Morgan Gibbs-White or Adam Wharton, suffer in comparison to any in the Argentina team with the obvious exception of Lionel Messi. It was, therefore, not a quality issue that cost England in Atlanta but a collective collapse initiated by a coach who sought to conserve what he had for fear of losing the advantage. How ironic that this is precisely the fault he identified in predecessor Gareth Southgate when losing to Spain at the 2024 Euros. “They were more afraid to drop out of the tournament than have the excitement and hunger to win it,” he said. Tuchel boxed himself in with his exaltation of the English character and resilience throughout the tournament. Mentality monsters was the phrase he used following the narrow quarter-final win over Norway. Tuchel was right to claim the display against Argentina was England’s most authoritative of this tournament. The problem with that assertion, however, is the height of the bar set in prior matches, which was low. Tuchel promised to build back, to assess the result, analyse why England became so passive and devise the necessary solutions. He might start by looking at himself. The mood out there is ugly. Fans want answers, not excuses. The failure once again to win the prize feels like a betrayal of the players, not the result of deficiencies in them. His conclusion that England were simply ambushed by an age-old dynamic that favoured the desperate was hardly elite analysis. Falling behind made Argentina less risk-averse, he argued. They simply went for it because they had nothing to lose. Read more Daniel Storey: Thomas Tuchel deserves to be sacked for his cowardice Mark Douglas: Four Thomas Tuchel howlers that cost England against Argentina This ignores his own contribution, the message he sent by taking off England’s scorer Anthony Gordon for defender Ezri Konsa. That was the classic move of a conservative thinker, not a coach seeking to use the advantage gained to go for a second. Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said his players smelt blood. In other words, they felt belief drain from their opponent and responded accordingly. Scaloni aided the recovery with attacking substitutions to furnish his team with higher gears. They turned Atlanta into Anfield, pouring it on as Liverpool might fearlessly chasing a result in front of the Kop. It was not the quality of the players that cost England but the management of them by a coach who lost his nerve. The FA must now re-evaluate the appointment of Tuchel, to whom they gave a two-year contract extension, to ensure he is the coach capable of teasing the best from this generation of players. It would be a catastrophe were the Euros in 2028 to fall victim to the same cautious impulse that killed the vibe here as much as it did under Southgate. The likes of Jude Bellingham, Declan Rice, and Elliot Anderson deserve better than that.