The World Cup: don’t blame Tuchel

The football pundits were ruthless about Wednesday’s World Cup Semi-Final.  Having hyped England excessively, they have been totally unforgiving towards Thomas Tuchel, savaging his substitution policy. Why was he so negative, bringing on too many defenders instead of continuing to attack, once England had taken the lead against Argentina?

What the prosecutors seem to forget is that this was never a great England siide. Yes, there are several terrific players in Tuchel’s team.  Kane, Bellingham and Declan Rice were superb, among the best England players for years. But right from the first match against Croatia, England’s defence looked precarious. We were a long way from the England of Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand and Peter Shilton.

In attack, England was not exactly ruthless. A goalless draw against Ghana was hardly reassuring, nor was a 2-1 win against DR Congo, a 3-2 win in Mexico City or a 2-1 win against Norway after extra time. In the knock-out stages England failed to win a single game by more than one goal.

Then there was the climate. July in the United States is hot, often humid, and playing against Mexico at high altitude was demanding. It was a reminder of past England defeats against Brazil and Germany in Mexico in 1970, losing to Brazil in the Quarter-Finals in South Korea in 2002,  bottom of their group in Manaus with just one point, scoring only two goals.

It is no coincidence that Southgate’s greatest successes came when England played at home in the Euros in 2020 and in Germany in 2024, both temperate countries well suited to the English style of football.  It is also no coincidence that the only time England have actually won the World Cup was in 1966, playing in — England.

The problem against Argentina was not just that England was too negative. England had relied too much on Kane and Bellingham, from the Croatia game onwards. By the Semi-Final they both looked  exhausted. Messi, by contrast, ran rings around England. He ran the show. The Argentinian forwards  were full of energy. Declan Rice had still not recovered from his illness. He was a shadow of the player who helped Arsenal win the Premier League.

England’s game is based on running on cold winter afternoons. This year’s two finalists, Spain and Argentina, by contrast, passed and passed and remained full of energy, while Bellingham and Kane were on their knees. By the end, they looked completely worn out. Messi is 39, Kane is seven years younger. Yet it was Messi who looked younger, more energetic,  full of ideas. It is hard to believe that Kane has another World Cup in him, despite his annus mirabilis during the 2025-6 season. It’s even harder to imagine an England side without their star forward. Who could possibly replace him? And it wasn’t just Messi. The Argentinian forward line was astonishing. They not only scored twice at the end but hit the woodwork twice too. England never looked like scoring after Anthony Gordon went off.

England  looked good early on because they never played any top teams until they were run ragged by Argentina. Through the luck of the draw they avoided all the top teams until the Semi-Final. The truth is that England have only managed one win out of the last ten games against top 10 ranked sides at the World Cup, with the last win coming at the 2002 World Cup group stage against Argentina.

Thanks to Infantino, the World Cup will be increasingly hosted by hot Third World countries. England will continue to struggle against teams in hot countries. We prefer playing on a rainy night in Manchester or Liverpool.

You can’t blame Tuchel for any of this. We don’t pass as well as France, Spain, Brazil and Argentina. We never have. We say we are haunted by memories of 1966. First, we played at home in England then.  Second, we had a great team. Look at the spine of that team: Bobby Charlton, Jimmy Greaves, Bobby Moore, Gordon Banks, Geoff Hurst. Five of our greatest players, running right through the backbone of the side.

There’s another reason for being pessimistic about the future. More and more of our top clubs are buying great stars from South America, Africa and Europe. Mo Salah from Egypt, Patrick Vieiira and Thierry Henry from France, Rodri, Savinho, Haaland and Doku among the imports at Manchester City,  Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes at Manchester United. And on and on. It’s so hard for young English players to make it at the top clubs against such top international competition.

Don’t blame Tuchel for all of this. Yes, he was too negative with his substitutions. But was it really Tuchel’s fault that Kane and Bellingham didn’t come close to scoring against Argentina or that his squad was so thin, or that his top players were exhausted?

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