Tuchel admits England were 'waiting for death' in semi-final defeat against Argentina

[p]Tuchel is preparing to name his squad for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/england/j9N9ZNFA/"]England[/a]'s first matches since the painful end of their World Cup campaign.[/p][p]But, ahead of Nations League matches against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/spain/bLyo6mco/"]Spain[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/croatia/K8aznggo/"]Croatia[/a] and the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/czech-republic/6LHwBDGU/"]Czech Republic[/a], he revealed that he is still haunted by the pain of their failed bid to reach a first World Cup final since 1966.[/p][p]England blew the lead given to them by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gordon-anthony/EFo95m2P/"]Anthony Gordon[/a] as late goals from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fernandez-enzo/nZnbEVWP/"]Enzo Fernandez[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/martinez-lautaro/QHk1CXUh/"]Lautaro Martinez[/a] sealed [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/argentina/f9OppQjp/"]Argentina[/a]'s [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/argentina-f9OppQjp/england-j9N9ZNFA/?mid=pKVyGJbD"]2-1 victory[/a].[/p][p]Tuchel was widely criticised for surrendering the initiative to Argentina by making a series of defensive substitutions in the second half.[/p][p]But the German felt that he had to act because England were unable to cope with Argentina's changes, which were far more attacking than his as they chased the win.[/p][p][b]"You can try to kill me here. But it's my scar, it's not your scar," [/b]he said in a documentary on the England app.[b] "No one is more hurt than me, no one wanted it more.[/b][/p][p]"They can endlessly torture you and think, 'if I had done different substitutions, then we would have won the match'. You just don't know it."[/p][embed guid="293de06b-760e-4843-9ca4-0c40a8570816" url="https://x.com/England/status/2100273508215607431" social-type="twitter" /][p]Tuchel said that a combination of England's visible fatigue and their success at defending with five defenders in World Cup wins against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/mexico/O6iHcNkd/"]Mexico[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/norway/8rP6JO0H/"]Norway[/a] influenced his decision to sit on the lead.[/p][p]The former [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/chelsea/4fGZN2oK/"]Chelsea[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/psg/CjhkPw0k/"]PSG[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/bayern-munich/nVp0wiqd/"]Bayern Munich[/a] boss was hired because of his vast experience and success at club level.[/p][p]He had promised to make England more attacking than under his predecessor Gareth Southgate.[/p][p]But instead - influenced by Tuchel's conservative substitutions - they retreated into their shell and cracked when the pressure mounted against Argentina.[/p][p][b]"A key moment if I look back at it and what happened to my decision-making, we conceded a big, big chance right before the water break,"[/b] he said.[/p][p]"And I thought, 'We will not survive. This is waiting for death'. We don't have ball possession, we're not defending good, we're not defending properly in our 4-4-2. We need help.[/p][p][b]"I think from what I saw and the experience, the information and the level of craziness from Argentina, it was just one offensive change after the other. That was my solution to the problem.[/b][/p][p]"That's what the intervention of a coach is. I try to help, you don't implement anything for your ego or whatever. You just try to help."[/p]