Tuchel defends decisions, calls World Cup loss 'scar we carry now'

England head coach Thomas Tuchel has defended his tactical decisions during the World Cup semi-final defeat by Argentina, describing the loss as a 'scar we carry now' and taking full responsibility. Speaking at a news conference ahead of Saturday's third-place play-off against France in Miami, Tuchel said he had no regrets about his choices during the match.

Tuchel takes responsibility but has no regrets

'If you need someone to blame, I take the responsibility,' Tuchel said. 'But I don't regret my decisions. I felt the momentum switches in the match, and I tried to help my team. I took several decisions, trusting my instinct, my intuition, my experience, 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 would regret if I didn't help. I would regret if we didn't react.'

England were minutes away from reaching their first men's World Cup final for 60 years, leading 1-0 until the closing stages. However, a 2-1 defeat ensued as England's defence became deeper under pressure from Lionel Messi's world champions. Tuchel acknowledged his side became 'too passive' in the latter stages.

Physical fatigue cited as factor

Tuchel was asked about data showing England's physical performance levels against Argentina were lower than in the DR Congo game earlier in the tournament. He said the Mexico game with 10 men in the altitude of the Azteca Stadium and the heat against Norway in Miami 'cost us more than we maybe thought'. 'The players literally gave everything physically in every single match. If you see this data drop, there must be a reason behind it, because the motivation was through the roof,' he added.

Kane's deep positioning explained

When asked why captain Harry Kane played so deep in the latter stages, Tuchel said: 'Why we defended in a deep block. Well, that's what you do if you defend in a block. We were not active enough.' He noted that Argentina 'played with a lot of momentum after our goal' and 'found another gear and they found the total flow'.

Tuchel also defended the team's spirit, saying it should not be questioned. He acknowledged a gap to the top teams but vowed to continue trying to close it. 'We played in the semi-final against the reigning world champions. We were 85 minutes 1-0 up. We played against the best player in the world, and we lost 2-1, which is painful,' he said.