Thomas Tuchel admitted that there is still a visible gap between the world’s elite and England as he defiantly insisted that detractors of his reign will not change the decision to remain as manager.
The England boss has come in for a wave of criticism for the way in which he approached the final half an hour of Wednesday’s excruciating 2-1 World Cup semi-final defeat by Argentina.
There have been calls for the FA to part ways with the German, who insisted that his job ahead of the 2028 home European Championship is to find an extra level to compete with the very best in pressurised situations.
‘This is my pain, the players’ pain,’ Tuchel said before Saturday’s third-place play-off with France. ‘It is our scar that we carry. It’s a very painful defeat and we have to live with it. Not the critics, the experts, not our families.
‘We will overcome it, we will use it. We believe we could do it. We had genuine belief. I still believe three other nations, France, Spain and Argentina, expect to win. We are not there yet.
‘There is still a gap to close. This is what we will do, starting tomorrow. We have to play better football under pressure. We still have another level to reach. From there we go.
‘The gap is there because of the titles they have won as countries. What they built over many years.
‘We will not stop hunting and chasing. We have things to improve. There is not a lot of room for drama. If the blame game needs to be played then OK, you can do that, but I choose not to engage.’
An emotional John Stones sat beside Tuchel, still appearing crestfallen, and claimed to have been unable to process the capitulation after what was likely his final World Cup appearance
Those comments effectively served to double down on his suggestion that the country’s DNA was not comparable to the likes of Spain and Argentina, who meet in Sunday’s final, and that England are not good enough on the ball.
Tuchel took exception to four different questions on his first public appearance since the dramatic defeat, querying the extent of fan criticism and dismissing Donald Trump’s assessment from a bizarre media appearance earlier in the day. The US President claimed England’s mistake against Argentina was moving Harry Kane into the back line, saying: ‘They took their best player and put him in defence.’
‘That’s what you do if you defend in a block,’ Tuchel replied.
An emotional John Stones sat beside Tuchel, still appearing crestfallen, and claimed to have been unable to process the capitulation after what was likely his final World Cup appearance.
Tuchel stayed defiant, however. When asked his thoughts on a sizeable number of supporters registering their anger, he replied: ‘I would like to make my own picture. It’s a strong opinion you give, to be an advocate for half the country being against me. Let’s wait for that.
‘I can never change my thinking of whether I’d like to carry on. You can see with John how painful it is. After a shock in the beginning it’s becoming more and more painful.’
The 52-year-old also claimed that the conditions in which England faced Mexico and Norway contributed to Wednesday’s performance.
‘Even if we don’t want to admit it because it feels like an excuse, the game with 10 men in Mexico, the altitude, losing the complete night of sleep and then Norway, it cost us more than we maybe thought,’ he added.
‘The togetherness built over these six weeks is not to be questioned. We could not get hold of the ball against Argentina. We couldn’t fight duels anymore.
‘If you ask me if I regret my decisions then no, I don’t. I felt we became too passive, I felt the momentum switched in the match and I tried to help and support.
‘I took several decisions trusting my instinct, intuition and experience. We didn’t get the result so I take responsibility. The decisions are made under stress. This is live, in-game coaching. I would regret it if I didn’t react.’
๐๐๐๐/๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐
