Michael Owen slams Thomas Tuchel’s tactics in England’s World Cup collapse

Michael Owen criticized Thomas Tuchel for his tactics in England’s 2-1 defeat to Argentina in the World Cup semifinals last night, saying Tuchel shouldn’t have taken his foot off the gas pedal late in the match.

England went up 1-0 early in the second half after Anthony Gordon scored off Morgan Rogers’ sumptuous cross. However, just like in their comeback win against Egypt in the Round of 16, Argentina manufactured two late goals, courtesy of Lionel Messi, to snatch the victory.

“Watch Spain at 1-0 last night. That’s courage. That’s bravery. And then watch England at 1-0. What’s the difference? We are a better team than Argentina, I’ve no doubt in my mind. But we deserved to get beat in the end. In fact, it could have been 4-1,” Owen posted on X.

“Bringing on 3 defenders at 1-0 up. What message does that send? I wrote it in my Daily Mail column after the Mexico game. Until we understand that courage and bravery is controlling possession under pressure and not booting / heading it up the field 40 yards, then this will always be the end result,” he added.

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Harry Kane explains what went wrong for England against Argentina

During his post-match interview, Harry Kane acknowledged that England lost control after taking the lead near the hour mark. The Bayern Munich striker admitted that the Three Lions stopped pressing and surrendered possession, saying that protecting their narrow lead was instinctual at the time.

“We scored and deserved to be ahead. Then, for one reason or another, we struggled to keep the ball, struggled to press, and simply allowed them to build momentum and create more danger in our defensive third. It’s a normal mentality to try to hold on and protect a one-goal lead,” Kane stated.

“When you’re that close, just over 10 minutes away, and it slips away from you like that… of course it hurts. We’re devastated,” he added. “We know how much reaching the final meant to them. Another semifinal. We always talk about knocking on the door. We’re close. We just need to find that missing piece in the final stages of tournaments.”

England will have one more game before exiting the World Cup, as they’ll take on France in the battle for third place on Saturday at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.