Donald Trump has joined the many critics of Thomas Tuchel, saying the England manager got his tactics wrong in the World Cup semi-final defeat to Argentina.
And, predictably, Tuchel is not impressed with the US President’s comments.
England’s World Cup dreams were ended in heart-breaking fashion last week, conceding two late goals to the reigning champions, with their tournament now ending on Saturday night in the third-place playoff against France.
Anthony Gordon had given the Three Lions the lead against Argentina but instead of pressing home the advantage, Tuchel opted to go full park the bus and subbed on multiple defenders.
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The tactic completely backfired as it allowed Lionel Messi’s side to control the game. Tuchel has repeatedly insisted he is not to blame despite a barrage of criticism from pundits, fans and even his own players.
Even Trump has weighed in on the matter, claiming Tuchel ‘misused’ captain Harry Kane who dropped deeper and deeper during the closing phases of the game.
‘You have a great player in England, who I play golf with, you know that, right? And he is Harry, who has been fantastic,’ Trump said during a White House press conference alongside FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
‘I think they perhaps made a mistake when they made him a defensive player – what do I know about soccer?
‘They took the lead and they took their best player and they put him on defence.
‘But somehow, now – we’ve got to be a little offensive, right? But no, I’m not going to call it. Look, what do I know about coaching? But that was a little unusual.’
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Trump’s comments drew laughter in the White House but Tuchel did not see the funny side at all.
in the press conference ahead of the France clash, a reporter mentioned Trump’s criticism but before he could finish the question, Tuchel snapped back: ‘Do you use Donald Trump as your witness for the case?!’
Then asked if upon further reflection he viewed the last phase of the semi-final game differently, the German replied: ‘I view them in the same way that we got too passive.
‘If you are asking if you regret my decision, if this is the question then no I don’t regret my decisions because I felt that we became too passive.
‘I felt that the momentum switches in the match and I tried to help my team. I tried to support, I took several decisions trusting my instinct, my intuition, my experience, trusting my competitiveness and I took the decisions to help my team to get the result.
‘We didn’t get the result so I take personal responsibility for these decisions but the decisions are made under stress, this is in-game live coaching.
‘I would regret if I didn’t try to help, if I didn’t react, but I have no regrets over the decisions I made.’
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