Jamie Carragher slammed manager Thomas Tuchel’s decisions shortly after England suffered a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat to Argentina in the World Cup semi-finals on Wednesday night.
Jamie Carragher was furious with Thomas Tuchel (Image: Getty Images)
Jamie Carragher has joined the chorus of criticism of manager Thomas Tuchel’s decision-making following the heartbreaking aftermath of England’s World Cup clash with Argentina. The Liverpool legend made a damning indictment on the way England were eliminated from the tournament, and was also quick to blame Jordan Pickford for contributing to the defeat.
The Three Lions suffered a 2-1 loss at the hands of their South American rivals on Wednesday night in Atlanta, Georgia, continuing a 60-year blemish in major competition. After a shaky first half with many fouls, England broke the deadlock with Anthony Gordon’s goal in the 55th minute.
Morgan Rodgers found the Barcelona winger unmarked at the back post and kicked the ball past a fluttering Emiliano Martinez. Up until that point, England had looked bright, but the tide of the game changed dramatically when Tuchel decided to park the bus and protect his lead for the rest of the game.
With around 20 minutes left in the game, the head coach replaced Gordon with Ezri Konsa and replaced Reece James and Declan Rice with Dan Byrne and Nico O’Reilly respectively. The message to Homeline was clear. Defend by placing 11 people behind the ball.
But the change came back to bite the Three Lions when Enzo Fernandes scored the equalizer from in front of goal with five minutes left and the ball sailed past Pickford. Argentina were allowed plenty of space to shoot, and during the build-up Alexis Mac Allister hit the post, but there were signs that this was coming.
But Tuchel and England remained content to hang on for dear life, inviting pressure in the process. This did not sit well with Carragher, who played 38 games for his country as a footballer and claimed Germany’s substitutions and formation changes were “the biggest factor in the recent demoralizing defeats”.
“As the game was building towards its climax, it was clear that Tuchel had to act. Argentina were piling up the pressure without creating many chances,” Carragher said in a column for the Telegraph.
England suffered a heavy defeat at full-time (Image: Julian Finney – FIFA, FIFA via Getty Images)
“Changes should have focused on personnel. The team’s set-up did not require such radical attention. It backfired after England went to a back five, shifting too constantly towards Jordan Pickford’s goal.”
“Within a matter of seconds, it was clear that Tuchel had made the wrong decision. England backed off and positioned themselves on the edge of the penalty area, inviting trouble.
“By playing with their wing-backs, Argentina were able to get more crosses into the penalty area and maintain the momentum they had already started to build without getting into dangerous situations afterwards. From the time England took the lead until Argentina equalized, our possession dropped to 12 per cent.”
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“You can’t go into survival mode that early and expect to get an advantage. If you got defensive prematurely, the consequences were dire.”
Regarding Fernandes’ goal, he added that “Pickford should have saved Enzo Fernandes’ shot”, despite the goalkeeper’s mostly impressive game, his last-minute reaction and positioning on point to deny Nicolas Gonzalez from close range.
While Argentina’s players, staff and fans erupted in jubilation as Lautaro Martínez’s towering header off the backstick two minutes into added time gave Argentina victory, English hearts were left irreparably broken.
As a result, England will face France in the third-place match on Saturday, July 18th, while Argentina will face Spain in the World Cup final on Sunday, July 19th.
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