Gary Neville believes manager Thomas Tuchel will regret the way England were sent off at the World Cup. The Manchester United legend also disagreed with some of the comments made by the Three Lions manager after the defeat to Argentina.
England lost 2-1 to Argentina in the World Cup semi-final in Atlanta on Wednesday night, with Tuchel’s tactics coming under fire after Anthony Gordon’s goal.
The Three Lions held a 1-0 lead until the 85th minute, when Enzo Fernandes scored the equalizer and Lautaro Martinez scored the winning goal for Argentina.
After the match, Tuchel responded to criticism for his reaction after Gordon found the back of the net, and spoke about the “DNA” of English football.
“I think possession plays an important role. Winning the ball and controlling the game with the ball is probably not in our DNA as much as it is in the Spaniard’s DNA or the Argentinian-Brazilian DNA,” Tuchel said.
In response, Neville argued why he disagreed with Tuchel’s comments and questioned some of the changes the England manager had made.
Speaking on his latest podcast, Stick to Football, Neville said: “I knew he (Tuchel) would look back after the goal and think, ‘Did I send the right message to the players?’ but he brought in three defenders before bringing in the attackers.”
“I say this in a non-explosive way, but he (Tuchel) will regret it. I think he gave the players a message to work hard. They were deep in the penalty area and he didn’t really help them get out with the changes he made.”
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“His words today were: “Winning the ball and controlling the game is probably not in our DNA the way it is in the DNA of Spaniards or Argentines or Brazilians.”
“There’s a big problem with that. He didn’t bring in Koby Mainu, who could handle the ball better than anyone. He didn’t bring in Bukayo Saka, who could probably handle the ball better than anyone. But he also left home technical players in Phil Foden, Cole Palmer, Adam Wharton, Morgan Gibbs-White and Trent Alexander-Arnold. He left behind a generational talent.”
“Thomas Tuchel is German and he should not bring an English mentality, he should bring a German winning mentality.
“The main comment I saw today, other than people saying he should be sacked, is that he bottled it up, which I think is too much, but this player was brought in with a German mentality, brought in to bring steel and ruthlessness and ruthlessness in big moments.
England will now prepare to end their World Cup campaign by facing France in the third-place match in Miami on Saturday.
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