The China Mail - Familiar tale of woe as England exit World Cup

After years of heartache and near-misses, Tuchel was viewed as the missing piece of the puzzle, the coach who could finally end the Three Lions' decades-long wait for a major title.

Predecessor Gareth Southgate had led a talented generation of England players to two major finals, a World Cup semi-final and a World Cup quarter-final.

But each of those campaigns ended in disappointment, with a recurring theme of Southgate being accused of failing to adapt his tactics quickly enough to changing circumstances within games.

Under the tactically astute Tuchel, who had memorably outfoxed Pep Guardiola's Manchester City to lead Chelsea to the Champions League title in 2021, things would be different.

Yet against Argentina in their World Cup semi-final on Wednesday, England bowed out of the tournament in painfully familiar fashion -- failing to capitalise on a 1-0 lead before inviting pressure, surrendering the initiative and losing 2-1.

It was the third time since the 2018 World Cup that England have lost a major championship semi-final or final after taking the lead.

All three defeats, including Wednesday's at Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium, followed the same template -- a solid start, going 1-0 up, a desperate rearguard action, and finally, capitulation.

Many critics and former players immediately pointed the finger at Tuchel for England's latest failure, accusing the German of switching to an ultra-defensive approach too early in the game after Anthony Gordon had put England ahead on 55 minutes.

Argentina spent the final stages of the game camped near the England area, bombarding their opponents' goal and finally winning with goals from Enzo Fernandez on 85 minutes and Lautaro Martinez in stoppage time.

- 'Deserved to get beat' -

Former England striker Michael Owen said the defeat was a missed opportunity, sharply criticising Tuchel's second-half changes.

"We are a better team than Argentina, I've no doubt in my mind," he wrote on X. "But we deserved to get beat in the end. In fact, it could have been 4-1.

"Bringing on 3 defenders at 1-0 up. What message does that send?... 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."

Former England goalkeeper Joe Hart agreed. "I think Gareth Southgate will be at home watching this game," the BBC pundit said.

"He took a lot of criticism when it came to the big moments with England, when they had the lead, about shutting up shop. But I don't think anything has changed in that big moment out there."

While Tuchel accepted responsibility for the defeat, he pushed back on suggestions that his second-half substitutions were to blame.

The England coach, who started his job at the beginning of 2025, said the tide had turned before his tactical tweaks as Argentina grew more desperate and chased the game.

Asked if he believed he had got his tactics wrong, he replied: "No, I believe that's just the nature of the game.

"As soon as you lose, you get criticized. It's just what it is. No one knows what would have happened if we had made different decisions.

"So it makes no sense to engage in that and lose my head. I'm responsible for them. I took them, so I take the criticism."

England captain Harry Kane said the team had "just tried to hang on a little too early".

But he refused to point the finger at Tuchel's game management after another opportunity slipped away.

"There's always going to be talk now about trying to blame people or coaches," Kane said. "It's not the time for that. We win and lose together.

"We've done everything. He'd have been called a genius if it had worked. In the end, it didn't work for many different reasons.

"That's what we need to try and improve. We're close, we're knocking on the door, but as always in these final moments, we need to find that missing piece of the puzzle."

U.Chen--ThChM