Gary Neville said Thomas Tuchel should have made the “bold decision” to substitute Harry Kane as England surrendered a 1-0 lead to lose 2-1 to Argentina in the World Cup semifinal on Wednesday.
England looked on course for a place in Sunday’s final after Anthony Gordon put them ahead, but Argentina struck twice late on to book a meeting with Spain.
Tuchel’s substitutions came under scrutiny after England finished the game with six defenders on the pitch, and Neville believes the the German missed an opportunity to inject more pace into the attack while protecting the lead.
“I honestly think the real bold decision at 1-0 up was probably to take Harry Kane off,” former England defender Neville said on The Overlap podcast.
“I said it [earlier], if you want pace on the counter-attack in central areas, you’ve got to take off Jude Bellingham and Harry, or one of them, and bring on players like Marcus Rashford and Morgan Rogers up front.”
Neville said England’s shortcomings against elite opposition had ultimately been exposed after navigating their way to the last four.
“If we go back to pre-tournament, I think we all said the minute England come up against a team that’s technically going to keep possession for us in the biggest, most pressurised moments, we’re going to struggle,” he said.
“We’ve played Mexico, Norway and Congo DR — Mexico was a tough game, but this is the first team we’ve played at a real high level, and we’ve been found wanting the minute we’ve played a tough team.
“I think that’s the closest you’re going to get to a World Cup final — 85 minutes, one-nil up against Argentina, with a final within your grasp.”
Former England striker Ian Wright also questioned Tuchel’s approach after Gordon’s opener.
“For me, he’s made substitutions that are not attacking, they’re defending,” Write said.
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“For a manager that’s been as brave as he’s been with the selections from the start, with the players that he’s brought in, were the selections and the substitutions he made up to this point positive in that game?”
Before two late substitutions following Lautaro Martínez‘s goal to put Argentina 2-1 ahead, England had six defenders on the pitch and only three attacking players, Kane, Bellingham and Rogers.
Tuchel said after the game that England would have struggled no matter what formation was deployed in the closing minutes.
