Gary Lineker: Tuchel's Tactics Were Absolutely Incomprehensible

Legendary English striker Gary Lineker described England manager Thomas Tuchel's tactics as "incomprehensible" following their World Cup semi-final loss to Argentina. Despite Tuchel making several defensive changes, including Ezri Konsa, Nico O'Reilly, and Dan Burn, they failed to contain Lionel Messi, who assisted both goals while attacking down the right flank.

On his Netflix podcast, "The Rest is Football," Lineker commented: "I find it absolutely incomprehensible if your tactic is to have everyone drop deep, especially against the greatest footballer in history. He just proves it game after game – most World Cup goals, most assists. Just put someone on him. He had so much space and was constantly delivering balls into the box."

Former midfielder Joe Cole also expressed his disappointment with the semi-final loss, citing a negative mindset as the main issue. "It's disheartening, isn't it? Because we've been in this situation before. I think the problems are the same. The fear of failure just paralyzes English teams. 12% possession after taking the lead shows something is wrong. It's a mentality issue. We can talk about tactics, substitutions, and everything else, but ultimately, it comes from the manager. Too often, we panic and then just trip over our own feet," Cole analyzed.

Another former England international, Gary Neville, also criticized the tactical approach and the team's inability to stop Messi. On "The Overlap" podcast, "Stick to Football," Neville stated: "I can't stand losing like that. The big problem for me emerged even before the substitutions. We had started to drop too deep. I've seen it so many times."

Ian Wright, meanwhile, disagreed with Thomas Tuchel's post-match comments, where the coach stated he had no regrets. "You can't say we played our best game. We didn't. How many times did we touch the ball in their penalty area? Seven? If you're playing your best game and you have seven touches in their box, you're not asking much of yourself. Why is he saying that? Is he insulting our intelligence? We watched the game," Wright fumed.