Thomas Tuchel's claim that England played with 'FEAR' under Gareth Southgate comes back to haunt him as German's tactics are criticised after heartbreaking World Cup semi-final defeat by Argentina

Thomas Tuchel

's words after his appointment as

England

manager have come back to haunt him after the Three Lions suffered World Cup heartbreak in defeat by Argentina.

Tuchel said England 'were more afraid to drop out of the tournament than having the excitement and hunger to win it' when he was asked about their

Euro 2024

campaign, which also ended in disappointment after losing to Spain in the final.

The German also claimed

Gareth Southgate

's side played with 'fear' and did not have the 'hunger' to get over the line.

But the criticism he made of Southgate's men has been levelled at his own team after they threw away their lead in a 2-1 reverse at the hands of Argentina in the semi-finals on Wednesday.

England were in control at 1-0 up after

Anthony Gordon

steered home Morgan Rogers' cross but then appeared to retreat before a host of defensive substitutions by Tuchel put them under pressure.

The world champions eventually equalised when

Enzo Fernandez

fired home from distance and the second goal followed in stoppage time, an unmarked

Lautaro Martinez

heading into the net from

Lionel Messi

's cross.

Tuchel has come under fire for his tactics in the devastating defeat, with

Wayne Rooney

tearing into the German for 'asking for trouble' and 'surrendering' when England were ahead.

England suffered more World Cup heartbreak after losing to Argentina in the semi-finals

He went to a back five that served him so well in the last-16 win over Mexico, with Ezri Konsa coming on for Gordon in the 72nd minute to join Reece James, John Stones, Marc Guehi and Djed Spence.

But they found themselves on the defensive, and Dan Burn was also later introduced when Reece James left the field injured.

It backfired as the Three Lions invited an inspired Argentina onto them and paid the heaviest price, with England having just 12 per cent possession from scoring the opener to Martinez's winner.

Tuchel admitted his side were 'too passive' after going in front but took responsibility for the defeat.

'We're disappointed, we were so close but we got too passive after we scored and conceded a lot of chances,' he told the BBC.

'We could not turn the ball possession around and then conceded so many crosses, chances and shots.

'We were close but couldn't keep the level up after we scored.

'I did also offensive substitutions in the last games, we just tried to help the players. We conceded [a chance] straight away and we decided to go to a back five because the gaps were far too open.

'They won every header, they kept crossing and crossing so we went to a back five to close the gaps inside and be strong in the air. Straight after our goal, without any substitutions, we conceded way too many crosses and way too many chances so we tried to help.

'Of course, the responsibility is on the coach and if it doesn't go well, it is easy to say it was wrong.'

Tuchel, 52, is under contract with England through to the Euros on home soil in 2028 after signing an extension following a flawless World Cup qualification campaign.

FA chief executive Mark Bullingham revealed last month that Tuchel's new deal contains performance clauses, while insisting England have no intention of losing the former Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss before the tournament in two years' time.

'There's performance clauses in every single contract with the FA,' he said, 'but I'm not going to go into any detail on what they are. The reality is we're really confident he's going to be our coach in 2028.'

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