![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\nA little under two years ago, Thomas Tuchel arrived as England manager with a mandate.<\/p>\n
Predecessor Gareth Southgate\u2019s unprecedented run of success at major tournaments over the previous six years had, for all the strong results, left a bitter taste.<\/p>\n
The Three Lions had blown a 1-0 lead to lose 2-1 to Croatia at the 2018 World Cup. At the Euros in 2021 and 2024, they had made and lost consecutive finals, including a galling defeat by penalties to Italy on home soil despite a Luke Shaw goal in just the second minute and a run of five clean sheets in six games going in.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Watch every round of The Open Championship LIVE & EXCLUSIVE on Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1<\/a>.<\/p>\n Southgate\u2019s England were defence-first: fine for staying in tournaments, but without the killer edge needed to actually win them.<\/p>\n READ MORE<\/p>\n \u2018SACK HIM NOW!\u2019: England coach torched over baffling WC fail<\/a><\/p>\n \u2018THE MALVINAS ARE ARGENTINE\u2019: England stars held back in ugly World Cup scenes<\/a><\/p>\n \u2018INTROVERTED AND SHY\u2019: The crazy Messi backstory behind absurdly unlikely viral WC image<\/a><\/p>\n \u2018NO REGRETS\u2019: Tuchel doubles down amid wave of criticism<\/a><\/p>\n In his very first press conference after being appointed, in August 2024, Tuchel acknowledged as much.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it should reflect the values of the country and of the strongest league in the world, which is the Premier League,\u201d the German said of the style his England would cultivate.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we should be brave enough to play like an England squad and should not try to copy other nations\u2019 styles too much.\u201d<\/p>\n At the time, these were the exact words every English fan wanted to hear.<\/p>\n But in the aftermath of a 2-1 semi-final loss to Argentina to crash out of the World Cup that, even by their standards, was brutal<\/a>, those words rang hollow.<\/p>\n Former player turned popular pundit Micah Richards summed it up best.<\/p>\n \u201cThomas Tuchel was brought in to be the difference,\u201d he said on the BBC. <\/p>\n \u201cTactically, we all thought he got it wrong today.\u201d<\/p>\n Thomas Tuchel and Harry Kane react to England’s loss to Argentina.Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n \u2018ON A LEASH\u2019: SOUTHGATE\u2019S SAYONARA<\/p>\n Two days after a 2-1 loss to Spain in the 2024 Euro final, Southgate announced his time was up.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t a surprise, nor even a sorrowful farewell: despite being far from disgraced on the biggest stage, the former England defender\u2019s resignation was met with relief.<\/p>\n The defeat had followed a familiar pattern: after a cagey start, the Three Lions were spurred into action after Nico Williams gave Spain the lead.<\/p>\n But Cole Palmer\u2019s 73rd-minute equaliser was cancelled out by Mikel Oyarzabal, with Unai Simon\u2019s save of a Declan Rice header at the death consigning England to yet more heartbreak.<\/p>\n The general consensus, among former greats and fans alike, was that a talented team flush with a deep pool of attacking options needed a fresh voice and a new mindset to take them to the promised land.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels like England were on a leash,\u201d Rio Ferdinand said on the BBC after the final.<\/p>\n \u201cI think every England fan that watches or is in this stadium will be sitting there going, \u2018why have we waited to go a goal behind until we let the shackles off and start going at them?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Gareth Southgate resigned in 2024 shortly after leading England to a second consecutive Euro final defeat. (Photo by JAVIER SORIANO \/ AFP)Source: AFP<\/p>\n \u201cWhy have we had to wait so long to be on the front foot and be aggressive when we\u2019ve got such quality players all over the park?\u201d<\/p>\n One of Southgate\u2019s more prominent critics, Ferdinand had previously questioned him following a quarter-final loss to France at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, saying on his podcast that his substitution choices had \u201clet us down\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cGareth, in the moment, wasn\u2019t proactive with his substitutions – he was reactive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt hit 1-1 and we\u2019re sitting there going \u2018take the bull by the horns, make a substitution, get us on the front foot\u2019. You\u2019ve got Rashford, you\u2019ve got Grealish who can go on, get us on the front foot and change this game.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re sitting there going, \u2018It\u2019s too late, man\u2019. You\u2019ve got to do this when we\u2019ve got the chance of still winning this game and taking the game from them.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking after his resignation, Southgate himself admitted it was \u201ctime for change\u201d.<\/p>\n \u2018A LOT OF FUN\u2019: TOURNAMENT THOMAS\u2019 PERFECT START<\/p>\n As just the third non-Brit to take charge of the national team – he even apologised at his unveiling for his \u201cGerman passport\u201d – Tuchel\u2019s path to the top of English football was far from conventional.<\/p>\n But along with a reputation as a tactical innovator and outside the box thinker (Chelsea fans referred to him as \u2018Tommy Tactics\u2019), he fit the bill for a team looking to add a spark of life to rock-solid foundations.<\/p>\n Tuchel himself described his approach in Ben Lyttleton\u2019s book Edge: What Business Can Learn From Football\ufeff as: \u201cattack in every minute and to try to score as many goals as possible\u201d.<\/p>\n Adding to his appeal was a reputation for performing at major events, earning him the moniker \u2018Tournament Thomas\u2019.<\/p>\n He took farmer\u2019s league bullies Paris Saint-German to within a whisker of Champions League glory in 2020; a year on, he went one step further at Chelsea, defeating the Manchester City juggernaut 1-0 in the decider.<\/p>\n Never shy in saying exactly what he thinks, Thomas Tuchel was as emotive as ever in the semi-final. (AP Photo\/Stephanie Scarbrough)Source: AP<\/p>\n Things couldn\u2019t have started better: in his first major assignment, the German turned a potentially treacherous qualification period for the 2026 World Cup into a doddle.<\/p>\n They won 100 per cent of their qualifying games, including a 5-0 away win over Latvia to seal their fate, and became the first European team in history to reach the World Cup finals without conceding a single goal.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of fun, a lot of fun,\u201d a delighted Tuchel told reporters.<\/p>\n It was enough to earn him a contract extension until the end of Euro 2028 in early 2026 – but the biggest test was still to come.<\/p>\n Bellingham wins it for the Three Lions! | 00:26<\/p>\n \u2018PERFORMANCE FOR THE AGES\u2019 KINDLES HOPE<\/p>\n Tuchel didn\u2019t take long to make waves: Sky Sports described the squad he assembled for the World Cup as \u201cthe most shocking since 1998\u201d.<\/p>\n Stars Phil Foden and Cole Palmer paid the price for below-par Premier League seasons, with the German stating publicly his desire to avoid an over-emphasis on attacking players.<\/p>\n \u201cFor some it was a positional thing and not bring[ing] five No. 10s and making them play out of position,\u201d he said of the bold calls.<\/p>\n It meant the team would rely heavily on Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham\u2019s star power to be a threat in North America.<\/p>\n But from the moment the first whistle blew on their World Cup opener in Arlington, Texas, England felt like a genuine contender for football\u2019s biggest prize.<\/p>\n A 4-2 win over 2018 semi-final conquerors Croatia was both revenge and a sign the new, aggressive England wouldn\u2019t be overawed on the world stage.<\/p>\n A Kane brace and an ability to quickly bounce back from adversity – both Croatian goals were answered within minutes of play – boded particularly well.<\/p>\n Untroubled in topping their group, the knockout stage gave Tuchel and his team a chance to show their mettle as much as their skill.<\/p>\n Kane came to the rescue with another brace to avoid a major scare against DR Congo; then, in front of an 80,000-strong crowd at the Estadio Azteca, came the moment a nation truly began to believe.<\/p>\n Reduced to ten men after a Jarell Quansah red card, a 2-1 lead looked in real danger: but Kane\u2019s nerveless penalty, plus some fiendish defending in the final minutes, preserved victory in arguably the game of the tournament.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat happened out there was one of the great England performances,\u201d The Telegraph\u2019s<\/a> Sam Wallace wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cAt 7,350 feet with their lungs burning and their muscles aching, the 11 men of England and then the ten men of England beat a fervent football nation on their own patch.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEngland and Tuchel can take so much credit from how they handled it,\u201d Telegraph chief football correspondent Jason Burt added. <\/p>\n \u201cThis was a result and a performance for the ages, the kind of transformative performance that can lead to… well, let\u2019s not get too carried away.\u201d<\/p>\n When Bellingham almost single-handedly willed the Three Lions into the last four with a herculean performance to down Erling Haaland\u2019s Norway in the quarter-finals, the stage was set.<\/p>\n British optimism flickered in the aftermath, with some testy words between Tuchel and Bellingham over the former\u2019s criticism of the team\u2019s performance seeing the journalist at the centre of the drama flamed for threatening to cause a rift in the team.<\/p>\n But with old nemesis Argentina waiting in the wings, England were ready to roar.<\/p>\n Argentina fans react to epic comeback | 02:26<\/p>\n \u2018COACHING CATASTROPHE\u2019 LEADS TO ATLANTA ABOMINATION<\/p>\n For 70 minutes, England played one of the great World Cup semi-finals.<\/p>\n On top of the reigning world champions and with the great Lionel Messi kept largely under wraps, a 55th-minute go-ahead goal from Anthony Gordon looked destined to join Sir Geoff Hurst\u2019s hat-trick in the 1966 final in English football folklore.<\/p>\n The discipline instilled under Southgate remained, but having added so much more, all Tuchel needed to do was stick the landing to cement himself as a national hero.<\/p>\n Then, after the hydration break, disaster struck.<\/p>\n Ezri Konsa, Nico O\u2019Reilly and Dan Burn were all brought on within minutes, bolstering England\u2019s defence but making the tactics painfully clear.<\/p>\n Sensing their chance – later, coach Lionel Scaloni would claim his team saw \u201cblood in the water\u201d – a furious Argentinian attack would create chances, press relentlessly, and eventually lead to two Messi-assisted goals to steal the final from the Three Lions\u2019 grasp.<\/p>\n Harry Kane lies devastated on the pitch. (Photo by PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA \/ AFP)Source: AFP<\/p>\n Even after Enzo Fernandez\u2019s equaliser, Tuchel kept his powder dry: it took until the 95th minute, with the game all but gone, for reserve strikers Marcus Rashford and Ivan Toney to be introduced, to try for a Hail Mary that never looked close to likely.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was a coaching catastrophe from Thomas Tuchel,\u201d former Chelsea manager Chris Sutton told the BBC.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that England get themselves in front and then basically handed Argentina the initiative. <\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t expect to defend for 30 minutes against the quality Argentina had. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s all on the coach where I\u2019m concerned. He made the changes. He was negative.<\/p>\n \u201cThe question which I\u2019m going to ask is how can you trust Thomas Tuchel to take this team forward?\u201d<\/p>\n England great Wayne Rooney was similarly upset by what had unfolded.<\/p>\n \u201cWe got ourselves in such a good position, and then we didn\u2019t know what to do,\u201d the champion striker said on BBC One. <\/p>\n \u201cWe sat back, we allowed them to come onto us. They were creating a number of chances, then we cracked. Really disappointed.<\/p>\n