England 1-2 Argentina: Did Thomas Tuchel’s tactics cost England a place in the World Cup final?

England showed strength in this World Cup, coming from behind to beat DR Congo in the last 32 and Norway in the quarter-finals.

“The difference is still there in Norway or Mexico [in the last 16]they haven’t found the level that this Argentinian team has in terms of skill in football and the ability to punish,” former England captain Alan Shearer told BBC Sport.

“Tuchel played his cards too early and it backfired.”

England looked to have taken full control of their semi-final against their old foes when Gordon put them ahead 10 minutes into the second half.

England fans celebrated uncontrollably – but the Three Lions chose to sit back and defend.

“The fact that England put themselves ahead and gave Argentina the lead… that was a coaching disaster from Thomas Tuchel,” Chris Sutton, who won the Premier League with Blackburn in 1994-95, told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“You can’t expect to defend for 30 minutes compared to the level Argentina had.

“It’s all about the coach as far as I’m concerned. He made changes. He was a criminal, so the question I will ask is ‘how can you trust Thomas Tuchel to take this team forward?’

England have not won against Argentina in the past.

Who can forget Diego Maradona’s infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal in the 1986 World Cup or the fiery 1998 World Cup defeat.

However, England have no one else to blame for Wednesday’s defeat.

“Norway and Mexico were scared against England,” former England goalkeeper Joe Hart told BBC Sport.

“I didn’t see any fear from that Argentinian team. I saw the belief, I saw that they could release Lionel Messi from the pocket, and they were running all over England.

“Gareth Southgate was very critical of the big moments with England, when they went ahead in big games and closed the shop. I don’t see that anything has changed in that big moment.”

What changes have frustrated England fans so much?

Leading 1-0, many expected Tuchel to score another goal – but instead the German made three defensive changes.

He brought on Konsa Gordon in the 72nd minute – switching to a back five – before re-tightening the defense 10 minutes later through Burn and O’Reilly.

Tuchel sent on Rashford and Toney in added time, but it proved too little too late.

“I heard the change we made when we were 1-0 down, that if Argentina scored a goal we wouldn’t add extra time,” added Rooney.

Former England defender Micah Richards told BBC Sport: “When England scored that first goal they should have scored the second.

“Yes, you respect their quality, but the drop allowed Argentina to get into their flow.”

Former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson, speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, said Tuchel was too deep early on.

“I think he made a mistake,” added Robinson, who won 41 caps for England between 2003 and 2007.

“He made a lot of good decisions, but I think trying to defend the lead in this team was the wrong choice.”