by sportswriters Cao Jianjie and Zhao Yan
NEW YORK, July 17 (Xinhua) -- England manager Thomas Tuchel faced sharp criticism from former players and pundits after a late collapse against Argentina led to his side's World Cup elimination in Atlanta.
Argentina trailed 1-0 with five minutes of normal time remaining in Wednesday's semifinal before goals from Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez sank England's hopes of a first World Cup final since 1966.
Former Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic said the switch to a back five and a reticence to push forward undid England after Anthony Gordon's 55th-minute opener.
"He [Tuchel] was supposed to bring [Marcus] Rashford in and push on the counterattacks, but then they score, and they go to a back-five," Ibrahimovic said on FOX.
"They had six defenders on the pitch at one point. These are the different feelings you have as a coach during a game, and this time it didn't go Thomas Tuchel's way. Tuchel didn't play his cards right, and for Argentina, it's not about how you start but how you end."
Ibrahimovic added that Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni deserved credit for his all-or-nothing approach after Gordon's goal.
"England stopped playing when they scored the goal," he said. "I don't know why. Scaloni went more offensive. Argentina didn't panic; they kept attacking, they hit the post, they had a couple of chances before they scored the first goal, and they kept pushing; they didn't make some panic move. The best team won."
Lionel Messi, who supplied the passes for both Argentina goals, said his side sensed England's momentum drain away after the opening goal. "We felt they didn't want it anymore," Messi told reporters as he explained the comeback.
Former England defender Gary Neville focused on a separate issue: the absence of a dedicated marker on Messi as he drifted toward the right flank.
"For some reason he didn't just go and say to Nico O'Reilly, I don't care whoever else is inside you, stay with Lionel Messi when he drops outside you, do not let him go," Neville said.
"Man mark him, and when he comes out here, force him to go back inside because if you go central, he can't cross it. The minute he's out there, he's where Kevin De Bruyne used to be, he's where David Beckham used to be ... putting those wicked crosses in."
Former England captain Wayne Rooney was similarly direct in his assessment for the BBC.
"It's a real panic. You can't go a goal up and then surrender the ball and surrender any opportunity of trying to get the second goal," Rooney said. "I just think the decisions Thomas Tuchel made, and I think we have to be honest on this, have cost us tonight."
Gary Lineker questioned whether Tuchel, hired specifically to end England's trophy drought, should keep his job. "Is he the right man to take us forward?" Lineker said on his Netflix show 'The Rest is Football.' "He just got it so wrong in the big moment."
Tuchel, who has a contract through the UEFA Euro 2028, defended his in-game choices.
"As soon as you lose, you get criticized. It's just what it is," he said. "No one knows what would have happened if I had made different decisions so it makes no sense to engage in that and lose my head. I'm responsible for them. I took them, so I take the criticism. That's just the way it is." ■
