England manager Thomas Tuchel is set to remain in charge for the remainder of his contract, which continues through to the end of Euro 2028.
The German was heavily criticised following the Three Lions’ defeat to Argentina in Wednesday’s World Cup semi-final.
They were 1-0 up against the reigning world champions with five minutes to go plus stoppage time, but defensive substitutions invited pressure following Anthony Gordon’s 55th minute goal.
Ezri Konsa was brought on for Gordon in the 72nd minute – switching to a back five – before further defensive reinforcements arrived ten minutes later in Dan Burn and Nico O’Reilly, leaving only a tired Harry Kane as a forward outlet.
Lionel Messi set up Enzo Fernandez to equalise in the 85th minute before the 39 year-old’s cross found Lautaro Martinez to head home a 92nd-minute winner.
“Norway and Mexico panicked against England,” former England goalkeeper Joe Hart told BBC Sport, claiming the tactics needed to be different against a superior side.
“I didn’t see one bit of panic from that Argentina side. I saw belief, I saw them realising they could free up the great man Lionel Messi in the pocket, and they were running all over England.
“Gareth Southgate took a lot of criticism for the big moments with England, when they had the lead in big games and shut up shop. I don’t see that anything has changed in that big moment out there.”
Hart was one of several former players and pundits to criticise the plan following Gordon’s goal.
“We have to be honest. The decisions that Tuchel has made cost us tonight.” – Wayne Rooney
Tuchel defended his changes, explaining the switch to five defenders was necessary.
“We decided to go to a back five because the gaps were far too open,” he said.
“They won every header, they kept crossing and crossing. So we went to a back five to close the gaps inside and be stronger in the air.
“Straight after our goal with no substitution, we just conceded way too many crosses and chances. We tried to help, but of course the responsibility is on the coach; if it doesn’t go well, it’s easy to say it was wrong.”
Thomas Tuchel contract, break clause details
Tuchel signed a new contract in February to extend his stay until the conclusion of Euro 2028, and the FA have no plans to make any changes despite the fallout from Wednesday, Football FanCast sources understand.
Chief executive Mark Bullingham has confirmed there is a break clause in their deal, but it is one-sided.
“There’s performance clauses in every single contract at the FA, but I’m not going into any detail of what they are,” he said.
“We can hold him to the contract.”
However, the FA believe England’s World Cup campaign was a positive one and will not part ways the manager on a performance basis this summer.
England are one of the co-hosts of Euro 2028 alongside Wales, Scotland and Republic of Ireland.
Argentina defeat was a coaching ‘catastrophe’ from Tuchel
Chris Sutton told BBC Radio 5 Live Tuchel’s performance was to blame for England’s elimination.
“That was a coaching catastrophe from Thomas Tuchel. You can’t expect to defend for 30 minutes against the quality Argentina had.
“It’s all on the coach. He made the changes. He was negative, so the question which I’m going to ask is how can you trust Thomas Tuchel to take this team forward?”
Former England defender Micah Richards added during BBC Sport’s TV coverage: “When England scored that first goal they should have gone for the second.
“Yes, you respect their quality, but dropping deep allowed Argentina to get into their flow.”
