England's World Cup dream ended in heartbreak, but David James insists the blame lies with the players' momentary lapse, not Thomas Tuchel's substitutions. In his exclusive column for Metro, the former England goalkeeper dissects the 2-1 defeat to Argentina, highlighting a critical switch-off that changed the game.
Moment of madness at the corner
England led 1-0 at half-time, but Enzo Fernandez's equaliser in the second half sparked a collapse. James noted: "For Enzo Fernandez's goal, the first thing I noticed was the players' backs to Lionel Messi as he took the quick corner, it looked like we weren't ready." He argued that if someone had spotted Fernandez on the edge of the box, the shot would have been closed down and England might have held on. "That's the beautiful version of the story. But in that moment, we switched off, they took advantage and that was the start of the collapse."
Tuchel's defensive subs not the root cause
Tuchel made defensive changes, taking off attackers for defenders, which James said "gave them that extra encouragement." However, he stressed: "I feel it wasn't his fault the team switched off from a corner, that was the key thing. And that could have happened with 10 attackers on the pitch." James believes the substitutions were a symptom, not the cause: "If you are switched on for the corner, that first goal doesn't happen and it's still 1-0 and we maybe hang on to win the game."
Mainoo's absence raises questions
James questioned why Kobbie Mainoo didn't play a single minute in the tournament. "My point of view is Tuchel is still the right man. But the use of players is the big question," he wrote. He noted that when England went 2-1 down, Tuchel brought on Ivan Toney and Marcus Rashford too late, resulting in a back six and a desperate look: "We lost the calmness."
Tuchel remains the right man
Despite the criticism, James backed Tuchel: "I come back to it again – players switching off isn't the manager's fault." He added that Tuchel will learn from the experience, having done "95 per cent of things right but that remaining five per cent will be the last 10 minutes of yesterday's game." James concluded: "If Tuchel stays on, I think we still have the right manager and the right group of players in place."
