Donald Trump turned sports analyst at the White House on Friday, questioning the decisions of England manager Thomas Tuchel during their 2-1 semi-final loss to Argentina.
The US president has been preoccupied with international affairs for most of the World Cup, with Sunday’s final set to be the first game he attends at the tournament.
He has, however, made the odd venture into the World Cup conversation — most notably, getting onto FIFA when USMNT star Folarin Balogun was facing a suspension.
On this occasion, he criticised Tuchel’s use of star striker Harry Kane, asking why the German played him as a defender in the second half. The England manager responded.
Thomas Tuchel questions Donald Trump’s authority on soccer tactics
Tuchel isn’t having this criticism from the commander-in-chief. The president’s words were put to him in his pre-England vs France press conference.
He responded: “Do you use Donald Trump as your witness for the case or…? I was just asking.
“In which situation did Harry play too deep? What do you mean? Like in the last 30 minutes? Well, we defended in a deep block. That’s what you do if you defend in a block. You defend in a block.
“We were not active enough, we could not escape the deep block but if you defend in a deep block, everyone defends in a deep block. That is what team spirit, togetherness, and mentality is translated to in football terms.
“We defend as a ten and as 11, and if we are pushed back to a deep block, Harry defends in a deep block.”
You could sense the frustration in Tuchel’s delivery. He has no doubt been dissecting where it all went wrong in the days since. Given that Trump only heard what a red card is a week or two ago, hearing his opinions read out in a media appearance for a consolation match won’t sit well.
But Tuchel knows his team fell short. There is some truth to the fact that they played too deep.
He added: “We became too passive in the last 30 minutes. We could not get hold of the ball, we could not find duels anymore. This is the next step that we want to take and from there we go.”
There have been suggestions that Tuchel’s position as England manager is under threat. After a tournament elimination, that is usually the case.
Maybe hold out until 2028, when Trump will be available for the role.
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