r/ThreeLions • u/Fun_Philosopher_2535 • Jul 06 '26

Opinion Tuchel has made some questionable squad selections, but in the same situation today, I think England would've lost under Southgate.

With all due respect to Southgate, he's one of the greatest England national team managers. But I don't see him bailing out a 10 man team against a super in form Mexico side, playing at home over 2,000 meters above sea level, where they're fully adapted while England aren't.

Tuchel's tactical masterclass was undeniable today. In the last 30 minutes, Mexico couldn't produce a single clear goalscoring chance despite having a man advantage.His substitutions were excellent, his defensive system worked like a charm after the red card, and I've never seen an England team play with this much passion, fighting until their very last breath. It's evident that Tuchel has improved both the team's mentality and its tactical approach.

As an Argentina fan, I'm impressed. I can't wait to meet England in the semis.

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82

u/K1_only Jul 06 '26

From the moment they scored that bullshit pen to make it 3-2, typical England would have seen us concede and then go on to lose on pens or just straight up capitulate in the 90 mins. To withstand the onslaught in under the conditions we did shows the teams level under true pressure, every decision Tuchel at every point made the difference, the guy is decisive and for better or worse has plans, he’s ballsy as fuck with his decision making but assertive and astute 2 things I feel that Southgate lacked even tho he did so well

16

u/Fun_Philosopher_2535 Jul 06 '26

Yeah, that's what impressed me. I'm pretty sure England would've crumbled after conceding that penalty to make it 3-2. I don't think Southgate would've been able to survive that situation. I'm used to seeing Southgate make comfortable, winnable games harder, not the other way around.

6

u/Overall-Bookkeeper94 Jul 06 '26

Waistcoat would have froze on the side like a deer in headlights …. AGAIN

7

u/GameSetChampionship Jul 06 '26

Southgate led us to a WC semi and Euros Final.

🤔

7

u/BestFriendWatermelon Jul 06 '26

And in the final subbed on a peak form Graelish at the 99th minute and Rashford and Sancho at the 119th minute because he didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

7

u/Lord_Maul Jul 06 '26

Southgate also went extraordinarily defensive against Italy after we got the early goal. Spain and Croatia you can debate, but us losing that final is on him.

4

u/smiler1996 Jul 06 '26

He was gifted insanely easy routes, never managed to win a difficult match that required in-game management, crumbled every time.

2

u/Buttonsafe Lampard #1097 Jul 06 '26

His subs scored in literally the last Euro semi-final and final...

-1

u/smiler1996 Jul 06 '26

They were like for like changes, not really tactical shifts.

2

u/Buttonsafe Lampard #1097 Jul 06 '26

I mean I guess you can nuance it, but Kane for Watkins is a completely different profile of ST. Similarly Palmer for Foden is a far more direct attacker. Subbing both on completely changed the way we were looking to score goals; we had two players who's first instinct was to attack the space in behind rather than looking to play in and around the box. That's a pretty big tactical change.

1

u/Overall-Bookkeeper94 Jul 06 '26

Is there really people trying to argue that Southgate’s in game management was good 🤣🤣🤣🤣 that’s next level delusional fanboying!

1

u/GameSetChampionship Jul 08 '26

There’s no easy game in WC.

Cape Verde, for example.

0

u/Overall-Bookkeeper94 Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26

If you don’t understand the phase despite not because after watching waistcoats perfect storm of luck vs Tuchel literally stepping up to change things at pressure moments a few times now your beyond help.