Kane defended too deep, Tuchel got it all wrong: Fowler

Robbie Fowler

Former England striker Robbie Fowler is admittedly distraught after England 1-2 defeat to Argentina in the FIFA World Cup semi-finals on Wednesday night. However, he's not as disappointed about the result as he's about their approach in a match where they led in the 55th minute before inexplicably defending deep.

After taking the lead through Anthony Gordon, England manager Thomas Tuchel surprisingly replaced the forward with defender Ezri Konsa even as the entire English team tracked back to defend in their own danger area.

England skipper Harry Kane wears a dejected look after their semi-final defeat to Argentina. Pic/AFP

"As a coach, if you're making changes to invite pressure, when you're playing against some of the best players in the world, in particular the greatest player we've ever seen [Lionel Messi], you're going to put yourself in a bit of bother. Tuchel's tactics towards the finish were poor," Fowler, 51, an expert with Zee5, said during a select media interaction in Goregaon on Thursday.

After topping their group, England beat DR Congo (round of 32), Mexico (round of 16), and Norway (quarter-finals), but Fowler, who scored seven times in 26 internationals, felt England were unconvincing. "Against Mexico [where England got a red card], putting many men behind the ball was a must. Against Norway, it was similar, defending deep, and they [England] probably didn't deserve to win that game. But against Argentina, you're 1-0 up at 55 minutes and you put in an extra two defenders, you just ruined England's game plan. Your striker Harry Kane is just sitting too deep, Jude Bellingham was too deep. Tuchel should have put in [Ivan] Toney or [Ollie] Watkins [both strikers] to run more, as opposed to sitting deep. If you keep dropping deep, you're in the space of another player, so that's confusion. You always need to have a focal point up front where you can alleviate pressure. The ball goes up to Kane, but he's not there. He's back here," concluded Fowler.

Three
No. of consecutive FIFA World Cup semi-finals England have lost (1990, 2018, 2026); the only time England won was when they lifted the cup in 1966

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