<a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/football/article/liverpool-legend-robbie-fowler-recollects-memories-of-champions-league-triumph-against-milan-in-2005-23605663" rel="nofollow">Former England striker Robbie Fowler</a> is admittedly distraught after England 1-2 defeat to Argentina in the FIFA World Cup semi-finals on Wednesday night. However, he&rsquo;s not as disappointed about the result as he&rsquo;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, <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/cricket/article/fifa-world-cup-2026-thomas-tuchel-to-continue-as-england-manager-despite-englands-wc-loss-23640115" rel="nofollow">England manager Thomas Tuchel</a> surprisingly replaced the forward with defender Ezri Konsa even as the entire English team tracked back to defend in their own danger area.&nbsp;
<img title="England skipper Harry Kane wears a dejected look after their semi-final defeat to Argentina. Pic/AFP" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2026/jul/kane-wrong_e.jpg" alt="England skipper Harry Kane wears a dejected look after their semi-final defeat to Argentina. Pic/AFP" width="1280" height="720" />England skipper Harry Kane wears a dejected look after their semi-final defeat to Argentina. Pic/AFP
&ldquo;As a coach, if you&rsquo;re making changes to invite pressure, when you&rsquo;re playing against some of the best players in the world, in particular the greatest player we&rsquo;ve ever seen [Lionel Messi], you&rsquo;re going to put yourself in a bit of bother. Tuchel&rsquo;s tactics towards the finish were poor,&rdquo; 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. &ldquo;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&rsquo;t deserve to win that game. But against Argentina, you&rsquo;re 1-0 up at 55 minutes and you put in an extra two defenders, you just ruined England&rsquo;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&rsquo;re in the space of another player, so that&rsquo;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&rsquo;s not there. He&rsquo;s back here,&rdquo; concluded Fowler.
Three No. of consecutive <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/lifestyle/culture/article/fifa-world-cup-2026-forget-messi-and-ronaldo-mumbai-women-are-watching-football-because-of-erling-haaland-23640083?trending-story=" rel="nofollow">FIFA World Cup</a> 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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Fowler, 51, an expert with Zee5, said during a select media interaction in Goregaon on Thursday.

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

‘There was blood in the water and we went for it,' Lionel Scaloni

Fowler, 51, an expert with Zee5, said during a select media interaction in Goregaon on Thursday

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

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