Wright savages Tuchel's 'no regrets' claim after England's World Cup semi-final exit

Ian Wright tore into Thomas Tuchel on the Stick To Football podcast after the England manager declared he had ‘no regrets’ following the Three Lions’ 2-1 World Cup semi-final defeat to Argentina.

Tuchel’s post-match comments, read out by Gary Neville, included the claim that England ‘played maybe our best game’ — a assertion that immediately provoked Wright into an unfiltered response. ‘That’s b*,’ Wright said. ‘You can’t say we played our best game because we didn’t play our best game. How many times did we touch the ball in their box? Seven. Argentina had 28. He’s actually insulting our intelligence — we watched the game.’

The tactical flashpoint centred on Tuchel’s decision to shift to a back five after Anthony Gordon had given England the lead, with Ezri Konsa replacing Gordon and Dan Burn later coming on for Reece James. Declan Rice also went off, and Argentina exploited the resulting gaps to score twice in seven minutes and overturn the deficit.

Wright argued that Tuchel had viable options available to him. ‘Even if he was thinking, could I put Kobbie Mainoo on to look after the ball, or should I have put Rashford on to give the defenders a breather — you can’t come out with a quote like that,’ he said.

When Neville floated the idea of Tuchel instead blaming the performances of Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane, Wright was blunt: ‘I’d rather him say something like that than say he’s got no regrets, because there is a load of regrets.’

A second Tuchel quote — in which he described England as ‘too passive’ — was also aired on the show, drawing agreement from Wright, Neville, and Roy Keane.

England captain Harry Kane, speaking after the defeat, declined to point the finger at Tuchel’s tactics and instead focused on the team’s inability to sustain their early momentum. ‘After the goal, whether it was them putting more men forward or us not being able to match them man for man, it was just wave after wave,’ Kane said. ‘Lads were putting blocks in but, in the end, it just wasn’t enough.’