England players 'disappointed' at Thomas Tuchel's decision to go defensive against Argentina

England players are reportedly disappointed at Thomas Tuchel's decision to go defensive against Argentina.

The Three Lions set up in a back five after going 1-0 up, which ultimately proved costly, with goals from Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez breaking English hearts.

Several key players are understood to have been frustrated with the tactics, with sources telling the BBC they were upset with the team's approach.

It comes as Tuchel blamed English football's "DNA" for the Three Lions' World Cup defeat.

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He said: "In this moment, my feeling was no structure in the world could have helped us.

"Because actually we were too passive and we were not physical enough, we didn't stop runners arriving in our box and the deliveries were wrong too.

"I haven't seen the data yet, but I think just right after the goal the momentum swings completely and ball possession drops dramatically.

"We couldn't find any duels anymore; that's why we dropped deeper and deeper. It was never the plan, but it happened."

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The German continued: "[We] couldn't stop the runners from the second line, the midfielders, through our gaps, and the deliveries were on the highest level.

"You need to get back on the ball; otherwise you cannot break the pressure, and you cannot get the momentum back.

"I think ball possession plays a crucial role; it's maybe not in our DNA like it is in our Spanish DNA or in our Argentinian-Brazilian DNA, to take the ball and control the game with the ball."

Tuchel has remained adamant that switching to a back five was not a negative step, saying it should have helped his players contain the Argentinian threat.

He said: "We just get too passive within our structure and try to help.

"Not to help in a back five, to become more passive, but actually to be more active, to be quicker out to the wingers, to not open up the gaps in between the back four.

"We encourage everyone to step out and to be more active within the structure, but we just struggle.

"We struggled a bit physically as well, I think, over the whole tournament, playing in the heat, playing at an altitude, playing with a man down and so on. It cost us in the end a lot."

Tuchel insisted his motivation for the job has not been impacted, as he plans to lead England into the 2028 European Championship.

He said: "There's still enough to improve, still enough to improve, and I'm more than happy to do that.

"I still think we can impose ourselves more on the ball, I still think we can still show how good football players we are.

"I think it's still in us because I see it in training in every camp and here also in the World Cup, and I still feel there is an extra level that we need to conquer and we need to step up on the next level and then to get the big prize."

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