Key events1h agoLineker describes Tuchel tactics as 'unfathomable'2h agoArgentina players' behaviour with Falklands banner 'entirely inappropriate', says government minister2h agoFA backs Tuchel in wake of England’s exit – reports3h agoTuchel takes blame, but says 'no regrets'4h agoPreambleThe debate about playing style and general fatigue is an interesting one. Pre-tournament, Tuchel said this before one of England’s friendlies:“I think there is a value in recovering the ball high, even if it brings risk, and even if it’s highly intense.“But I think there’s also a high value in having the ball, and moving the ball and not chasing the ball. In the last tournaments it was very, very important to not chase too much.”From where I was sitting, England ran themselves into the ground for an hour last night with their intense pressing. And it worked well … until they were no long capable of maintaining that intensity. That is arguably on the manager, more than the substitutions or any perceived waving of a white flag.Another email! (There are many …) This one from Adrian, entitled: “The fixture load’s fault?”“Saka and Rice exhausted, Reece not fit, Stones not fit, Rice having injections for months on end. Then a bunch of games in excessive heat after the typically long attritional Premier League and Cup calendar.“Isn’t this an argument to reduce the Premier League to 18 teams at least? Are we putting sufficient blame on the workload players must endure, a drum Klopp and others have been banging for years.”Bukayo Saka was not fully fit. Photograph: Eddie Keogh/The FA/Getty Images“Tuchel’s tactics certainly weren’t “unfathomable”; he decided their best chance was to shut up shop and ride it out,” emails Mike. “It worked against Mexico, after all. He brought on Dan Burn because England seemed to have collectively forgotten how to defend crosses. You could as easily characterise this as a collective bottle-job by the players on the pitch, but maybe it’s easier to blame the German than Our Brave Boys?”Also in praise of Tuchel: could another manager have brought that kind of performance from Djed Spence, who was outstanding off the bench against Norway, and even better starting against Argentina? Morgan Rogers on the right can also be seen as a success, well given his assist for Gordon. Would this sort of stuff have happened under Steve McClaren or Sam Allardyce?Compare and contrast these two emails about England. Was it Tuchel, or was it the players?“I think the Southgate comparisons are unfair. On Southgate,” writes Peter.“Croatia, Italy and Spain were superior to England in central midfield. Over the course of a match, that will usually make the difference.“This was different. England were not struggling. The retreat was entirely deliberate. Other options were available. Tuchel made mistakes and should own up to them.”And then this, from Ryan: “Our players were lethargic and lost control of the game: we are lucky it wasn’t 4-1.“We were just not good enough, it’s a simple as that, and the manager is taking the brunt of the blame as per usual. But our players stopped pressing and chasing and blocking and marking, they were not aggressive enough, the game was lost by the team.”I agree with that: I don’t think Tuchel can shoulder all the blame for the way the team shut down after going in front.Regarding the point about Croatia being better in midfield, as I wrote in this piece in 2024, Southgate’s set-up for that 2018 semi-final was conservative from the start: it was about containment rather than trying to dictate:Sid LoweOn the way out of the dressing room in Arlington, Luis de la Fuente gathered his “family” and delivered one last message before the World Cup semi-final against France. He had long known what he was going to say, if not exactly how – it’s what he has been saying for 50 days and more. “I’ll tell them that this is a unique stage, the kind of moment that may never be repeated again, and that we have to be ourselves,” he had suggested 18 hours earlier; now that idea crystallised in a line. “We’re facing one of the best lineups in the world,” the Spain coach told them, “but we’re the best team in the world.”By the time they made their way back in again, a voice was heard above the shouts, another line to encapsulate it all, to define this. It belonged to Marc Cucurella and it said: “What a fucking recital!” A call came in to De la Fuente, King Felipe on the phone saying pretty much the same thing, if a little more politely. On went the music, Jamaican (Bam Bam) blasting out, pizza was passed around, and they bounced about. Some did, anyway. Some just sat there taking in what they had done. “It was written: we started in Atlanta and we end in New York,” Dani Olmo said, but a semi-final is not supposed to be like this.Rodri (left): good at playing football. Photograph: Jean Catuffe/Getty ImagesGiven the fact that England were the better team for an hour or so in Atlanta, do we make Spain favourites for Sunday’s final? Coming up, a piece on the European champions, by Sid Lowe.Just in case you missed any of it: England 1-2 Argentina match report by David Hytner | reaction from Matt Hughes | player ratings from Ed Aarons | analysis by Jacob Steinberg | Argentina analysis from Pablo Iglesias Maurer | England fan reaction by Priya Bharadia | Barney Ronay on Lionel Messi | Reaction from Thomas Tuchel by Ed Aarons | World Cup Daily podcast with Max Rushden and team | Plus! This morning’s news about Argentina’s post-match Falklands banner antics:Heartbreak for England, again | World Cup Daily – video“A lot of the criticism for Tuchel and the England players suggests that it was a conscious decision for England to retreat and hold on after they scored last night,” writes Chris on email. “Argentina played a cagey game for the first 50 minutes or so, perhaps not wanting to commit too much until they had to, but the increased urgency after the England goal was what changed the game.“England had no answer to the change in pace and the fresh substitutes they brought on. There were several times when Pickford and the defence had the ball but were pressed by a swarm of blue shirts and just couldn’t play out. Their attacks also increased in accuracy. Compare England’s opportunities to cross throughout the game (with the exception of the goal) and they rarely found a white shirt.“Once Argentina started moving the ball about with more speed, they found Argentina players in the box on numerous occasions, despite the extra defenders England brought on. I think it’s easy to be critical of England for how they played in the last third of the match but we have to give a lot of credit to Argentina who ultimately changed their approach and England didn’t have the quality to stick with them. No shame in that, they’re the world champions for a reason.”Nico González was on of Argentina’s high-impact substitutes. Photograph: William Volcov/Brazil Photo Press/ShutterstockThe Argentina players celebrated their World Cup win over England with a banner saying “Las Malvinas son Argentinas”, making reference to the 1982 Falklands war.Argentina were 1-0 down with five minutes to go of the semi-final in Atlanta but rallied and scored twice in quick succession to reach a second straight World Cup final, where they will face Spain in New Jersey on Sunday.The banner refers to the dispute over the territory, which is referred to as the Falkland Islands in Britain and Islas Malvinas in Argentina, which led to a 74-day conflict 44 years ago. More than 900 people – 649 Argentinians and 255 Britons – lost their lives in the conflict.Matt HughesThe captain, Harry Kane, who is on six goals before England’s third-place playoff on Saturday against France – two behind Messi and Kylian Mbappé in the race for the Golden Boot – conceded England had been too defensive after taking the lead.“Once we went 1-0 up we seemed to just try to hold on, which at this level is not enough,” he told the BBC. “I’m just gutted for the boys, gutted for everyone, the team, the staff, the fans. We played a good game for the large majority of it.“I’m just gutted because we’ve worked so hard to be here. The lads have given everything – every last bit of running, sweat, blood, tears, whatever it is. To fall short like we did today is just gutting.”“Before yesterday’s match I had several patients (I’m a psychoanalyst) describe their fear of humiliation at the hands of Argentina,” emails Daniel.“I am expecting their next sessions to be difficult after last night when fear was precisely what left England so vulnerable. The vibe was best captured in a piece that just appeared in The Athletic which wrote “Tuchel made a tactical alteration that will go down as one of the most consequential mistakes ever by an England manager in a big game”. Well said.“I was 11 when I saw England win in 1966 and in every World Cup since I have seen the team lack the courage of the Alf Ramsay team and the only thing that helped make this bearable was a lifetime of disappointment as a dedicated Gas Head (AKA Bristol Rovers fan). Lions don’t lie down when the hunt is on. That’s the lesson that has to be learned.”“My biggest takeaway from last night, apart from England inevitably retreating to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, is that Enzo Fernàndez may well be the heir to Luis Suárez,” emails James. “An incredibly unlikeable character, but one who is pretty bloody good at football. Oh, to have someone like that on the England team.”On that note, didn’t Fernàndez essentially smack Anderson in the head early doors? How did he get away with it?Luis Suárez (left) celebrates scoring against England with teammate Edinson Cavani in 2014. Photograph: Nick Potts/PA Archive/PA ImagesPriya Bharadia has some reaction from fans in Manchester:“To be honest, I’m just happy we’ve made it this far,” Lucas Clapham, 25, with a shrug. “We’ve got to enjoy such a long period in this tournament. We’ve even got another game to play off the third, regardless.”The England players “deserve a hero’s welcome” for their performance, said Rachel George, 30, who sat outside the now-empty Castlefield Bowl with friends Connor Ford and Amnre Judge.“I was crying when we lost. It’s very sad, it’s a very sad time. But we go again in four years’ time,” she said. “We had a pub booking for Sunday. We’ll go see the final anyway, we’ll be supporting Spain.”“People were celebrating too early as well, there were fireworks going off,” said Ford. “But the players should be really proud of their performance.”England football fans react to defeat by Argentina. Photograph: Xinhua/ShutterstockThe first Argentina goal – that came from Pickford touching a Martínez shot that looked to be going over out for a corner – reminded me of England v Colombia in 2018. Back then, if memory serves, Pickford made a spectacular save of a shot that wasn’t actually going in, conceded a corner, and Yerry Mina did the rest.So if that Fernandez shot was actually going over, can we say it was all Pickford’s fault? Juuuuuust kidding.Jordan Pickford. Photograph: Patrícia de Melo Moreira/AFP/Getty ImagesYerry Mina in 2018. Photograph: Maxim Shemetov/ReutersThere was a stat shared on the live minute-by-minute last night after the game was over: 'In the 37 minutes between Anthony Gordon’s goal and Lautaro Martinez’s winner, England had 12% possession.'