England boss Thomas Tuchel has been widely criticised for his defensive changes in the 2-1 World Cup semi-final defeat against Argentina18:53, 16 Jul 2026World Cup winner, turned manager, Cesc Fabregas, has previously explained why he wouldn’t take the same approach as Thomas Tuchel during a game. The England boss has come under heavy criticism for his approach to the closing stages of the World Cup semi-final vs Argentina.‌England had taken the lead through Anthony Gordon in the 55th minute. But they quickly found themselves under pressure as Argentina searched for the equaliser.‌In response, Tuchel made defensive changes to his team, in the 72nd minute, defender Ezri Konsa replaced goalscorer Gordon. 10 minutes later, Dan Burn replaced Reece James and Nico O’Reilly came on for Declan Rice as England looked to see out the game as they did in the previous rounds against Mexico and Norway.‌This time, the tactic didn’t pay off, with Enzo Fernandez scoring for Argentina with five minutes of normal time left to play. They completed the turnaround through Lautaro Martinez in the second minute of added time.JOIN US ON FACEBOOK! Latest news, analysis and much more on Mirror Football's Facebook pageThe decision to bring defensive players onto the pitch, ahead of the likes of Marcus Rashford or Bukayo Saka, for the final 18 minutes has drawn a lot of criticism from fans and pundits alike. It seems that Fabregas, who won the World Cup with Spain in 2010, and is now the manager of Italian Serie A side Como, would also disagree with the decision.‌In a previous interview shared on social media, Fabregas said: “Like if you are winning 1-0, for example, and you change a midfielder or a striker, and you put a defender in the last 10-15 minutes, you’re playing with a back five all of a sudden.“Because you saw from outside that they are playing with really high fullbacks, or whatever reason. Inside the players, you see that he’s taken a striker off, he’s put a defensive player on.“So automatically, your mindset is, ‘oh, the coach wants us to defend, we have to sit back’. You attract pressure, and you invite them to have the ball more, and you invite them to attack you more and to be more dangerous, and the more they are on your pitch.‌“Yeah, one day it can happen, that you can kill them on counterattack and score the second goal, but 80, 90 per cent of the time it backfires because you invite pressure and there’s a penalty, there’s a little free kick or cross, rebound.”The Telegraph reports that members of the England squad were left ‘shocked’ by the defensive changes and the approach to the game.‌Former England captain Wayne Rooney is in agreement. Speaking after the match, he said: "You can't go a goal up and then surrender, surrender the ball and surrender any opportunity of trying to get the second goal. You want to be on the front foot when the pressure is on Argentina to get back in the game."Get the latest World Cup news straight to your inbox by signing up to our Make Football Great Again newsletter now!He added: "If you're on that pitch, go 1-0 up and then see the changes the manager is making…you are losing belief. There's only so many times you can get away with it. You start thinking 'We're going to sit back, how are we going to get through this?'"Article continues belowTuchel, himself has said that he has ‘no regrets’ over the decision. Speaking on BBC after the match, he said: “Millions of coaches after the game think that they know better. I have to make a decision, it’s how I analysed the game."No regrets. The team gave everything and played one of our better matches, probably our best under the circumstances.”Content cannot be displayed without consent