Jamie O’Hara has called for Thomas Tuchel to be sacked, as he furiously blamed the manager for England’s World Cup semi-final exit.
The Three Lions suffered more major tournament heartbreak against Argentina as they fell to a 2-1 defeat in Atlanta, despite leading with just over five minutes of normal time remaining.
Lautaro Martinez scored the goal which broke English hearts, as he headed home a stoppage-time winner from a Lionel Messi cross.
But for so long before, it looked as though Thomas Tuchel’s side were set for a first World Cup final since achieving glory in 1966.
Anthony Gordon gave England the lead on 55 minutes, tapping home from Morgan Rogers’ cross at the back post.
But instead of looking to build on their lead, the Three Lions sat back, as Tuchel substituted Gordon for centre-back Ezri Konsa in an attempt to shut up shop.
This only invited more pressure from Argentina though, who eventually found their equaliser with five minutes remaining.
Chelsea‘s Enzo Fernandez fired an unstoppable effort past Jordan Pickford from range, sparking wild scenes as the 2022 world champions kept their tournament hopes alive.
And the England resistance was well and truly broken in stoppage time, when Martinez headed home the winner from Messi’s cross on the right.
Argentina held on to celebrate reaching back-to-back World Cup finals, while England’s players, who saw a 60-year wait for major tournament glory continue, despaired to the ground.
‘Same old England’
The Three Lions’ brutal World Cup exit left millions of fans devastated, as well as talkSPORT’s Jamie O’Hara and Jason Cundy, who let rip at manager Tuchel afterwards.
Reacting on the World Cup GameDay Sports Bar, O’Hara began: “Heartbreak – we’re crestfallen here guys, crestfallen.
“England out of the World Cup against Argentina, we go 1-0 up, and Thomas Tuchel made one of the worst managerial decisions I’ve ever seen ever from a manager.
5
“Unbelievable stuff, unbelievable. Same old England, same old England.”
It wasn’t just O’Hara who was left furious at Tuchel’s game management, with talkSPORT’s Adrian Durham giving the German a dismal 2/10 rating in his post-match reviews.
Meanwhile O’Hara’s studio co-host Cundy was even stronger, who branded the decision to sit back against Argentina ‘cowardly’.
He said: “Same England, different manager, I’m afraid. Wow, I mean talk about not just throwing it away, but hand the initiative and then throw it away.
“I mean the best side won, can’t argue with the result – they were better than us over 90 minutes.
5
5
“To go out the way that we did again, it’s cowardly.”
‘Thomas Tuchel’s cost us the World Cup’
Cundy’s assessment sparked a furious rant from O’Hara, who insisted that Tuchel’s tactical choices went against the very reason he was appointed England boss.
The German coach was named as Gareth Southgate’s successor in October 2024, with the sole aim of getting the Three Lions over the line in major tournaments, after falling short in the finals of Euro 2020 and 2024 as well as getting to the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup.
But after his display against Argentina, O’Hara fumed: “You’re playing against Argentina. You can’t sit off for 25 minutes against Argentina!
“He absolutely bottled it. Thomas Tuchel’s cost us the World Cup – he cost us the World Cup!
“We’re 1-0 up. Played well first off, alright cagey affair. We go 1-0 up – be brave, be brave Thomas. This is what we brought you in for – we brought you in for this moment.
5
“We got rid of [Gareth] Southgate because he bottled it, because he wasn’t brave. We brought you in for now to make that decision.”
O’Hara insisted Tuchel should have looked to build on their lead after going 1-0 up, insisting England’s attacking options on the bench needed to be brought on.
He went on: “We’re 1-0 up in a World Cup semi-final – bring on [Marcus] Rashford, bring on [Bukayo] Saka and if they score, they score. But at least we’re going go down fighting, they’re going go down with some pride.
“We fell out of the World Cup in disgrace because of him because of him and we brought him in for this job – this is what we brought him in for to get us over this line!
“And it’s the same old England, same old crap, same old guff that I have to watch every tournament that we’re in, and it’s the manager that’s tucked us up again.”
Rounding off his furious rant, O’Hara called for Tuchel to be sacked, despite his contract running until the end of Euro 2028.
The talkSPORT host raged: “I can’t believe it, it’s a disgrace. He should be sacked, get him out, gone!”
