​Coach Thomas Tuchel takes ‘responsibility’ for England defeat in World Cup semis — and he should originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.He came all the way from Germany to make sure England remained England. That has been the journey of Thomas Tuchel since being hired to coach the Three Lions at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHe was to be the one to elevate this team from not quite to right there.Instead, the answer again was: not now.England fell by a 2-1 score to Lionel Messi and Argentina in a World Cup semifinal Wednesday at Atlanta, allowing both goals in the final minutes of the game. Instead of heading to New Jersey with a chance to win the title, they will fly south to Miami for 90 minutes of exercise no one really needs in the consolation game.It has been 60 years since England reached a World Cup final. That’s six decades filled with so many brilliant talents and so much agony. There was Steven Gerrard’s backward header in 2014, David Beckham’s red card in 1998 and the Hand of God goal by Diego Maradona in 1986. Such superstars as Alan Shearer, Michael Owen, Gary Lineker, John Barnes and Paul Gascoine had their moments, their opportunities, and none got even 90 minutes from lifting that precious trophy. Somehow, this was worse.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHere, they were roughly 20 minutes away, with a lead against reigning champion Argentina deep in the second half. In the 69th minute, England keeper Jordan Pickford had been required to make a spectacular, one-handed save off a header from Nicolas Gonzalez in the center of the box. And along came the gift of the hydration break allowing Tuchel to establish the proper strategy for dealing with what remained of the game.Protect the lead? Continue to attack? A little of both?Tuchel called for defender Ezri Konsa to leave the bench and take over for winger Anthony Gordon, the dynamic player whose lovely touch produced the England goal.It was a very clear message to everyone involved, and its contents were so backward, so obtuse, it might have been sent by semaphore code.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementImagine that: thinking you can bunker against Lionel Messi and come away on the ideal side of the final score. This is his dream game: He doesn’t have to run, just skip around and try to conceive dangerous passes or shots on goal. It’s like a free throw shooting contest with Steph Curry.MORE:How Messi, Argentina engineered an epic comebackTuchel very subtly attempted to deflect the blame for his decisions. Although every goal kick from Pickford was clearly aimed to the left sideline with no concern for keeping the ball in play and giving England a chance to operate, although Tuchel had been the one to move toward a defensive substitution, he brought up the issue of the players’ on-field approach.“We got too passive after we scored and conceded a lot of chances and could