Morris: I'm a Huge Tuchel Fan, Which Is Why the Semi-Final Hurt So Much

Speaking exclusively with BOYLE Sports , former Chelsea assistant Jody Morris has given his thoughts on England 's World Cup campaign and the fallout from that semi-final defeat to Argentina .

Morris insists he is not among those calling for Thomas Tuchel to be sacked, but admits he was gutted by the substitutions that saw Anthony Gordon withdrawn for a defender as the game slipped away.

The former Chelsea man has also questioned whether third place represents genuine progress, weighed up the prospect of Pep Guardiola taking the job, and explained why Frank Lampard is a future England manager rather than the immediate answer.

Tuchel's Position

Has Tuchel's Position Become Untenable?

I imagine Thomas Tuchel will be staying because he seems firm in his position that he wants to carry on. I am never one to ask for people to be sacked; if he doesn't want to walk away, then why would he? He is in a great role, a massive position in world football, being the England manager.

Now, the only thing for me is that I am such a massive Thomas Tuchel fan and a huge admirer that it is probably one of the reasons why I was so disappointed with what transpired in the semi-final. Did we carry on in the manner in which we were playing prior to the goal? No, we didn't. But that happens in a lot of games. You even saw that in the Spain final: the minute they scored, all of a sudden they were on the edge of their box. That can sometimes be a natural reaction, but the biggest thing I was disappointed with was the fact that someone of Thomas Tuchel 's stature was standing there.

I know Anthony Barry is very close to him and speaks highly of how he is with the players. The moment we had an opportunity for him to speak to the players at the drinks break, I thought, okay, now this is where we address everything. We had been poor since the goal, and we had been too deep. I thought that was the time he would tell a few players that they're looking leggy. I said it in real time. I wasn't one of those reacting at the end of the game; the minute he made that sub, I remember posting on X that I could not believe he took Anthony Gordon off and put a defender on.

I was just gutted because of the way it then snowballed. We then put even more defenders on, and I felt that the outcome was inevitable. I am not one of the people calling for Thomas Tuchel to be sacked. From a football fan's point of view, as someone who admires Thomas Tuchel so highly, that's why I was so disappointed.

Prior to us scoring, we were going toe-to-toe with Argentina , and we were the better team. It was just disappointment for me, but not from a place of thinking he should be sacked. It's a shame. At the end of the day, for me personally, I know everyone is raving about finishing third, which is the best ever, but I don't care about third and fourth place playoffs. As an England fan, I never have. What difference does it make? You have Kylian Mbappe winning the Golden Boot because he scored a couple of goals in a game where there's nothing on it.

Does Third Place Represent Progress?

People can say you are playing for the bronze medal, but I couldn't care less. I don't think we performed particularly well throughout the tournament. Was there spirit and togetherness? Absolutely. But for me, other than the likes of Jude Bellingham , Elliot Anderson , and Djed Spence , that was kind of it.

Harry Kane got the goals, but not the performances he has been showing all year for Bayern Munich . It ended up being an all-round disappointment. As England fans, we always get our hopes up, don't we? When you have such a great manager in charge, there's no reason why you wouldn't think we can go that extra step. The manner in which we lost is what hurts more than anything.

The Alternatives

Should England Get Pep Guardiola Before Italy Do?

I am usually not one of those who looks for foreign managers; I would much prefer it to be an Englishman . However, once Thomas Tuchel was appointed, you have to acknowledge that if we are going to get a foreign manager, we are getting an absolutely top-drawer one. I am Pep 's biggest fan; he is the greatest manager that has ever lived. I might be persuaded a little more if people started talking about Pep , but at the moment, Thomas is still in charge and looks like he's leading us towards Euro 2028 . The best thing we can do is try and get behind him, but I worry when he says he has no regrets.

I wouldn't like him to repeat that again in the Euros if we got in that position. That is what is worrying a few fans since the game. It looks like he feels he has no regrets with that. I am not sure about having no regrets in the manner in which we lost the game and the way in which we performed.

The possession and passing stats since then are unlike anything I have seen. The capitulation was evident. Players have to take a load of that, but my problem was I felt there were clear players that could have been changed to re-energise the team. Instead of re-energising it, I felt we sat back. We gave Argentina more of an energised feel with what we were doing rather than going out and putting more legs on in adding Bukayo Saka , and maybe changing Kane because he wasn't doing anything. You want to put them on the back foot and fight fire with fire. But it's gone now. Obviously, that is just how I felt as an England supporter, but also as a huge Thomas Tuchel fan.

Is Lampard the Obvious Choice to Take Over?

Frank Lampard as the next England manager? He is definitely one you would be thinking of. I have said before that I think Frank Lampard is most definitely a future England manager, but certainly not right now. He has just come off the back of the best season of his career as a manager. For me, he was the best manager in the country in all leagues last year for what he achieved at Coventry .

Frank is always going to be mentioned in those circles, the same as people like Eddie Howe . They are two potential England managers, and I wouldn't mind seeing either of them sometime in the future, just maybe not in the near future.

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