Tuchel did not deliver, but his time with England is not up - Shearer
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- Alan Shearer argued Thomas Tuchel should remain England manager despite Wednesday's 2-1 World Cup semi-final defeat by Argentina, calling the failure to deliver "extremely frustrating" but not grounds for dismissal.
- Thomas Tuchel signed a two-year contract extension in February to lead England into the 2028 European Championship, which the country will co-host.
- Tuchel retreated into a defensive posture early against Argentina — echoing tactics he used with 10 men against Mexico and in the closing minutes against Norway — and Shearer said surrendering that much possession gave Lionel Messi the freedom to "cause damage".
- Shearer singled out England's last-16 win over Mexico at the Azteca Stadium as the tournament's best game, calling it the greatest team performance he has seen from any England side in his lifetime.
- Harry Kane turns 33 in two weeks, and Shearer questioned where the strikers are who are "screaming to replace him"
- Shearer forecast three or four changes to Tuchel's next squad because this group "lacked balance," while Tuchel himself said after the defeat that he did not regret his approach.
- Tuchel received scrutiny from inside the squad as well as from outside, with BBC Sport reporting some England players were disappointed by tactics as the manager questioned the team's DNA.
Why it matters: Tuchel retains his job on a contract that runs through the home-soil Euro 2028, after his stated mission to win this World Cup ended in a 2-1 semi-final defeat. Shearer sets concrete benchmarks for judgment from here: squad balance, a successor for the 33-year-old Kane, and abandoning the early-retreat approach that let Messi dominate.
