U.S. President Donald Trump has joined the growing criticism of Thomas Tuchel's tactics in England's World Cup semifinal defeat to Argentina by questioning Harry Kane's second-half role.
Sources have told ESPN that Tuchel retains the support of the Football Association and is expected to remain in charge through to Euro 2028 despite a backlash to the manner of England's 2-1 defeat in Atlanta.
England led 1-0 through Anthony Gordon's 55th-minute strike but then surrendered the initiative and dropped deeper with Tuchel switching to a back five and ending with six defenders on the pitch as Argentina scored twice in the final five minutes plus stoppage time to reach Sunday's final against Spain.
Both Trump and Kane have spoken about sharing a round of golf together in West Palm Beach around 18 months ago and the President voiced his opinion on England's exit when speaking during a FIFA reception held at Trump Tower on Friday.
He said: "You have a great player in England, who I played golf with -- you know that, right? Harry, who's been fantastic. I think they perhaps made a mistake when they made him a defensive player.
"What do I know about soccer? They took the lead, and they took their best player and put him on defence.
"We have got to be a little offensive, right? But no I'm not going to call it. What do I know about coaching? It was unusual, but Harry is a great guy, actually."
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Tuchel spoke to reporters at a news conference on Friday, where he was asked about the many opinions given on his tactics following England's World Cup exit, including the comments from Trump.
"Do you use Donald Trump as your witness for the case or...? I was just asking," Tuchel replied.
The England head coach pushed back on the notion that Kane played too deep in the closing stages of Wednesday's match.
"In which situation did Harry play too deep? What do you mean? Like in the last 30 minutes?" Tuchel said in response to a question about Kane's positioning.
"Well, we defended in a deep block. That's what you do if you defend in a block. You defend in a block.
"We were not active enough, we could not escape the deep block but if you defend in a deep block, everyone defends in a deep block.
"That is what team spirit, togetherness, and mentality is translated to in football terms.
"We defend as a as a 10 and as 11, and if we are pushed back to a deep block, Harry defends in a deep block.
"This is what he did for moments in the first half. The difference is that we pushed back and we stepped out and we found the triggers to come out of the deep block.
"But we do everything together as a team. The team spirit, the togetherness, the mentality that this team built in the last six and a half weeks is not to be questioned and it showed even in defending.
"We became too passive in the last 30 minutes. We could not get hold of the ball, we could not find duels anymore. This is the next step that we want to take and from there we go."
England face France in the World Cup's third-place playoff match in Miami on Saturday.
