LONDON, England (AFP) — Thomas Tuchel said that England were “waiting for death” in their World Cup semi-final defeat against Argentina as the Three Lions boss mounted another defence of his controversial substitutions.

Tuchel is preparing to name his squad for England’s first matches since the painful end of their World Cup campaign.

But, ahead of Nations League matches against Spain, Croatia, and the Czech Republic, he revealed that he is still haunted by the pain of their failed bid to reach a first World Cup final since 1966.

England blew the lead given to them by Anthony Gordon as late goals from Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez sealed Argentina’s 2-1 victory.

Tuchel was widely criticised for surrendering the initiative to Argentina by making a series of defensive substitutions in the second half.

But the German felt that he had to act because England were unable to cope with Argentina’s changes, which were far more attacking than his as they chased the win.

“You can try to kill me here. But it’s my scar, it’s not your scar,” he said in a documentary on the England app. “No one is more hurt than me, no one wanted it more.

“They can endlessly torture you and think, ‘If I had done different substitutions, then we would have won the match.’ You just don’t know it.”

Tuchel said that a combination of England’s visible fatigue and their success at defending with five defenders in World Cup wins against Mexico and Norway influenced his decision to sit on the lead.

Tuchel, the former Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, and Bayern Munich manager was hired because of his vast experience and success at club level.

He had promised to make England more attacking than under his predecessor Gareth Southgate.

But instead — influenced by Tuchel’s conservative substitutions — they retreated into their shell and cracked when the pressure mounted against Argentina.

“A key moment if I look back at it and what happened to my decision-making, we conceded a big, big chance right before the water break,” he said.

“And I thought, ‘We will not survive. This is waiting for death.’ We don’t have ball possession, we’re not defending good, we’re not defending properly in our 4-4-2. We need help.

“I think from what I saw and the experience, the information, and the level of craziness from Argentina, it was just one offensive change after the other. That was my solution to the problem.

“That’s what the intervention of a coach is. I try to help, you don’t implement anything for your ego or whatever. You just try to help.”