German Thomas Tuchel, head coach of the England men's national football team, defended his tactical choices after the 'Three Lions' World Cup dream ended in a painful late defeat to Argentina 1-2 on Wednesday in Atlanta, USA. England seemed on course to reach their first final since 1966 after winger Anthony Gordon gave them an early second-half lead. But they then allowed the defending champions to build pressure, with midfielder Enzo Fernández and substitute striker Lautaro Martínez scoring two goals to give 'La Albiceleste' a historic 2-1 win. Tuchel said in his post-match comments that his players became 'too passive' after taking the lead at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, adding: 'We are disappointed, we were so close, but we became too passive after we scored, and we allowed too many chances.' He admitted: 'We couldn't get back on the ball, then we conceded a huge number of crosses, chances and shots. We were close, but we couldn't maintain the same level after we scored.' The German is likely to face intense scrutiny and criticism for his substitutions, particularly his decision to pull goalscorer Gordon and bring on defender Ezri Konsa in the 72nd minute. Tuchel said: 'I have also made attacking substitutions in previous matches, we were only trying to help the players. We conceded a goal and decided to switch to five at the back because the spaces were too open.' He continued: 'They won most of the aerial duels and kept sending crosses one after another, so we resorted to five at the back to close spaces at the back and strengthen our aerial ability, because immediately after our goal, without any substitution, we conceded a huge number of crosses and chances.' The coach admitted responsibility for the result, saying: 'We tried to help, but of course the responsibility lies with the coach, and if things don't go well, it's easy to say the decision was wrong.' When asked why England retreated from a bolder approach after taking the lead, he replied: 'Yes, but that doesn't help if you can't get the ball. We couldn't get the ball out, of course we wanted to score a second goal, but I didn't feel that attacking substitutions would have helped.' He added: 'We couldn't win any tackles, we couldn't keep the ball, so I think the problem wasn't structural, we didn't change anything, but the game completely changed.' Tuchel acknowledged he expects to be criticized for his decisions, saying: 'No problem with that, I can understand these discussions, there are millions of coaches after the match who think they know better.' He explained: 'You can discuss that with a million coaches. For me, I have to make the decision on the pitch, that's what I see through my analysis of the match, and I take responsibility.' He stressed: 'I feel no regret at this moment, the team gave everything and we were so close. I think we deserved to be 1-0 up and put in one of our best performances, maybe the best considering the circumstances. The team was at its peak, but we failed to finish the job.'