We discussed it endlessly. On late-night broadcasts, floating heads over scrolling banners. On flights and rail journeys, at bus stops and shops and children’s parties, striving to link the current boredom with future excitement, attempting in some way to foresee the emotions, the rush of blood, the pounding heart. At office sinks, jerthinktheylldoit, theyactuallymighty’know, shake-shake, and your sharp breakdown of the Rice-Anderson-Mainoo midfield gets drowned out by the hand-dryer noise.

Two years of this. Countless sums spent on tickets, hotels, rides, shirts, pizzas, flags, time wasted on maps seeking late-night food in Riga, the endless drama over Jude Bellingham and whether he belonged in the squad (turns out, not). How we invested and agonized over this, over the small points of the trip, over whether Danny Welbeck had earned a spot (turns out, not). All leading to the moment on Wednesday night when England lead 1-0 in a World Cup semi-final versus Argentina and your joy hinges on whether a group of wealthy players and a wealthy German manager can hold it together for 40 minutes, or not.

Turns out, not. And across the uneven edges of This England, an idea is already forming. That while Thomas Tuchel’s changes may have handed Argentina control, England were already retreating and settling into defense long before. That this reflects a deeper issue, perhaps even a character flaw, a repeated cycle of shortfall in which – say – a 4-1 thrashing by Germany in 2010 and a 2022 exit to France despite 57% possession represent the same shortcoming, a shared ailment in varied forms.

And these notions must be confronted early, because if left unchallenged they harden into accepted truth, whether accurate or not. Well, I reviewed the footage so you need not. In particular, the 13 minutes after Anthony Gordon’s goal until the next break. In that span England face some Argentina pressure. There are set pieces, deliveries, a header from Nicolás González that Jordan Pickford handles well. Yet none of this stands out as unusual.

Indeed, almost as soon as Argentina restart they hand England another chance, Lisandro Martínez letting the ball slip under his boot, Morgan Rogers regaining it, and Harry Kane unable to settle his pass. By 61 minutes England have pushed Argentina into their own half. Soon after Kane and Declan Rice both attempt low-percentage long shots.

The issue here is not strategy, not defeatism, not some ingrained national habit of collapse, but flawed choices, possibly worsened by tiredness. Lionel Messi is not yet dictating play, and nothing that follows is fixed or unavoidable, let alone part of a pattern across generations. The break comes and England can pause briefly, perhaps even swap players to add energy. It is here that Tuchel chooses to end England’s hopes of lifting the World Cup.

As an alternative, what might a bolder and smarter move have looked like then? Kane was clearly spent, and leaving him on for a slim chance of penalties later made little sense. So Ollie Watkins enters to stretch the field and press forward. This is no longer the right moment for Rogers, so you bring on Bukayo Saka, not only for his defensive work but his skill at escaping pressure and exploiting gaps. Most of all you back the plan, the feeling of drive and intent and togetherness that understands World Cups are claimed, not merely endured.

“If we lose, we lose in our way,” Tuchel told his players at half-time in the first match against Croatia, a rallying cry that sparked some of the most exciting football England have shown at a major tournament in my memory. Where did that spirit go, Thomas? Or: where did that Thomas go? Maybe somewhere along the path to the Azteca, or amid the Miami heat, Tuchel lost the basic belief that had carried England this far.

This is how you arrive at six defenders on the field, with Saka and Watkins and Kobbie Mainoo and Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke all rested and unused on the bench, with Cole Palmer and Phil Foden and Trent Alexander-Arnold and Adam Wharton and Morgan Gibbs-White back home. Between the second break and the second Argentina goal, England held under 8% possession, made just five passes in 25 minutes, and let a 39-year-old from Major League Soccer enjoy exactly the kind of match he wanted.

Let us skip rehashing each choice alone; what matters is the overall path taken. For an England supporter this may sting most: we trusted this side and these players until the close. What if Tuchel never truly trusted them?

“Ball possession is not in our DNA like it is in the Spanish DNA or the Argentinian or Brazilian DNA,” Tuchel said after the match. If this was once clearly the case, it is now debatable at best and a kind of misleading claim at worst that should remove Tuchel from the post at once. Rice, Saka, Mainoo, Elliot Anderson, Eze, Reece James, John Stones: from what we see of them at club level, are these players who struggle to hold the ball? Perhaps it is no surprise that later reports from the England setup suggested the players were unhappy with Tuchel’s cautious style: a style that gave them no outlets, no choices, no options beyond the crudest one.

These are players who wish to play football, who wish to show their talent, supported by thousands who spent their savings to travel, to chase, to experience something. This is no longer a country that falls short at international level, that ignores the tactical and technical sides of the game, that fears penalties. Is it too much to ask for a manager who recognizes what these players can achieve, rather than picture what they cannot? There are those who argue calmly that replacing the coach now is an emotional move over a logical one, that no better option exists, that a well-paid deal must be kept.

But for a manager brought in to win these pivotal games, ending a World Cup semi-final feels like the clearest warning sign. And beyond that the narrow outlook, the lack of drive, the nerve to criticize the whole English game instead of owning his own caution. Tuchel was brought in to unlock the real promise of a top group of English players. From what we have seen, it is not clear he can even recognize it.