It was in Miami, before and after the circus act of the World Cup bronze-medal match, that you wondered if Thomas Tuchel had begun to question whether the high-wire act of managing England was really worth the merciless and aggressive inspection.The inquest into the semi-final defeat by Argentina a few days earlier had been unforgiving. Tuchel was to blame. He did not like the tone of the criticism, nor its verdict. His feelings, we are told, have not changed.’It (the criticism) felt as if we went out in the group stage without a win,’ he told us after the valiant, if somewhat comedic, 6-4 win over France.But the German was not joking. He was not smiling. There were no handshakes or tournament farewells. He made his point, celebrating the third-place finish, and left. He did not say this, but if you wanted a crude summation of his mindset, ‘ungrateful b*******’ would be just about right.On Friday, he faces the media – and the music – for the first time since. Unlike his sit-down with Daniel Sturridge this week, as part of an FA film reflecting on the World Cup, the first question will not be: ‘Well Thomas, it’s almost two years in this role?’Rather, he will be asked if reaching that anniversary was ever in doubt following the castigatory assessment of his part in England’s World Cup exit. The answer, you suspect, will be a steadfast ‘no’, certainly judging by his upbeat mood and conviction of self in conversation with Sturridge. Thomas Tuchel will face the media for the first time on Friday since the World Cup in July His defensive tactics during England’s World Cup semi-final defeat by Argentina still lingersAnd that is no bad thing. Tuchel’s belief in himself is one of his greatest strengths. You watched Michael Carrick wobble after a third-round Carabao Cup defeat this week and you know that will never be Tuchel. He is a good man and a very good manager.Yet, there is a feeling that he needs to meet his doubters halfway, if anything resembling a truce is to be called ahead of a 21-month runway to the European Championship. A line has not been drawn under Argentina, and the fault-lines will be stress tested if England underperform against Spain in their Nations League opener a week on Saturday.They are the best and worst of opposition. A defeat by the world champions can be mitigated against more so than falling to Senegal or Japan. A win and all is wonderful again. But when the likelihood is of a demonstration of the qualities England continue to lack – manage the ball, manage the game, manage the moment – then the ‘scars’ from Argentina that Tuchel talks about are sure to be picked at.Part of the backlash against Tuchel post semi-final was the suspicion of self-preservation when he pointed to a flaw in the ‘DNA’ of English players. Even if the diagnosis was correct, it was his job to reverse the coding and lead them to victory. To that end, he did concede some ground this week. Conceding ground, of course, was the root of the problem in Atlanta.For the first time, there was an admission that his ‘solutions’ during the second half against Argentina did not work. He did not, however, go as far as to say he should have done something different – critics wanted England to attack, not defend – and so the wounds on both sides of the argument remain raw.’No one knows what would have happened,’ said Tuchel, when an alternative to his ‘defensive changes’ was broached by Sturridge. ‘We could have done it and maybe lost 2-1. And people would go, “Is he crazy? He did it against Norway, finished the game with five at the back, so why not finish the Argentina game off with five?”.’From what I saw – the experience, the information, and the level of craziness that Argentina put in, one offensive change after the other – that was just my solution to the problem. I tried to help.’If we would have been more stable in the game, let’s say with more percentage of ball possession, I would have not changed the structure – why would I? And I would’ve gone for offensive changes.’But it’s my scar. I have to live with it. No one is more hurt than me. No one wanted it more. And you can now endlessly torture yourself and think, “If I would have done a different substitution, then we would’ve won the match”. You just don’t know it.’ Leading 1-0 with a lot of the second half to go, Tuchel deployed a back-five which didn’t workTuchel described his players’ retreat at 1-0 up as ‘waiting for death’ and that is why he intervened, reverting to the back five which had worked in previous knockout matches. He is right when he says the alternative could have been equally ill-fated.But he is wrong to offer Argentina’s ‘f*** it football’ as reason for their sudden liberation and England becoming prisoners in their own penalty box. Because what happens the next time opposition with nothing to lose throw everything at them? When Tuchel talks about DNA, soundbites such as this hardly help to evolve the genetics.What he is yet to tackle properly – and he must on Friday – is the solution. The solution he could not find in the United States when his players needed it most. The solution that makes sure it does not happen again.Tuchel has eloquently – and entertainingly – identified the problem. But listening to him this week, it felt like the defeat against Argentina was pre-determined once the second half began to play out the way it did. In short, there was nothing I could do. If so, what are you doing here?The head coach says his mind ‘only works forward’. Friday’s squad announcement will be a sighter of how that looks personnel wise – Alex Scott, Rio Ngumoha, Josh King, Jarrad Branthwaite and Liam Delap are younger names pushing for involvement. But what is his plan technically? Tactically? Psychologically? That is the conversation England need to have now.Tuchel survived the fall in Atlanta. Next time, there will not be a safety net beneath him.