“They were more afraid to drop out of the tournament”
Ahead of England’s upcoming games, new manager Thomas Tuchel was surprisingly damning in his opinion of the team at last year’s Euros in Germany.
England face Albania tomorrow and Latvia on Monday in their World Cup qualifiers in Tuchel’s first games in charge, having taken over from Gareth Southgate after interim-boss Lee Carsley had filled in briefly.
Southgate took England to a World Cup semi-final and quarter-final, in 2018 and 2022, and two Euro finals, in 2021 and 2024.
However, despite making it to the showpiece at Euro 2024 before losing to Spain, Tuchel has slammed Southgate’s side as one who were more afraid of being knocked out than a side who were going out to win.
When asked if England had a clear playing style last summer, Tuchel answered:
“Not last summer, no.
“The identity, the clarity, the rhythm, the repetition of patterns, the freedom of player, the expression of player, the hunger.
“They were more afraid to drop out of the tournament in my observation than having the excitement and hunger to win.
“That people feel ‘that is the team to beat’ [was missing].
“That we arrive with a group to beat, that we know when we arrive after qualifying that everyone knows this is the team to beat.
“We want to be open to adapt and this will start tomorrow.
“That was my feeling watching on TV, long before I knew I would be in charge. It was a pretty clear statement and I want us to play with a hunger to win and we want to implement the togetherness and joy to win, rather than the fear to lose.”
