England have seen a friendly Thomas Tuchel and Thomas Tuchel in friendlies. Now they are getting a glimpse of Tournament Thomas; or perhaps, in his native tongue, Turnier Thomas.
The serious business has started but Tuchel is trying to blend greater intensity with a relaxed approach. The England manager has loved life at the World Cup so far. An opening victory over Croatia prompted suggestions that Tuchel’s team were the finest side in the first round of fixtures. Tuchel may have got his personal balance right, his team talk at the interval in Dallas inspiring an immediate improvement.
The competitive juices are flowing for Tuchel. His prowess in knockout competitions was shown best when Chelsea won the Champions League in 2021. He can prosper under pressure, work well with a target. He has had 18 months to prepare for his first tilt at a global international tournament. He is enjoying it.
“I don’t do anything extra. It just gives me a lot of energy to be at a World Cup, to have this tournament and be in competitive mode, to be surrounded by world-class players and fantastic personalities,” Tuchel said. “It energises me.”
England managers face a permanent test of how to react during a tournament. Fabio Capello was too strict, rendering his camp joyless. Sven-Goran Eriksson could seem too relaxed, too laissez-faire. Tuchel is trying to get the blend right; in part, for a man as charismatic as him, it is a question of how big a personality he is.
“I’m influencing the players, influencing the staff, so I have to be on the front foot [but] also not too much,” he said. “I want to have the right mix between relaxation and the smile and the arm round the shoulder and good spirit. I hope that they feel it because the competition is on and I want to be at my best and support them to be their best, because it’s their stage. It’s their potential that has to bring us all the way and should shine. That’s how I understand my role and I love the competition and [being] a coach.”
One of the intriguing elements is what drew the boy from Bavaria to England. For Tuchel, however, the World Cup can offer him something he has never previously experienced. “I’ve had one of the best days and weeks of my coaching career until now,” Tuchel said.
Those last two words are particularly pertinent. England head to Boston to face Ghana after making a winning start against Croatia. Over the last six decades, however, their World Cup campaigns have gone wrong, sometimes before even reaching the tournament.
England’s history is pockmarked by turning points; the dismissals of David Beckham in 1998 and Wayne Rooney in 2006 were two that assumed a seismic significance. It is going swimmingly now, but Tuchel reflected: “It always can change in an instant. You’re always just one red card away from a completely new situation; this can always happen. I don’t want to talk about it too much and prepare for something but something else is round the corner. Maybe nothing is around the corner so why even put it out there? Maybe nothing is round the corner and we do it and we will be in control. Let’s see.”
The encouraging element is that, so far, England have responded well to setbacks, as when Croatia equalised just before the interval. “I am very happy because we found an answer to adversity,” said Tuchel. “We conceded in a very tricky moment.”
It allowed him to see a positive aspect to letting in two goals. England were imperfect. “We need to do things better,” said Tuchel. “I think defensively we dropped a little too deep from a middle block into a low block and deep block, which is, in itself, not a problem, but we went a bit too early. Maybe it is good that we conceded, because it just tells us, ‘let’s not do this again’. It makes no sense, it’s not us, it doesn’t play to our strengths.”
And part of his aim is to play to English strengths, to get his side operating at Premier League pace, to get them producing their club form for their countries. There is a toughness to the stereotypical English teams. It could equip them for their next test.
“The beautiful thing is that the things that were not so good we do not need to amend anything new, we just need to do our stuff better from the first half [against Croatia],” added Tuchel. “I expect more ball possession. I expect Ghana to rely on counter-attacks because they are very physical, very fast and dangerous.”
That may give them some shared characteristics with England. Victory in Massachusetts could see Tuchel’s side win the group with a game to spare but they are not getting carried away. “At the moment I cannot see any signs of complacency,” Tuchel said. “The players keep themselves on edge.”
If the players keep England on track, there may be a further blast of Oasis. Tuchel may not have belted out the national anthem yet but he enjoyed the choruses of “Wonderwall” after the Croatia game.
“It was a beautiful moment and it meant a lot to all of us,” he said. “It is an iconic song and easy enough for everyone to sing. Hopefully it becomes an anthem because that is exactly what a tournament like this is for, for the connection between fans and the team.”
