‘What should I tell you?' – Thomas Tuchel claims he is not feeling the pressure after abject England win over Andorra
THOMAS TUCHEL claims he is not feeling the heat as England boss — despite failing to fire up the nation's World Cup hopes since taking over.
The German slammed his players' poor attitude and body language after they limped to a 1-0 win away against Andorra.
4
4
Their World Cup qualifier in Barcelona followed uninspiring performances in Tuchel's first two games against Albania and Latvia in March.
And despite his Three Lions boasting maximum points from three qualifiers, the team have shown little sign of being in any shape to win the trophy.
But ahead of tomorrow night's friendly against Senegal in Nottingham, Tuchel said: 'I always feel pressure as I am not happy with myself.
'The biggest pressure comes from myself. We have three wins and three clean sheets and have a friendly match on Tuesday. I have felt more pressure than that.'
Tuchel pulled no punches after Saturday's win.
Asked if it was a risk attacking his stars so early in his reign, he said: 'What risk? You were in the stadium. What should I tell you?
"That we played a good match and are happy. The risk is only that you exaggerate it and make something of it that was not there.
'Everything I said, I said already to the team. There is no harm done.
'We were not happy and no single player will be happy with what we showed against Andorra.
'Why would the coach be? And why would we be shy of saying so? If we want to get better, we first need to address that we were not happy with the end of both halves.
'They looked bored' - Roy Keane slams England's 'poor attitude' as Thomas Tuchel admits 'I didn't like' Andorra effort
'I didn't name a single name. We do this as a team. It's always a 'we' — and I just didn't like how we ended the match and the way that we ended the first half.
' I didn't like the attitude or the energy level and how that dropped. I liked the beginning of the team.
'It always includes me. Everything I say, I tell the players.
'I didn't like the attitude in the end. We lacked the urgency at the end.
'We played with fire. We didn't play like we have to play in a World Cup qualifier when we were only 1-0 up.
'What did I do wrong? Yes, I am included. But I don't know. We still won a match. We still won a World Cup qualifier and I am the first one to ask if we could do better.'
Senegal will provide Tuchel's team with much stronger opposition compared to his first three matches.
The ex-Chelsea and Bayern Munich chief said: 'It would have been a good test anyway. No matter how well or not well we played against Andorra.
'We don't have lots of matches. We worship every training and match.'
Tuchel is set to ring the changes at a sold-out City Ground, with Conor Gallagher, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Declan Rice likely to feature.
4
4
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
28 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Country diary 1950: The first classic sheepdog trial of the season
CUMBERLAND: It was the first of the classic trials of the season. Shafts of sunlight fell across rock, scree, timber, and fern over which companies of hounds were driving the scent of aniseed and paraffin. The light colours among the scores of strivers scudding the trods were like gulls hunting the bracken clock fly. Always ahead and alone was one so dark as to justify his name of Black Diamond. He was racing to register his 130th triumph. For all his elderliness – he is a five-year-old – he was showing his fellows how knowledge added to resolution, speed, and stamina can prevail. Could he finish successfully a task he had begun well? The crowning test was the traverse of two meadows of 500 yards with two stone walls to climb. The hay grass was high. Only head and tail of hound could be seen as his lobbing body waved apart the seeding crop. A challenger was near enough to quicken ambition and to make a further call on heart and lung, but the dark hound did not falter in his stride. Catlike he climbed the walls, topped them, achieved a quick take-off, and flashed to the tape. He was the greatest of all the conquerors of the day.
Daily Mail
33 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Cristiano Ronaldo confirms transfer future amid rumours ex-Man United star could leave Al-Nassr for a Club World Cup side
Cristiano Ronaldo has seemingly put paid to rumours he was set to quit Saudi Arabia after another season without silverware in the wake of his Nations League win over Spain. The Portuguese icon picked up his third trophy with the national team, and second in the Nations League, when his side beat Spain in Sunday's showpiece finale after a penalty shootout. Spain had taken an early lead but were immediately pegged back, only to make it 2-1 on the stroke of half-time. Despite having far less possession, competing far fewer passes and having hardly troubled the Spanish goal, Portugal found the equaliser through Ronaldo, naturally, on 61 minutes with his 138th national team goal. The game then went to penalties, and despite their talisman being off the field, Portugal came out 5-3 victors. After the comeback win, Ronaldo admitted that bringing home silverware for his country was 'always special', before making clear his plans for his immediate future, amid reports he could be looking to depart the Saudi Pro League. 'The tears were of joy. When you win something for Portugal, it's always special, but there's nothing like winning for the national team, in my opinion,' the 40-year-old said. 'This generation deserved it and we were going to have a bit of luck and merit and we were going to win the final. 'We knew it was going to be difficult but we deserved it and this gives us confidence and allows us to go to the World Cup with more confidence. 'Future? It won't change anything. Al-Nassr, yes.' His emphatic statement comes after speculation arose a move could be on the cards in order to play in the Club World Cup, fanned, bizarrely, by FIFA president Gianni Infantino. Infantino told YouTuber iShowSpeed last month that talks were ongoing about Ronaldo featuring in the newly-expanded competition. Ronaldo, though, also had his own role to play in the rumours. He had appeared to signal that his time at Al-Nassr could be coming to an end when he put out a cryptic social media post following their final game of the season. The X post read: 'This chapter is over. The story? Still being written. Grateful to all.' He was subsequently linked with a shock switch to Al-Nassr's Saudi Pro League rivals, Al-Hilal, who will be playing in the Club World Cup. However, this move has not materialised and it is understood that Ronaldo is currently considering a £167m-a-year contract offer to remain at Al-Nassr. He joined the Saudi outfit in December 2022 after leaving Manchester United the previous month following a public fall-out with Erik ten Hag.
BBC News
34 minutes ago
- BBC News
Wymondham Archery Club started after 2012 Games is UK biggest
A town archery club that started amid the legacy of the London 2012 Olympic Games has grown to become the largest in the Archers club in Norfolk began in 2013 and already has more than 350 members, with the youngest archer seven years old and the oldest coming in at 91. Peter Hill, chair of the club, said that, despite the Robin Hood cliches, the club was a "community asset"."What it does mean for us is we are making archery more acceptable and appreciated by people across the community," he said. "We are massive by comparison to where we were in 2018/19... quite unbelievably we are the largest UK Archery GB club." Governing body Archery GB said that out of the 779 GB archery clubs nationwide, 18 were based in Norfolk. It said there were many benefits of the sport, including mental and physical health, tackling isolation - and teaching focus and resilience. It was one of the original Paralympic sports and could be adapted for any ability, Archery GB said. Mr Hill said that with such a diverse age range, members played alongside each other creating friendships and building camaraderie. "It really is more than just an archery club because of the breadth of age and because of the breadth of ability you end up in a very familiar environment," he said."It's a really good sport because we don't have to pass the ball, it's just solitary yet we stand side by side." Mr Hill hailed the sport's accessibility with members who have physical and hidden disabilities. In the future, he hoped the club and its facilities would continue to grow, with aspirations of an indoor archery range that would be unique to East Anglia. He described how one of the club's members said the club provided "caviar archery for fishfingers prices" which, he added, said "a lot about the quality we provide and the affordability". Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
