
Thomas Tuchel ‘impatient' for improvement with England
Tuchel will take charge of his fourth England game at the City Ground in Nottingham, where he will look to keep up his 100 per cent winning record since taking over as head coach in January.
England came under criticism on Saturday after they only managed to edge a narrow 1-0 World Cup qualifying victory over Andorra, courtesy of Harry Kane's 50th-minute goal.
England were far from impressive in their 1-0 win over Andorra (Bradley Collyer/PA)
Certain sections of fans made their feelings known at the break and full-time with boos and Tuchel was thinking about giving the players more freedom in their midweek friendly.
Asked when England would be playing the style of football he liked, Tuchel replied: 'I'm very impatient, which is not always a good thing.
'I'm always impatient because when you step out into the stadium and even if the fixture itself for the players is after a big season, after big finals, European finals, fighting for Champions League places in a big league, it might not be the most exciting fixture.
'But for me personally, once I step into a stadium, see the grass, smell the grass, see 7,000 English supporters there ready to go, I'm instantly expecting something from myself and from the players and it will be the same tomorrow.
'Of course, I'm impatient and want to do better. We are thinking about giving the players a little bit more freedom in the structure – let's see.
'Tomorrow we face a more physical and demanding team. On paper it might not look as offensive as we were against Andorra but will give the players more freedom to express themselves and hopefully we see that on Tuesday.'
The Senegal game will give Tuchel another opportunity to look at his squad, some of whom have not played under his stewardship so far.
Tuchel admitted Saturday's performance did not match the standards he has been trying to set and announced there would be changes.
He added: 'We as a team didn't match our standards.
'I didn't like the last 10 minutes. We didn't play seriously enough to win it in the end and what we needed to do in a World Cup qualifier.
'Everything I say here I say to the players – why should I sugar coat? There is no harm done, we can have criticism and I believe a group of players in football can speak honestly to each other. I always include myself in that – now it's on us to do better.
'There will be some changes, I won't let you know how many but there will be. We want to reward players who kept their level up. We will see some fresh legs, new faces.'
One player who has not featured yet under Tuchel is Bukayo Saka. The Arsenal winger missed the German's first camp in March through injury and was not included in the squad on Saturday because he had only completed one full training session during the week.
Proud to represent the #ThreeLions ❤️
— England (@England) June 9, 2025
Saka said: 'It's been a bit of a frustrating year through injuries and (I'm) looking forward to tomorrow.
'After the last game of the season, I had a little strain. I was only able to do one or two sessions in the week so the manager said he'll leave me out and have me involved tomorrow.
'If I speak about Thomas, he has been quite demanding, intense on the pitch, but off the pitch relaxed and lets us enjoy ourselves and created a nice environment for all the players to enjoy.'

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Rhyl Journal
15 minutes ago
- Rhyl Journal
England ‘a work in progress' and have a lot of improving to do
England laboured to an unimpressive 1-0 victory over Andorra, a side ranked 173rd in the world, before slipping to their first defeat to African opposition three days later. Despite Harry Kane's early goal, the warning signs were there as Dean Henderson made five saves in the first period, but after Crystal Palace's Ismaila Sarr drew the visitors level, Habib Diarra and Cheikh Sabaly struck in the second half as boos rang around the City Ground. Gallagher, who was substituted in the second half, revealed Tuchel was calm in the dressing room after the game and is frustrated the next international window is three months away. The Atletico Madrid midfielder said: 'It was a really tough game, but we're still building. There's a lot to improve and there's a lot to work on and, as a team, we'll do that. 'I'm sure the manager and the coaching staff will look back at the game and see where we can be better because there is a lot of improvement to be made, but we're moving forward. 'He's calm. He's obviously disappointed and not happy, but he's calm with us. He knows we could be a lot better. 'It's a shame because we're away from each other for a few months now, whereas he would like to kind of fix the problem straight away, but he can't because that's how it is in international football. 'It's a work in progress and all the lads and the staff and the manager are all confident and happy with the progression. 'We have a lot to build on and improve and that's what we're going to try to do.' England were accused of not showing the right attitude in their narrow win over minnows Andorra. Asked whether they had shown the right application against Senegal, Gallagher replied: 'Yeah, definitely. I think we really wanted to win and I feel like we worked hard. 'I don't think we were great, if I'm being honest. But like I keep saying, it's a kind of work in progress and we need to improve moving forward and we're all happy to be doing that.' Gallagher's focus will now switch to the Club World Cup as he prepares to join up with his Atletico team-mates in the United States ahead of their first game against Champions League winners Paris St Germain at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. He said: 'It's really exciting and I'm really looking forward to it. It's going to be a great tournament. I think it will be really exciting when all the teams are actually there and the tournament starts. 'You want to always play against the best players and the midfielders. Obviously (PSG) had an unbelievable season, so you want to be playing against these guys. We know how hard it will be, but it's good for us and it's exciting.'

Leader Live
16 minutes ago
- Leader Live
Palace co-owner John Textor would sell shares for Europa League chance
The American, whose Eagle Football Group owns 43 per cent of Palace, has imperilled the club's chance of a first-ever European campaign owing to his involvement with Ligue 1 side Lyon, but is ready to offload his stake to his fellow co-owners in order to bring the saga to an end. UEFA does not allow clubs with the same ownership to compete in the same European competitions in a season. As well as his stake in Palace, the 59-year-old has a controlling stake in the French club, also via Eagle Football. However it is also reported that the European governing body does not consider Textor's influence at Selhurst Park to be decisive and is leaning towards allowing the club into the Europa League regardless. The PA news agency understands no formal decision is likely on Palace's fate until the end of June. Textor has previously spoken of his frustration at how little influence his stake entitles him to, over football matters. Victory for Oliver Glasner's side over Manchester City in last month's FA Cup final gave them their first major trophy and with it a first crack at Europe. However, Nottingham Forest have since written to UEFA to challenge Palace's Europa League spot and in the hope of taking their place. Forest's owner Evangelos Marinakis, who also owns Greek side Olympiacos, placed his shares in the club in a blind trust before the governing body's March 1 deadline, anticipating Nuno Espirito Santo's side's European qualification. At present Forest, who finished seventh in last season's Premier League, are set to enter the Conference League but would take Palace's Europa League place, should they be deemed ineligible.

Leader Live
16 minutes ago
- Leader Live
England ‘a work in progress' and have a lot of improving to do
England laboured to an unimpressive 1-0 victory over Andorra, a side ranked 173rd in the world, before slipping to their first defeat to African opposition three days later. Despite Harry Kane's early goal, the warning signs were there as Dean Henderson made five saves in the first period, but after Crystal Palace's Ismaila Sarr drew the visitors level, Habib Diarra and Cheikh Sabaly struck in the second half as boos rang around the City Ground. Gallagher, who was substituted in the second half, revealed Tuchel was calm in the dressing room after the game and is frustrated the next international window is three months away. The Atletico Madrid midfielder said: 'It was a really tough game, but we're still building. There's a lot to improve and there's a lot to work on and, as a team, we'll do that. 'I'm sure the manager and the coaching staff will look back at the game and see where we can be better because there is a lot of improvement to be made, but we're moving forward. 'He's calm. He's obviously disappointed and not happy, but he's calm with us. He knows we could be a lot better. 'It's a shame because we're away from each other for a few months now, whereas he would like to kind of fix the problem straight away, but he can't because that's how it is in international football. 'It's a work in progress and all the lads and the staff and the manager are all confident and happy with the progression. 'We have a lot to build on and improve and that's what we're going to try to do.' England were accused of not showing the right attitude in their narrow win over minnows Andorra. Asked whether they had shown the right application against Senegal, Gallagher replied: 'Yeah, definitely. I think we really wanted to win and I feel like we worked hard. 'I don't think we were great, if I'm being honest. But like I keep saying, it's a kind of work in progress and we need to improve moving forward and we're all happy to be doing that.' Gallagher's focus will now switch to the Club World Cup as he prepares to join up with his Atletico team-mates in the United States ahead of their first game against Champions League winners Paris St Germain at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. He said: 'It's really exciting and I'm really looking forward to it. It's going to be a great tournament. I think it will be really exciting when all the teams are actually there and the tournament starts. 'You want to always play against the best players and the midfielders. Obviously (PSG) had an unbelievable season, so you want to be playing against these guys. We know how hard it will be, but it's good for us and it's exciting.'