Thomas Tuchel wants ‘relentless' England performance against minnows Andorra

South Wales Guardian

20 hours ago

After the German coach's reign began with Wembley wins against Albania and Latvia, the Euro 2024 runners-up resume qualification against the side sat 173rd in FIFA's world rankings.
Tuchel's first away game as England boss is being played in Barcelona rather than Andorra, who have lost all six previous meetings and are available at 120/1 with one bookmaker to win at the RCDE Stadium.
The 51-year-old knows it is a matter of how many his side win by on Saturday, when he wants the team to show patience and persistence.
'It will be on us to get going,' Tuchel said. 'I think it is on us to keep the tempo high, it is on us to bring the energy to the pitch.
'It is on us to bring the attacking energy to the pitch and to do this in a relentless way.
'I can fully understand that this is not the easiest time of the season for an international break. The players come from a short break of holiday, from a long and tiring season and then accepting again the role.
'It can be demanding but what I feel from the group is they are to be here.
Ollie Watkins has withdrawn from the #ThreeLions camp as a precaution due to a minor injury.
— England (@England) June 6, 2025
'We are quite new together, it's our second camp and I have trust and belief that we will do what is necessary to get the result that we want.
'We want a win. We want a clear and solid win that is never in danger. This is what we expect from us tomorrow.
'It is important not to over expect from us in terms of already a clear result, biggest chances, goals already after 10-20 minutes, and get impatient and get frustrated with ourselves.
'I think it's a test to our patience. Andorra played against Spain and it was 1-0 at half-time with a set-piece.
'It's a World Cup qualifier. Respect your opponent, you respect the quality, the defensive organisation of your opponent and you understand how difficult it is to break down.'
England will be cheered on by 6,800 travelling fans in Catalonia, where the team have spent the week to help aid team bonding and preparations for next summer's warm weather World Cup.
Cycling in sauna-like conditions and testing on their core body temperature have formed part of the camp, while the temperature is forecast to be 26 degrees Celsius come kick-off on Saturday.
'We just tried to figure out how the players individually react to heat because it will be a very hot and humid World Cup,' Tuchel told BBC Radio 5 Live.
'We did this so that we can provide individual cooling systems and individual electrolyte drinks and so on.'
Ollie Watkins was with the camp but withdrew with a minor injury on the eve of a game Tuchel confirmed Harry Kane would skipper the side.
The Bayern Munich striker is among nine England players heading to this summer's Club World Cup after Tuesday's friendly against Senegal.
Motivated on MD-1 🫡 pic.twitter.com/mIjELJbuFt
— England (@England) June 6, 2025
'You get just lost if you think now about the Senegal game and then you think about the Club World Cup,' Tuchel said. 'Then you just lose focus.
'We take it step by step. We will have a serious line-up tomorrow and we think the line-up is exactly the line-up that gives us the biggest chance to put the game in our way.
'After the match, we take decisions for the Senegal match and we can maybe then think a little bit more about individual players who go after that to the Club World Cup – but tomorrow, it's a full focus on the World Cup qualifier.'