Tuchel right to question ‘silent’ England fans after anti-Southgate pledge over ‘handbrake’
Thomas Tuchel expected a ‘huge’ and ‘excited’ crowd at Wembley and promised to ‘play without the handbrakes’ in turn. England delivered but the fans did not.
In almost eight years, the closest Gareth Southgate came to criticising England supporters was in his lamentable handling of the Jordan Henderson backlash.
When he guided England to World Cup qualification in 2018 with an uninspiring 1-0 win over Slovenia, Southgate flat-batted questions over the Wembley atmosphere by telling the players “to be resilient”, calling it “the nature of playing for England and managing England” and suggesting that while “we’d love everyone to be fully supportive and right behind us,” the onus is on the team “to give the performances that allow that to happen, give people that hope and encouragement”.
After a home defeat to Brazil in March 2024, the manager sidestepped similar questions over the fans by pointing out that they sang the national anthem after 75 minutes and “can do as they please with paper planes”.
It was a relationship often built on deference and diplomacy, a man serving, respecting and honouring his country, feeling fortunate to be given the opportunity to do so.
The difference between that and Thomas Tuchel, whose straight-talking, feather-ruffling, no-frills brand of management implies an elite-level manager who believes himself to be more of a settler than a puncher, could hardly be more stark.
A squad selection policy based on meritocracy but also continuity and connection bore exceptional fruit against Wales. Before the midway point of the first half England had scored eight unanswered goals, all through different players, in their last 77 minutes against opponents who have recently troubled Belgium and Spain.
The way England have recovered from that damaging June international break featuring a scrappy win over Andorra and defeat to Senegal should have been the story. Perhaps even how well they handled the absences of Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane. But Tuchel wants standards to be raised off the pitch as much as on.
He believed “the atmosphere didn’t match the performance”. He bemoaned how the Wales support could be heard “throughout”. He said “the stadium was silent” and “we didn’t get any energy back from the stands”. He called it “sad because the team deserved more support today”. He felt a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes and “ball win after ball win” warranted a stronger and more lasting show of appreciation.
And as someone whose contract and remit only theoretically runs for nine more months, with no other ties to the nation or bridges to keep from burning, Tuchel feels emboldened to say it out loud.
If the expectation is for him to deliver a World Cup as England manager, he is justified in asking for something back from that arrangement.
It is not as if it came out of nowhere. Before the Wales game Tuchel mentioned his desire to change a mood surrounding England which had been chaotic and confused since Euro 2024.
“We can only change it by performance,” he said. “It’s on us. We will not complain about playing at Wembley, never. This is a very, very special place to play football and call home.
“I think it will be a huge crowd and the crowd will be excited because of what they saw in the last match, and we will try to build on that and create the same momentum, play without the handbrakes and let the players go.”
It was a deal the majority of fans likely didn’t realise they were signing, but Tuchel was bound to be frustrated when he and his players held up their end so gloriously in those opening minutes to a lacklustre response. It is no bad thing for England to have a manager willing to call that out now in the eternal pursuit of tournament-ready perfection.
