Tuchel slams Southgate’s England; ‘identity’ and ‘hunger’ among seven missing qualities at Euro 2024
Thomas Tuchel has listed seven missing qualities in Gareth Southgate’s England at Euro 2024 in a scathing assessment of his predecessor.
Tuchel will take charge of his first England game on Friday against Albania ahead of Latvia on Monday as the Three Lions’ World Cup qualification gets underway.
The German has been appointed to carry England to World Cup glory in 2026 after they’ve fallen painfully short of claiming a major trophy under Southgate, including defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 final.
Southgate’s men scraped past Serbia before drawing with Denmark and Slovenia in the group stage and were heavily reliant on individual brilliance to reach the final, with Jude Bellingham scoring in stoppage time of their last-16 clash against Slovakia to keep them in the tournament before Ollie Watkins struck a dramatic winner against the Netherlands in the semi-final.
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Fans grew increasingly frustrated at the lack of fluency showed by England and asked in an interview with ITV Sport if the Three Lions had a clear playing style, Tuchel replied: “Not last summer, no.”
Asked what was missing, Tuchel listed seven qualities: “The identity, the clarity, the rhythm, the repetition of patterns. The freedom of players, the expression of players, the hunger.
“They were more afraid to drop out of the tournament, in my observation, than having the excitement and hunger to win it.”
Looking ahead to next year’s World Cup, Tuchel wants fans to be excited about watching England play and for opponents to fear his team.
Asked what the key to England’s success will be, Tuchel replied: “Excitement.
“That people feel that’s the team to beat. That we arrive with a group to beat. That we know already, once we’ve qualified, once we arrive that this is the team to beat.”
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His comments come following a report detailing his demand for the squad to communicate more effectively with each other during difficult spells in games in a bid to make the final push to win a trophy.
According to The Guardian ‘the new head coach underlined the importance he attaches to communication by showing his squad a graph detailing how interactions reduced significantly in the second half of the Euro 2024 final defeat by Spain’.
The report states:
‘The figures were shared during a team meeting at St George’s Park as Tuchel prepares for his opening game, the World Cup qualifier against Albania at Wembley on Friday.
‘A study was done of how often each player gestured at or spoke to a teammate against Spain. England went 1-0 down in the 47th minute and, although Cole Palmer equalised in the 73rd minute, they conceded a decisive late goal.
‘England’s interactions – the number of times they communicated with one another – were far too low for Tuchel’s liking during the second half, falling from 60 before the interval to 35.’
“That’s where Spain dominated and we couldn’t get up to them after that,” Jordan Pickford said, reflecting on Tuchel’s message.
