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So, Thomas Tuchel, was the ball over the line? And, yes, we are still talking about it. “I don’t think so,” the new England head coach replied. “But there was no VAR so it stands.” Ah, Thomas. You’re on our side now. And if you want to earn the right to sing the national anthem, you are going to have to do better than this.
More seriously, though, as Tuchel throws himself into the challenge of managing England and moving on from the inconvenience of his German passport, this was an instructive exchange.
It reminded Tuchel, who is preparing for his first game in charge – the World Cup qualifier against Albania at a sold-out Wembley on Friday night – of the oppressive weight of England’s history; a lone star on the shirt from 1966 when Geoff Hurst’s crucial extra-time goal against West Germany did indeed stand. England were on their way, people would later run on to the pitch and so on and so on.
Perhaps, it also stressed the primacy of the result; how that tends to stand the test of time more than the manner of it. Tuchel took a long pause when asked what was more important to him: winning or providing entertainment? “In the end, winning – especially in a tournament,” he said.
Tuchel’s mission is afoot – to add a second star by winning the 2026 World Cup, which will be hosted mainly by the United States. He said it still felt “surreal” to have been entrusted with the job, that he would be nervous before Albania because he always gets nervous before games.
There was characteristic straight-talking, especially when it came to the burden of expectation; he felt the players were more scared about going out of Euro 2024 than having the joy to chase the glory. “There is a little bit of a lack of expression once they wear the England shirt,” Tuchel said. This must change. He must change it.
“You can be sure that if I say something in a press conference, I have addressed it to the players,” Tuchel added. “There are no messages given through you [in the media] to the players. We need to implement a communication style that is without fear.”
Tuchel’s boldness was striking, the self-assurance. There was no spiel about the need to navigate a difficult qualifying group. Rather opinions about what he will do once England qualify.
“I already have stuff in my head that I want to implement in America in terms of tactical or how the profile of opposition can change,” Tuchel said. “You can play a qualifier at home or then you go into a tournament and every mistake can be decisive. You can pack your suitcase and go home. Then, once we are there, we can change our approach to have the best outcome. We also need to think about the heat, humidity and time zone.”
Tuchel is obsessed with drawing people in, players and fans; creating something to get behind. How will he do it? It starts with a spark, which he accepts his team must provide, ideally against Albania. But it will largely be about energy and aggression, playing high up the field; spirit and conviction.
Tuchel remembers watching Spain’s final warm-up game on TV before their victorious Euro 2024 campaign – a 5-1 win over Northern Ireland in Mallorca. “I watched the whole match suddenly because I felt: ‘Wow, this is the real deal here, what are they doing?’ The stadium was going crazy.”
Tuchel went on to compare it with England’s pre-Euros send-off – the 1-0 Wembley loss to Iceland when there were boos from the crowd at full-time. “It was so, so different,” Tuchel said. “There needs to be an excitement and we need to find the excitement to go: ‘Wow, this is really now happening.’
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“We do need to entertain but maybe we need to define it a little differently. It’s not only a 4-0 or a 5-1 that’s entertaining but that the fans feel the spirit, that they fall in love with this team because they entertain them on whatever level. So a defender, for example, can entertain with hard tackles. Once the team feels the love and excitement around it, we can win easier.
“How does this team interact with each other? How do they celebrate a goal? How do they defend the goal? How do they celebrate a good tackle? Is the bench involved? Are they not involved? Is there chemistry – yes or no? I think that you [in the media] and the spectators and the people watching on TV … you can feel it if they have it or not.
“Once we make this first step, I think and hope that it will be a give and go and that the perception and momentum can become more positive. That everyone says: ‘Oh, we wish them the very best.’ And they are not like: ‘Let’s see. If this goes wrong, there will be a lot of trouble for the coach and this decision …’”
It was a tone-setting address from Tuchel, who radiated intensity, not to mention disdain for England’s decades-old sense of entitlement.
“I have heard it so many times now – the weight of the shirt, the weight of the shirt,” Tuchel said. “Why do we have this weight of the shirt here? We are not like serial winners. The tradition for the national team is not to win and we have to accept that once we arrive in America maybe we are not the favourites.
“Maybe we are kind of the underdogs and we embrace this role. This can maybe help us to change the perception a little bit – that we don’t arrive and say that if we don’t win it is a complete disaster.”
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