Thomas Tuchel believes England did not win Euro 2024 because they lacked ‘clarity’ and says the players were ‘afraid’ of failure.
Despite struggling to impress throughout Euro 2024 last summer, Gareth Southgate’s side managed to succeed in the ultimate where they were beaten 2-1 by Spain.
Southgate got here under intense scrutiny throughout the tournament, with former England strikers Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer amongst those that heavily criticised the team’s variety of play.
Tuchel replaced Southgate as England manager in October and the previous Chelsea boss is preparing to take charge of his first game because the Three Lions play Albania at Wembley of their opening World Cup 2026 qualifier on Friday night.
When asked if England had a transparent playing style under Southgate at Euro 2024, Tuchel told ITV: ‘Not last summer, no.’
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Asked what was missing, Tuchel replied: ‘The identity, the clarity, the rhythm, the repetition of patterns.
‘The liberty of players, the expression of players, the hunger.
‘They were more afraid to drop out of the tournament, for my part, than having the thrill and hunger to win.’
When asked what he feels is the missing piece for England, Tuchel said: ‘Excitement.
‘The view that individuals feel that’s the team to beat. They feel that’s the team to beat. That we arrive with a gaggle to beat, that we all know already once we arrive, once we’ve qualified, once we arrived that everybody knows that is the team to beat.’
In his pre-match press conference on Thursday, Tuchel also dismissed suggestions that England’s players have struggled because were played in unfamiliar positions by Southgate.
Asked if he felt that had been an issue for England, Tuchel said: ‘No, not in the previous couple of years.
‘I believe everyone seems to be trying that and I believe Gareth did excellent in doing so.
‘I felt the that team on the Euros weren’t, how should I put this… they weren’t free enough to precise themselves in a stable structure.
‘But England weren’t the one team to alter structure from match to match and I believe we’ve got to ensure that once we play now that everybody knows their role on the sector and likewise accepts this role and plays disciplined on this role after which from the acceptance of the spaces in your teammate comes the liberty and inside your space you possibly can search for solutions, find solutions.
‘We’d like to bond somewhat bit higher, we’d like to search out more rhythm and find somewhat bit higher connections on the sector.’
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