Thomas Tuchel knew what to say, but he also knew what to do – absolutely nothing.
When England‘s players returned to their Dallas dressing room having moments earlier let a lead slip for the second time in 45 minutes, he took his time.
First, he told his young men to sit down and take a breath. While many of a scarred fanbase would have been quick to talk of ‘typical England’ as they made their interval cuppas, the German wanted to offer comfort of a different kind.
‘I sat down with them,’ he explained. ‘I gave them quiet time for themselves. I told them to calm down. We just conceded a goal. Calm down, calm their nerves and (then) encourage them to do it our way.’
They will not have been in there – and this may only have been a snapshot of a moment in time at a World Cup opener – but Football Association bosses may feel that what happened next delivered some vindication of their decision to turn to the serial winner, at a reported cost of around £5million a year.
‘I told them that my perception of them and of the last 17 days will not change of this result,’ Tuchel further explained when asked how he had inspired such rapid change by Daily Mail Sport.
Thomas Tuchel delivered a half-time dressing down to inspire England to victory vs Croatia
Harry Kane hailed the England boss for the ‘great speech’ he gave at half-time on Wednesday
‘I said that no matter what the result is, I want them to do it their way, our way. I want them to be brave, courageous, intense, on the front foot, and do it together, and, and just go for it, and, and try to take it, and be active.’
While many would have fretted over the defensive deficiencies that saw a frenzied Three Lions blow two leads handed to them on a plate by Harry Kane (and a VAR review after his initial penalty had been saved), Tuchel went in on his attack.
‘I encouraged them,’ he said. ‘It was short, it was calm. If they say it helped then even better. But that was the main message: to just encourage them and tell them that we trust them and there is nothing, nothing to fear. It was ‘we’re gonna go for the win’ and ‘be active’.’
It may seem po-faced to criticise his predecessor given what he delivered for what was a broken national team, but Gareth Southgate was often criticised for his in-game management, or a perceived lack of it. Leads over Croatia, no less, in a World Cup semi-final and Italy in a European Championship final nervously frittered away. A late equaliser against Spain in the last Euros followed by an almost instant retreat.
Tuchel has been brought in to manage those moments. To get this group over the line. It sounds like he wants them to race there. What followed was one of the best 45 minutes from an England side against decent opposition at a major tournament for some time with unanswered goals from Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford almost not enough of a reward.
‘I loved the second half, all of it,’ he said. ‘I loved the reaction to a very complicated first half.’ So did the rest of us.
Tuchel, who is known as the professor in Germany, has a degree in business administration. If he ever goes back to college then he may find psychology a breeze.
‘The leads – both leads – didn’t make us more free,’ he said, offering a further glimpse into what went on behind closed Texas doors and how he got inside the heads of his charges.
‘We had more the impression we have to protect something now, got punished for it, which is psychological – psychologically not easy. But I loved the reaction after the half time. We encouraged them to go for it, to play with more courage, to be brave, to be ourselves. And like I said, I loved the reaction. We created a lot of chances, we had a lot of ball in this, we scored goals, and overall, I think we deserved to win.’
Marcus Rashford scored England’s fourth goal as the Three Lions dominated in the second half
The 52-year-old, who has been there and done it in stints with major powers across Europe, knows what it takes to deliver. He also knows the pressures young players can face. There is a level of expectation with England created by a country desperate for success. After Cole Palmer’s equaliser against the Spaniards in Berlin two years ago, the instinct was to protect rather than overpower. There were familiarities here.
‘I felt that they were absolutely ready and they were free and they were relaxed yesterday and this morning in the hotel,’ Tuchel said when asked to explain the first-half.
‘I had a very good feeling. But you know, sometimes if you want to get it so perfectly right, then you sometimes want it too much and you overthink it and you’re not in the doing, you’re stuck in thinking and in the decision-making. In the end, in doubt, we took the decision to go backwards, on and off the ball. So we played way too many balls backwards, we played way too many balls back to our goalkeeper. We didn’t dare to eliminate, we didn’t dare to play through gaps. It took us a while to find our confidence.
‘That’s why I said that it’s maybe also normal. I had hoped that the goals help us; was not the case. But that makes it even more special that we straight away within the game overcame it and had a much better second half.’
While few will get carried away, Tuchel wanted to enjoy the moment. These are times to savour and not endure, which has been the message of England’s camp so far.
‘It’s been very emotional,’ Tuchel revealed of his own experience. ‘Since yesterday I felt the spirit, and what it means to be part of a World Cup. It’s just amazing, and I felt very, very alive the last two days. I didn’t want to be anywhere else in the world than here.’
England will now return to their Kansas City basecamp. Route 66, the famous American highway, runs through the Midwest state. Thanks to Tuchel, they have taken their first steps on what many hope will be an epic journey, no fewer than 60 years in the making.
