Thomas Tuchel is aiming to go one better than predecessor Gareth Southgate and win a major tournament, and identified an issue with the Three Lions’ Euro 2024 run
England manager Thomas Tuchel has suggested England were too afraid to lose at Euro 2024. The Three Lions reached the final in Germany, losing to Spain, but their new boss has been brought in with the remit of winning the World Cup after succeeding Gareth Southgate.
The Three Lions lost the Euro 2020 final on penalties and impressed during their World Cup runs in 2018 and 2022. They were less convincing at Southgate’s fourth and final major tournament, coming close to elimination before running Spain close in Berlin.
Southgate’s team topped their group despite scoring just twice, and trailed to Slovakia with just seconds of their round of 16 match remaining. They eventually won that game in extra-time before beating Switzerland on penalties, before a last-gasp Ollie Watkins winner saw them overcome the Netherlands in the semis.
Tuchel will begin his own tenure on Friday, with England hosting Albania in their opening World Cup qualifier. He will be looking to get off in a fast start in that game and in the follow-up fixture against Latvia on Monday, with Andorra and Serbia the other teams in their group.
Ahead of that opening fixture, Tuchel was asked about England’s performance at their last major tournament. When asked if England had a clear playing style at Euro 2024, Tuchel told ITV: “Not last summer, no.” He was then asked what was missing, and pointed to “The identity, the clarity, the rhythm, the repetition of patterns.”
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“The freedom of players, the expression of players, the hunger,” he continued. “They were more afraid to drop out of the tournament, in my observation, than having the excitement and hunger to win it.”
Tuchel argued “excitement” is the missing piece for England is. “The view that people feel that’s the team to beat. That we arrive with a group to beat. That we already know once we arrive, once we [have] qualified… that everyone knows this is the team to beat.”
Southgate’s tenure ended just days after Mikel Oyarzabal broke England hearts in the Euros final “As a proud Englishman, it has been the honour of my life to play for England and to manage England. It has meant everything to me, and I have given it my all,” he said in an emotional statement in July 2024.
The 54-year-old also backed England to end their long wait for a major trophy. Nine of the 26 players in England’s Euros squad were aged 24 or younger at the time of the tournament, while more youngsters – including Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly and Liverpool’s Jarell Quansah – could be in line for a debut under Tuchel this week.
“The squad we took to Germany is full of exciting young talent and they can win the trophy we all dream of,” Southgate added after stepping away. “I am so proud of them, and I hope we get behind the players and the team at St. George’s Park and the FA who strive every day to improve English football, and understand the power football has to drive positive change.”
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