Thomas Tuchel has admitted there are times when he craves greater control in matches. But the England head coach feels the more chaotic, adrenaline-fuelled nature of the Premier League will remain his template as he targets glory at Euro 2028. Tuchel described his team as “maybe not the most economical to play football” in terms of their habit of constantly playing at full throttle.
They lost to Argentina in the World Cup semi-final in July when they had nothing left in the tank and watched the game slip away after going 1-0 up in the 55th minute. England barely touched the ball thereafter, had no control and were reeled in, Argentina winning with two late goals. Tuchel said he would like it if his team “became for 10 minutes more like Spain” when the pressure was on – a reference to the ability of the world champions to dominate the ball; their comfort on it.
Ultimately, though, Tuchel will always play to the strengths of his players, what they are used to, what they have grown up with – even what the fans in England most like. It may be an internal battle for him because he is a coach who finds a lack of control “hard to digest”. But as Tuchel looked ahead to the next international cycle and the Nations League games against Spain (home), Czechia (home and away) and Croatia (away), he talked of how he wanted to “embrace the chaos”.
Do we really value control? Is this something that comes easy to us? Or do we go: ‘Yeah, but we’re stuck in midfield, we should go, we should attack.’ “I’ve seen [England] training sessions on the very highest level of my career … with a lot of speed and ball speed, physicality, dribbling.
So it makes me just struggle … how and when [to seek control]. Because we’re talking about the highest-pressure moments, the semi-final against Argentina, 80% of the stadium is Argentinian. So now can you please become Spain for 15 minutes …” Tuchel was asked whether his team’s attempt to dig in grimly and preserve the 1-0 lead against Argentina was a result of their lack of control.
I don’t think that an English supporter goes to a Premier League match and wants to see a controlled match and 1-0 late on. But it comes with international players playing for the teams that are more open to that. They say: ‘Let’s play [for] 6-3 or 4-3.
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