England manager Thomas Tuchel hasn’t shied away in his scathing assessments of the nation’s previous shortcomings under his predecessor, Gareth Southgate. Tuchel will take charge of England for the first time against Albania on Friday before Latvia visit Wembley three days later to start the 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign.
The Football Association named the German coach as Southgate’s replacement in October, and he officially started work at the start of 2025. Tuchel named his maiden squad last Friday, which included several changes from Southgate’s Euro 2024 group and those of Lee Carsley’s interim reign. When asked about where England fell short at last summer’s tournament, losing to Spain in the Berlin final, Tuchel didn’t pull any punches.
“[There wasn’t a playing style], not last summer,” the ex-Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund boss told ITV.
“The identity, the clarity, the rhythm, the repetition of patterns, the freedom of player, the expression of player, the hunger [were all missing].
“They were more afraid to drop out of the tournament, in my observation, than having the excitement and hunger to win.”
He added: “Excitement [was the missing piece]. The excitement. That people felt, ‘that’s the team to beat’. That they felt, ‘that’s the team to beat’.
“That we arrived with a group to beat. We [need to] know already when we arrive, once we’ve qualified and once we arrive, that everyone knows this is the team to beat. Yeah.”
England reached their second consecutive Euros final under Southgate in Tuchel’s homeland, having lost out to Italy on penalties at Wembley in 2021.
However, the Three Lions faced criticism for underwhelming performances throughout the tournament.
England struggled to score goals despite the squad’s wealth of attacking talent, beating Serbia 1-0 before drawing 1-1 against Denmark and 0-0 with Slovenia.
Southgate’s side topped Group C with five points before requiring Jude Bellingham’s 95th-minute bicycle kick equaliser to send their last-16 clash against Slovakia to extra time. Harry Kane netted the winner shortly after the restart.
England fell behind again when Breel Embolo struck Switzerland into a late lead in the quarter-finals. Bukayo Saka responded five minutes later, and five perfect penalties in the shoot-out secured passage into the semi-finals.
More late drama was needed for a place in the final after Xavi Simons fired the Netherlands into an early lead in Dortmund. Harry Kane levelled the score from the spot before super sub Ollie Watkins struck a 90th-minute winner.
England’s luck ran out in the final. Cole Palmer offered hope by cancelling out Nico Williams’ second-half opener, but Mikel Oyarzabal’s 86th-minute dagger proved decisive.
Tuchel’s side will not only have to win during World Cup qualifying, but they must also provide optimism that England can start taking leads in the United States, Canada and Mexico rather than having to chase them.
