England manager Thomas Tuchel blasted the lacklustre attitude of England players even though a 50th minute Harry Kane strike got the Three Lions a win against Andorra in Group K of the World Cup qualifiers on Saturday.
Tuchel said that while his players started off the game how he wanted them to, frustration at being shut down led to a dip in urgency and a performance that was unacceptable at a World Cup qualifier.
“I didn’t like the attitude how we ended the game,” he said. “I liked the attitude how we started the game. But I didn’t like the last half hour. I think we lacked urgency and seriousness you need in a World Cup qualifier. I didn’t like the body language and it was not what the occasion needed.”
“Matches like this can become awkward when you don’t score. It can be stuck. Then it’s necessary to not get frustrated, to do the little things right. I had the feeling after 25 minutes we were a bit frustrated with the little things and everybody tried different things. Then it becomes freestyle and it gets slower. Everyone wanted the ball in to feet, and nobody was speeding the game up with runs. You need contra-movements and runs and if you don’t invest it becomes a stuck game.”
The German manager was then asked whether the lack of energy from England came from players being tired at the end of the season. Tuchel explained using statistics why he felt this was accurate.
“The window is the window, so no excuses. I think the clubs don’t like the window and for the national team also it’s not easy because the players are coming from a long season. We can and have to do better for the 90 minutes. We created an xG of 3 and underperformed with one goal. Normally in games like this you overperform the xG because of greater individual quality. But we didn’t. We lacked the energy. It’s the most honest thing to admit it and not talk around it.”
