Thomas Tuchel believes England have moved to a new level after his tactical adjustments in the opening Nations League fixtures. The head coach wanted his players to keep their aggression, particularly in the high press, to step on to the front foot and to harness the chaos that is so often seen in the Premier League. Alongside that, he has tried to give them greater freedom, asking them to trust and follow their instincts while staying alive to the need to cover for their teammates.
The results have backed up the approach. After losing to Spain at Wembley, England recorded three wins: two against Czechia either side of a 7-0 victory over Croatia in Rijeka. The home meeting with Czechia finished 3-0 at Wembley. That run has in essence guaranteed England’s progress into the quarter-finals of a competition regarded as a tune-up for Euro 2028, and has put a little distance between the squad and the World Cup semi-final defeat by Argentina in July.
Tuchel admitted the camp represented unfamiliar territory for him. “I have never done a big tournament or a big camp after a tournament,” he said. “It was new for me and brilliant to see how everyone bought in to the idea of the next steps and the details needed to adjust to maybe unlock the next level.”
He described the football produced as being of a high standard and suited to his players. “It was football on a very high level, football that suits us, attacking football,” Tuchel said. “It was a lot of high-ball wins and we took some calculated risks in the ‘man-man’ approach in the opponents’ half. We did it in all four games and we had four good performances if unfortunately not four wins. We didn’t beat Spain but it was always about the reaction and that was on a high level.”
The assistant coach Anthony Barry had spoken on Monday about adding more flexibility and fluidity to the game model, and Tuchel expanded on what had changed. He explained that England had been missing the transfer of their training work into matches, and that they had therefore made slight adjustments to how they trained. Those changes were not large, he said, because the staff always believed there was something to build on, but they concerned the structure of how the team build up and how they defend. Tuchel added that the two weeks spent with the squad helped a great deal, giving the group time to review matches and training sessions and allowing a common language and patterns to sink in.
Jarell Quansah said the style had evolved since the World Cup and now felt more aggressive and front-footed. “It’s exactly that,” the defender said. “I think it’s going all out. We can really dominate teams with the lads playing in the Premier League at such a high level and high intensity.” He described the intent as relentless and ruthless, with no easing off after a goal: the team keep going, hunting the next goal and pressing the next opponent. Everyone is working for each other, he added, so that if one player is beaten, the next is straight into a tackle.
“We’ve put together a few performances now where we’ve fully gone for games and not tried to sit back,” Quansah said. “That’s what we wanted to do in this camp. We’ve shown how aggressive and dominant we can be against top nations in a tough group. There’s a lot more to come.”
Quansah also spoke about the pain of his World Cup red card. He was sent off in the last 16 against Mexico at the Estadio Azteca for catching Jesús Gallardo with a high and late tackle in the 54th minute, with England leading 2-1. England went further in front before being pegged back to 3-2 and digging in for the win, and Quansah was suspended for the quarter-final and the semi-final. “It was horrible,” he said. “I went into the tackle quite fast so it was a bit unlucky to end up the way it did. Being inside [the dressing room] and watching the team pull through was gut-wrenching but an unbelievable moment as well.”
He made clear the episode still weighs on him. “It was tough. And obviously the two-game ban wasn’t ideal,” Quansah said. “You’re not just going to move on and forget about stuff. Obviously, it hurts so much. It’s not easy to get over something like that and it’s not been too long after.”