Tuchel on lessons learned from Japan

Thomas Tuchel highlighted the importance of facing difficult opponents after England were beaten by Japan.

The England head coach had a final chance to see his players in action on home soil before he names his squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in USA, Mexico and Canada, and it gave him food for thought.

“For sure, it hurts,” he said after the 1-0 loss. “It’s always painful to lose, and to lose at home hurts a lot. I think we got punished for not a lot, for one counter in the first half.

“We need these matches. It’s a tough opponent. We had several players not available, so it was a new formation again. We tried stuff, and we need to learn.”

The Three Lions boss also explained the role of Phil Foden, who deputised up front in the absence of captain Harry Kane.

“It was only a false nine on one side,” he explained. “When we attacked on the other side, it was a normal nine.

“We need these matches, and we need to put it into perspective. It’s not the end of the world. It’s never nice, and we don’t like it.

“It’s not a question of false nine or normal nine. It’s a matter of performing, making a statement, winning one-on-ones, and being brave. We can do better.

“It was a well-drilled team that we played against, and we had a new formation and new players.”

However, Tuchel was without a number of players due to injury withdrawals, confirmed late last week.

“Why would Argentina not rely on Messi, or Portugal not rely on Cristiano Ronaldo?” he said. “That’s totally normal.

“Key players left camp for us, key figures, and we saw that a bit. We lacked the punch in the last 20 metres, maybe in both matches.

“We encouraged the players. It was difficult for us. I think today in the first half, we played way too narrow. We didn’t want that, but we made the pitch ourselves way too narrow.

“In the second half, we had more width. We were more dynamic over the wings, using our full-backs more, which we wanted to do the whole time. We took more risks and then had chances but couldn’t convert.”

Now, Tuchel will take time to 'think' and ‘reflect’, as he explained, before making decisions on his World Cup squad.

“It’s very clear what we want to do and how we want to play,” he added. “We focus on the principles and the doing, not on thinking about what it means.

“It comes with pressure, it comes with noise, playing for England, that’s just how it is. We need to see how players adapt, and we can only see it if we try it.

“So, we tried it, and we have to learn from it. We have two months now to get it out of our clothes. The players will play a lot of football in these two months, and then we will be ready.”