THOMAS TUCHEL accepts he has yet to find the “recipe” for breaking down teams who ‘park the bus’.
England face Panama — who Tuchel warns could play a BACK SEVEN — in tonight’s final Group L game, just four days after the frustrating goalless draw against Ghana.
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England boss Thomas Tuchel says he hasn’t worked out how to break down defensive teams Credit: Alamy
Harry Kane and Co were sluggish against Ghana and held to a 0-0 stalemate last time out Credit: Alamy
And the German boss has told Three Lions fans to be patient as they come up against another defensive team and low block.
The World Cup final will be held here at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, on July 19 — although on Saturday night, it could be a case of New Jerzzzzey. Maybe for a bit, at least.
England’s worst performances under Tuchel during his 18-month tenure have been in the World Cup qualifiers against Latvia, Albania and Andorra — teams who stuck ten players behind the ball.
Tuesday’s dour second Group L game against Carlos Queiroz’s Ghana, a side only interested in scraping a point, was the same.
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Queiroz, who was Sir Alex Ferguson’s No 2 at Manchester United, was appointed only in April after Otto Addo was sacked by the Africans.
And Tuchel has given an insight into what we must expect and a flavour of what his team talk will be like.
The former Chelsea chief said: “We had a message from a very famous colleague, a very well respected colleague, after Ghana changed their coach.
“He texted us and said, ‘Your most difficult game is now the second game. I will tell you that’.
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England struggled to create vs Ghana’s low block and Panama could be a similar proposition Credit: Reuters
“So I have a bit of respect for what we’re playing here and then we also need to trust our players and respect them.
“We will face another deep block in another kind of formation. We now see a back five.
“For many moments in the match, we will see a back six, a back seven.
“Normally, we try to overload parts and areas and then accelerate quickly in this moment of overload.
“There was no overload against Ghana. There will very likely be no overload against Panama.
“It is normal that it is difficult for us to overcome these type of blocks. Still, we wanted to be active and did enough to win against Ghana.
“We had to do a lot to control the counterattacks, which we couldn’t twice and twice it was very dangerous.”
Tuchel added: “I haven’t found the recipe where, ‘They do this, then we do this and then we are fine’.
“We encourage players to take the one-against-ones, two-against-two, three-against-three, maybe even four-against-four.
Tuchel has claimed England could face a back seven when they face minnows Panama Credit: Getty
“Even if we bring four players to one side, they will bring four. So even a switch of play will be six-against-six. It is just how it is.
“It is difficult to accelerate the match against these low blocks. You see this in the Champions League, in the Premier League.
“It needs this one moment of quality and a bit more precision with the crossing.
“A bit more timing with the crosses, maybe a bit more awareness with the crosses. This is the half-chance we want to take.
“Who is arriving with the cross? Are we arriving aggressively enough? How can we shoot more from outside the box, have a deflection and force this goal? That is basically the learning.”
England rightly got stick 12 months ago for their 3-1 defeat in the friendly against Senegal at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground.
There was also huge criticism of Tuchel’s Three Lions after the 1-0 win over Andorra in Barcelona — which came three days before the Senegal match — and then the 2-0 victory over the minnows at Villa Park in September.
Tuchel is trying to remain level-headed during the rollercoaster of the World Cup.
The German wants England to ‘stand up for each other’ and not get too emotional on the pitch Credit: Getty
TUCHEL LEFT WITH ENGLAND PROBLEM
THOMAS TUCHEL has accused his England squad of not being good enough down the left at the World Cup.
This includes defenders Nico O’Reilly and Djed Spence, who have both started a game each at left-back, along with left-wingers Anthony Gordon and Marcus Rashford.
Tuchel, whose team faces Panama on Saturday, revealed that his players have yet to “click” down the left.
He said: “It’s more about the unit on the left side than it is individuals or a case of ‘the winger didn’t do enough’. The unit on the left side hasn’t provided the same quality as they did against Costa Rica in the friendly.
“They were so good. I saw the game against Costa Rica and thought, ‘okay, the left side is solved, this unit, they found their link’.
“Marcus came on the left side, together with Ebs (Eze) and Djed Spence, and they did so well. So I thought, “Oh, we have two units. They know what they’re doing and they’re clicking”.
“It turns out we played the first match and they’re not clicking, I’m not even sure why, but it was not the same amount of connection, not the same amount of penetration, not the same amount of verticality, and this was the same in the second match.
“I don’t know the reason for it. I still trust all of them, I still trust them to get better. Marcus is just also very good from the bench, and it’s sometimes nice to hold someone back.
“He struggled to have the same influence for us from the start, and yet from the bench he was always pushing.”
A struggling Gordon was replaced in the first game against Croatia by Rashford and he scored the fourth goal in a 4-2 win.
The Manchester United winger, on loan at Barcelona last season, then missed a training game with a sore hamstring and replaced Gordon in the 83rd minute of the 0-0 draw with Ghana.
During the second game, Spence started instead of O’Reilly but the Spurs defender was shouted at by Tuchel for not getting forward enough.
Quizzed about Rashford, Tuchel said: “Marcus is in a good place, but when he started (against New Zealand) he was not as decisive as Anthony, that’s just it. We had a very good match against Costa Rica with Anthony and the unit.
“I know many times we spoke about him (Rashford) and you said, ‘You trust him so much, but what is the output?’.
“True, but he tries and he’s there. He’s pushing, he’s a candidate to start, but the left side in general, no matter who plays, needs to click a bit more and provide a bit more threat.”
He said: “The highs should not get too high, the lows should not get too low. I don’t think Ghana was a low.
“I have experienced matches like this in group stages of the Champions League where you travel to Copenhagen or Leipzig against a good team.
“You know already they will celebrate their duels, they will celebrate their counter-attack.
“Once they come over the middle line of the pitch they celebrate like a goal. It was like that with Ghana.
“They celebrated at the whistle a 0-0 like they won. We were kind of disappointed.
“We will try to find a very active and aggressive approach now against Panama but we cannot just be stupid and naive.
“It was difficult in the Andorra games. I was happy with the second game. Everyone now is so well prepared and Ghana are quite a difficult team.
“Maybe I am proven wrong but I don’t think anyone likes to play against Ghana.”
Meanwhile, Tuchel wants England to deliver red-hot emotion — and not be “cold like a fridge”.
The Three Lions can nail down top spot in Group L with a comfortable win.
Boss Tuchel has also warned his stars not to react to roughhouse tactics and avoid any potential red cards.
He said: “To be emotional is part of the game and we don’t want to play cold like a fridge. We want to play with emotion — but not get distracted and not be dragged into discussions and all this stuff, because it will just help the underdog.
“We did this well against Ghana, you cannot play without emotion against such physical teams, because otherwise it feels a little bit like you’re in the role of a victim.
“We want to stand up for each other and still find a good balance.”
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