- 23/03/2025
England manager Thomas Tuchel previews their UEFA World Cup qualifying match with Latvia
24/03/2025
Tottenham Way, London, UK
24/03/2025
Tottenham Way, London, UK
Category
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SportsTranscript
00:00Hello everyone, welcome to Tottenham Hotspur's training ground for this media conference
00:08with Thomas Tukor, head of tomorrow's FIFA World Cup qualifier against Latvia at Wembley
00:12Stadium. As ever, we can keep it to two questions per person and we can get around to you as
00:16many as possible. Rob, do you want to start?
00:19Thomas, good to see you.
00:20Hi, same.
00:21You've had some time to kind of digest, I suppose, and look back at that first game
00:25in charge for you as England's manager now. What's been your main take from the game
00:29and what's been your biggest message to the players?
00:32Well, there were some messages already, but it was also recovery day yesterday so we gave
00:39the players also a bit of time to breathe and enjoy a bit of time off before we start
00:46today again on matchday minus one to prepare for the match tomorrow.
00:52In general, I was very happy with the effort and how we started the game. We played a lot
01:01of passes, we were totally dominant, we were well-structured so we conceded absolutely
01:06no counter-attacks. We were very well aware of the long balls and collecting the second
01:12ball so we put a lot of effort in. This was maybe not so visible, it was not so exciting
01:17to watch and not so attractive, but it was necessary to keep Albania to an absolute minimum
01:24of no big chances at all. The effort of the team to play in the structure and the effort
01:34in the counter-pressing after ball losses was very high, was very good. The game was
01:40a little bit strange because there were not a lot of ball losses, there were not a lot
01:46of interruptions in the game so it was quite tiring. If you are then totally responsible
01:53for everything in the match, for all the attacking, for all the counter-pressing, for everything
01:59what is going on and the opponent just try to absorb the energy and try to slow the game
02:05down, defend and block, it's sometimes difficult to maintain the level of focus, to maintain
02:14the level of excitement. There were some ups and downs in our match, we lost a little
02:21bit the structure, we lost a little bit the face in the structure and were a little bit
02:28more vulnerable for counter-attacks in the second half but not for a long moment. Basically
02:36we focus on the positives, we have a first win, a well-deserved win, we have a clean
02:42sheet, we have a win against an unorthodox opponent who played very well in the Euros
02:49and made the most of the role as an underdog and from there we go.
02:53Looking ahead to Latvia, do you plan to make a lot of changes?
03:03Yes and no. We have also reasons to let all of them play again and say let's do stuff
03:09a little bit better and find our rhythm together and find the connections but we have also
03:14reports from the physical department of course that there are some players who are flagged
03:18with slight concerns or with worries or just the observation that they had a lot of acceleration,
03:25deceleration, a lot of sprints. So let's see, it's only the second day after the match,
03:31it's still a day where we have to be cautious and it could also make sense to put some fresh
03:38players, fresh legs who really deserve to play and had some tight decisions so maybe
03:43it will be a mix between the both.
03:45Is there anybody particularly that's struggling that might not be available for you?
03:49Anthony Gordon left and we have some two or three players who feel their legs after the
03:57match but let's see. We have still quite some time, it's tomorrow evening and we will use
04:03every minute so let's see.
04:07Will the club build on the start in the XI or will it rotate depending on the opposition?
04:20It's on opposition and matches. I think we are clear favourites in the next match. I think it
04:32will be difficult to predict what Latvia is exactly doing. Of course we are right now watching
04:39clips from their match against Andorra, we are watching clips from North Macedonia, we are
04:44watching clips from Faroe Island. Still they are facing a new level of opponent with us and it's
04:52not so clear to predict what they are going to do. They have an Italian coach, they are well
04:58structured since he is in charge. We expect a back five, we expect either a 5-3-2 or a 5-4-1.
05:09We were able to push Albania back, not let Albania create anything normally with the strong
05:17long balls, the strong movements when they change lines and when the wingers come from outside
05:23inside. We were very well aware of that. I think we need mentally to adapt to that kind of role.
05:31Then try to implement our structure on the ball and have a good mix. When does it make sense to
05:38change our structure, to make life easier for our players to defend, to have high ball wins.
05:46This is the question we have to answer, how much we can predict and what we need to
05:53take in charge. Maybe not everything is perfect because we don't fully know what's coming.
05:59Have you spoken to Marcus Rashford and Phil Foden about what more you wanted from them?
06:08I have spoken to both of them in front of the group. They know I appreciate the effort,
06:15especially of the ball. We can see in the numbers and we can see when we watch
06:20the match again how much effort they put into defending high and to the counter-press.
06:27Also in their sprinting numbers, Marcus had a lot of runs when we had the ball where we did not see
06:34him, where we did not use him. He was a little bit unlucky maybe with the timing. From time to time
06:41we oversaw him. Phil is just maybe not finding the momentum at the moment that he can have,
06:48but both of them are very positive, have every right to be positive and know exactly what we
06:56want from them. Ideally we try to bring them in more one-on-one situations and ideally they have
07:02the confidence to take the one-on-ones. Phil needs maybe a little bit closer connections
07:08to a number 10 than we could provide in this match. Marcus created a big chance,
07:18created one big chance for Jude Bellingham and like I said had some runs off the ball
07:23where we did not use him, but off the ball the effort was there and that's what counts.
07:30In that situation when players haven't performed to your expectation
07:34and you're needing to rotate a squad, is the temptation to
07:37keep playing them in the starting XI to build that confidence and structure?
07:42Yes, it could help and it would also not be a problem to do exactly that and start with the
07:50same line-up, but it's also not a problem to change because we have some players who really
07:55deserve to play and it would be also nice to see them perform and to give them the confidence.
08:00At the moment no-one will be dropped from a performance point of view. I think we did
08:11what was needed, we can do better and have stuff to improve and we will focus on that.
08:19If we think some fresh legs can help for tomorrow then we're not shy to do it,
08:25but no-one needs to be dropped because he's not good enough.
08:28How is Morgan Gibsoy? You didn't call him up,
08:30you brought him in and you didn't put him in the squad. Does he get a chance at Wembley?
08:35It's very likely that he will be in the squad. Morgan is an amazing character, I have to say.
08:41I'm happy that he's with us. He deserves a lot of praise because, first of all,
08:47how he took the first disappointment when he got my call that he's not in the squad.
08:53He handled it very well because when he got the second call he was
08:56straight away excited and he didn't take it personally.
09:00I can see why he is a winner, we can clearly see that. I think he won with the youth teams
09:06already titles, with the national teams, so you can see that he's a fantastic team player
09:11and can handle disappointment very, very well. When we trained after the match in Wembley he
09:18was one of the outstanding players again in training, even if he was not in the squad
09:25before, so that's amazing. It's also how we expect it to be because it should be an honour
09:32and it should be a privilege to play for England. The egos have to be put aside,
09:40that's what everyone is doing and Morgan does it in an impressive way.
09:47Thomas, your honesty is incredibly refreshing, even after a 2-0 win game
09:57you still said we need to do better. What does better look like to you?
10:02A little bit more structured, still a higher rhythm, more penetration in the opponent's box,
10:09more runs off the ball and put our standards higher to more repetition of the same patterns.
10:24That's basically it. I think the most important was that from the excitement and the input
10:30throughout the week we could see that everyone was ready, everyone was ready to push the other
10:35one, the energy was right, the attitude towards team-mates and within the group was very, very
10:41good. It was a quite complicated match to play against a well-organised and good defending team
10:50and still we have room to improve. We can be more aggressive, we played a lot of passes
10:57especially in the first half. When it comes to the last 20 metres we have to think more about
11:03scoring, have a bit shorter connections like I said and a bit more aggressive runs off the ball.
11:10That's what we're trying to do and maybe we can straight away show tomorrow.
11:18Under a new coach, Latvia is still trying to find its identity. Of course we don't have a lot of
11:23representation in major leagues but we have a young squad. Are there any players that are
11:29standing out in your opinion and who would you take most into consideration if you would be the
11:36most interesting player in your team? I know all the faces of your players but I have to admit that
11:43I don't know all the names if you ask me. You have one key player out unfortunately for you,
11:49good for us, one key player in the half-left midfield. I think you have an identity,
11:55I think the identity with the new coach is pretty clear. You play a 5-3-2, you play a 5-4-1,
12:01you play straight forward, very quickly straight forward into the two strikers,
12:05you have wing-backs on the side who then support to attack, you have a number eight,
12:13minimum one number eight two strikers in the box and you try to cross very early.
12:18So I think there are quite some patterns already visible and I think it's also,
12:24you have to be patient and trust in the process. We can clearly see that you have a young team and
12:33we will prepare professionally and we will raise our standards hopefully to be the winner because
12:40that's what we demand of ourselves but we respect the quality of the coach and the team of course.
12:49Matijs Timofejos, Latvian Television 2.
12:53Thomas, you have a great career in club football in Europe, Germany, France, England.
13:02What can you feel already right now in England? What's the main difference to manage club and
13:07manage national team? I'm the most happy when I'm a football coach in England,
13:11this is what I can tell you, because I think it's a very special place to be,
13:17it's a very special group of players and the league and the approach of the fans to the league
13:24shapes the character and the attitude of the players which is always a pleasure to be around
13:29and there is no difference. It feels like training camp, it feels like a pre-season a little bit
13:38because you're 10 days together so it's very condensed and it's very intense.
13:45Period work of time, once the games are over it's very different because you watch a lot of games
13:51but you don't have the close contact to the players which I love the most.
13:57But it's exciting because we have 16, 17 months and a big target, we want to qualify for the US
14:05and we want to arrive as a strong group who is ready to go all the way. It's an honour,
14:16it's a privilege and it's a lot of fun so far.
14:21There were doubts before the game between a back three or a back four for your team,
14:26you ended up picking a back four. I'm curious about your process on
14:29picking a back four and if this is the final asset of your team going forward?
14:35Not necessarily, it was our first game together and it's important to have these games together
14:40to get to know each other better and see how the connections work and see where we can improve
14:49and where we have maybe slight problems. It's always about the players who give what to the
14:55team and then find the best system that they feel the most comfortable with and be the most
15:02threatening and at the same time most balanced squad. At the moment we thought that
15:12the first idea was very, very quickly that we want to play very offensive, also with very
15:17offensive wingers. If you play normally with a back five then you play with wing-back positions
15:23and you have maybe sometimes only three offensive players, goal scorers on the field.
15:30We opted for a back four to have at least four, plus a hybrid midfielder on the pitch,
15:36which was Curtis Jones. It can be from time to time in this formation that we played now,
15:42can be even five offensive players, which we will also try from time to time and see if we
15:48get the balance right, if this is possible. We still have the option to play with three
15:54central defenders, which I'm also familiar with and which has also advantages.
16:04Let's see. I think the players in the end will make the choice how good we are,
16:14how good we adapt to the different approaches. Football now is very, very fluid, so
16:20systems are maybe just static in goal kicks and in kick-offs and then it becomes very fluid.
16:31It's more about connections and finding principles that everyone can buy into.
16:38This is what we're trying.
16:50you