England face Ghana on Tuesday night in a bid to qualify for the World Cup finals, but manager Thomas Tuchel has urged his players to remain vigilant.
England manager Thomas Tuchel training in Kansas City
Manager Thomas Tuchel told his players to “remain calm” as the World Cup could be over in an instant.
FIFA has introduced a series of strict new rules for referees in this tournament, with Paraguay’s Miguel Almiron making history by becoming the first player to be sent off for covering his mouth during a confrontation.
England manager Tuchel said his players must stay focused and not get carried away, otherwise a moment of indiscipline could cause them to collapse.
“The situation can change in an instant at any time. One red card can put you in a completely new situation. This can happen at any time,” Tuchel said.
“The best thing is to stay calm and focused in the group and be in a good mood for adversity. There will be a first test game against Croatia and other games where we concede a goal, but we don’t know what will happen.
“I don’t want to talk too much and I’m preparing for something, but there’s something else happening around the corner. Maybe there’s nothing around the corner, so why put it out there? Maybe there’s nothing around the corner. And if we do it, we’ll be in control. Let’s see.”
“The most important thing is to be aware that things can be messy, things can be difficult, things can be difficult, and to have the right mindset and be relaxed and trusting enough within the group to be able to come up with an answer when the time comes.”
In the opening game against Croatia in Dallas, things threatened to be a stalemate after giving up a two-goal lead in the first half.
It brought home truths to both the dressing room and the watching public. And Tuchel said he “loved” Anthony Barry’s half-time TV rant.
Anthony Barry slams England for their first-half performance against Croatia (Image: Getty Images)
Barry watched England’s first-half performance against Croatia live on television and described it as “complicated and confusing” with some “horrible patterns”.
The brutal honesty raised eyebrows, but England assistant coach Barry plans to continue giving half-time TV interviews throughout the tournament.
And Tuchel gave his blessing and stamp of approval, even though he admitted he did not monitor Barry but implicitly trusted him.
Tuchel said: “Everyone is talking about this! Yes, it was great. I loved it. I would be very happy if he did it at half-time so I don’t have to do it!”
“But why would you say, ‘Let’s just let that happen?'” Do you think you need to do that? ! I would be very happy if he would talk to me. And you can see the quality.
“He’s a top coach. And he’s an inspiration, he pushes me, he helps me, he supports me. He’s just at the top level.”
“I haven’t heard it. But I hear a lot of people talking about it, so he jokes about it a lot. I can imagine what he said made sense and he’s just a top coach, so he spoke from the heart and with hope based on his knowledge.”
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