England are among the favorites to win the World Cup and Three Lions manager Thomas Tuchel insists he saw nothing in the tournament to worry about other teams.
(Image: Getty Images)
Thomas Tuchel insists there was nothing “frightening” about him at this World Cup.
Tuchel said he believed England could match any team from other big countries such as Argentina, France and Spain in this summer’s competition.
England face Panama at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Saturday and hope to get back there for the final on July 19.
Tuchel’s team will be hoping that a win will confirm their place at the top of the table and put them on the path to a place in the knockout stages as Tuchel prepares for changes ahead of the final Group L game.
But Tuchel said England fans need not worry about the goalless draw with Ghana because his men have had a tougher road than any of their rivals.
England manager Tuchel said: “No, overall I’m not scared. We just have to play football. We’re ready and confident to compete at any level.”
“To be honest, I haven’t watched much soccer because it’s always pretty early and I’m on the practice field. Then it’s afternoon and I’m in the office getting ready for the next day. I haven’t watched much soccer, but it doesn’t scare me.”
“Of course I think we have a good team. We see quality individual players who decide the team’s matches. We see all kinds of matches. I still think our group is one of the most difficult matches. This is our starting point. We are focused on what we can have an impact on.”
Tuchel is a major injury worry for Reece James, but Declan Rice may not be in that danger as they both had problems after the game against Ghana.
But Tuchel was also keen to remind armchair viewers, pundits and fans that other teams have also suffered setbacks but are still viewed positively.
“Spain drew, Brazil drew, Portugal drew. It’s time for us to believe and it’s time to keep moving forward,” Tuchel added.
Meanwhile, manager Tuchel is expected to warn his players not to let their guard down ahead of the group match against Panama. Three Lions midfielder Rice is on reserve while Ghana will look to sign Jude Bellingham during the showdown.
Tuchel insisted he didn’t want his players to be “cold as a refrigerator”, but also said they should not show too much emotion and get into trouble.
Bellingham loses his cool during altercation during England vs Ghana (Image: Getty Images)
England will face Panama, who are aiming to win the group stage and advance to the knockout stages, but Tuchel does not want to lose any players for disciplinary reasons.
Tuchel admitted he told his players to remain calm at half-time against Ghana and is likely to do the same for the match against Panama.
“We talked about it at half-time, it’s part of the game to be emotional and we don’t want to play cold like a fridge,” Tuchel said.
“We want to play emotionally but not get distracted or dragged into arguments or anything like that because that only helps the opponent and the weak.
“We did this well. Against a physical team like that, you can’t play without emotion, because otherwise you feel like you’re playing the victim role.”
“We want to stand up for each other and protect us and still find a good balance. So hearing this reminded me now to maybe work on it again and find this balance. That’s basically it.”
Bellingham was furious at the Ghanaian bench for trying to put Bellingham into trouble before half-time, but Tuchel insisted he could handle it.
Tuchel added: “Jude accepts that these moments will come and he’s happy to work on them because it brings out his edge and sometimes you need to have those little moments that bring out a little bit of that special part of him.”
“But for me, I was pretty close to what happened, but I wasn’t involved and everything was completely within an acceptable framework.”
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