Thomas Tuchel speaks after England’s 6-4 win over France (Image: BBC)
Thomas Tuchel insists he still has a strong relationship with England’s fan base, despite being booed before his side’s thrilling 6-4 win over France in the third-place decider. England completed their best-ever World Cup campaign on foreign soil by clinching bronze in a rollercoaster final match in Miami. The Three Lions’ win over France led 4-0 at half-time after a grueling 45 minutes, but the two-time champions fought back to reduce the gap to just one point by the 66th minute.
Kylian Mbappé scored twice at the Hard Rock Stadium to advance to the tournament’s 10th win. Saka completed his hat-trick with a penalty to make it 5-3, and Jude Bellingham sealed a thrilling victory eight minutes into stoppage time after Ousmane Dembele’s goal. However, before the game in Miami, when Tuchel’s name was announced over the stadium tannoy, there were loud boos. The 52-year-old was blamed for England’s semi-final defeat to Argentina in midweek, leaving them five minutes from reaching their first final since 1966.
Asked about his relationship with England’s fan base in a press conference, Tuchel said: “I don’t think we have lost trust. Whatever happened, whatever happened, when we became so passive in the last 45 minutes against Argentina, we were close to why it happened.”
“It’s my job to make decisions. My decisions, my interventions, my substitutions, my organizational changes didn’t have the desired effect. I have to accept this situation. It’s very painful for me because I acted in good faith with clear plans and ideas. It didn’t work out.”
“The responsibility and the blame is on me, but I strongly believe that we have built more in this World Cup than we lost in 30 minutes, myself too, with the decisions that turned out to be ineffective. The pain will remain with me, the scars will remain with me. In the end we have to earn trust in the next seven or eight weeks when we come back together in the Nations League.”
“We need to earn trust and rebuild it. It’s there, but it’s never a given. It’s normal in high-level sports to have to prove yourself and prove a point every time.”
Asked if he would continue to focus on work, Tuchel told the BBC: “Yes, it gives me energy when I watch teams like this compete. The fatigue will come later. I’ll still feel the pain in tomorrow’s final. This will take time. Overall, it gives me more energy than it takes away.”
Asked about the criticism his manager has received, Saka told the BBC: “I think it’s part of the game. There’s always noise when you lose. There’s always noise when you win. It’s how you react to that and use it as fuel. Today we finished well. That was all we could really do and we did it.”
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Thomas Tuchel is confident he can maintain the support of England fans (Image: Getty)
Meanwhile, captain Harry Kane similarly told ITV: “I think[this win]just helped us finish in a slightly better place. Everyone will still be hurt coming down from the win and the medal. They’ll still be looking at why it happened and how they could have done better. It’ll be the same for him (Tuchel) too.”
“But that’s part of being an England manager, when you dare to dream as big as we dream and you don’t reach it. We all fall short of that. We have to take it on the chin. We as players have to do it and the manager has to do it too. If anything, it only makes us stronger.”
“This was his first major (international) tournament. I’m sure he learned a lot from this experience, from us and from the whole season. The best coaches and the best players find a way to grow from these experiences.”
Tuchel told the Beeb: “It’s hard[to sum up this game]. What happened here was enough for four games. The first half was great, but the second half was turbulent. You can see the difference in the day, the difference in the schedule. We were just very tired and worn down over the last few weeks.”
“It was a huge compliment and the utmost respect for the mentality we showed. Overcoming all the adversity, it was really great. We know the quality and speed of France, so we were afraid of the physical demands of the game. Their schedule was not as demanding, they had an extra day during the semi-finals (and this one) and less distance to travel than us.”
“That’s the summation for us. We played in the heat, extra time, high altitude, etc. We were worried physically. We saw some cramping and fatigue in the second half, but mentally we weren’t worried at all. This team has produced something very special and they showed it again.”
England outscored France by six goals, with Bukayo Saka scoring three of them. (Image: Getty)
“France played in full flow, at full risk, so we were lucky not to concede the equalizer and finish the game with a penalty and a great goal. We had the ability to close the game, but they also had the ability to open it up again.
“Eight years ago they were champions, four years ago they were in the final, they were in the Nations League final. There’s a small gap, but that’s OK. We want to close that gap. Today is the first step to closing that gap. We did it, we beat them. Next up we play Spain in the Nations League.”
Tuchel insisted he had no regrets over his controversial use of Saka, despite the winger scoring a hat-trick at the Hard Rock Stadium after not playing a single minute in the match against Argentina. The German said: “No, he did everything right. I had a feeling in the Morgan Rogers semi-final that he was going to do something special. That was it.”
“The match itself demands so much. Because of the spasms and the flow of the match, we are forced to make changes. Bukayo showed that he is a key player, there was no doubt about it. Now I didn’t even know he had a hat-trick. You forget the scorer’s profile! But of course, it’s great.”
