Thomas Tuchel’s name was booed by England fans when it was announced over the PA system before his team ended their World Cup campaign with a 6-4 victory over France to seal third place.
Harry Kane firmly supports Thomas Tuchel (Image: ITV)
Harry Kane has insisted England’s players have the full support of manager Thomas Tuchel after their World Cup heartbreak. Kane insisted Tuchel’s “enthusiasm and tactical experience” could take England forward, even though he admitted Tuchel was still in a “stage of grief”.
Three Lions striker Kane also said fans had a right to be “sad and angry” over the semi-final loss to Argentina and that it would take time to get over the disappointment. England at least achieved their best World Cup result on foreign soil, beating France for the bronze medal. Kane said it was difficult to accept Tuchel as he had given the whole team a dream.
Kane said: “This is the best result for us in 60 years. His enthusiasm, the emotion he brings, the tactical experience. It’s not that he gets the result right every time. It’s the enthusiasm he has, the emotion he brings, the tactical experience.”
“We want to get the right results in important situations and he expects the same of himself. He’s a great coach. He not only gave the players belief, but he gave the country belief that this is our year.
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“That’s why it hurt even more than usual, because everyone believed we were going to go all the way. Everybody has to handle it. He has to handle it himself. He has to handle it himself.”
“We’re still in the grieving stage, the emotional stage, and we’ll be in that for the next few weeks. We won’t think about what the future holds and what our next goals are until next camp. We’re going to sit down as captains and managers and talk to other teammates and staff to see where we can improve.”
Kane admitted he understands fans’ frustrations, with Tuchel’s name being booed before kick-off in the third-place match against France. Kane said: “It’s really tough. I think the fans are behind the team and they’re behind the manager.”
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Thomas Tuchel’s name was booed by England fans (Image: CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)
“When things like this happen you get very emotional, which is natural. We’ve all been England fans and we’ve all had the experience of wanting to do this or that, but it just never happened. It’ll go away on its own.”
“Before we know it, we will be back at the club and the focus will be on the Champions League or the Nations League. Things will move quickly. Fans have a right to be emotional, to be sad, to be angry. We all are, everyone feels it.”
“We had a chance to change things and this year it didn’t happen. To defy the odds away and finish third, there’s still a lot of positives left. Let’s keep our chins up and go again.”
“When he takes on the job of England manager, he knows he will suffer if things don’t go the way we want them to. That’s part of the job. I know there are a lot of questions after the other night. We have to deal with that as players and I’m sure the manager will do that.”
Harry Kane and Thomas Tuchel have a good relationship (Image: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
“This is his first major tournament. He’s going to learn a lot from the players, the situation, the pressure, the travel. There’s also a lot we as players can learn from last night. For now, we’re just trying to process everything.”
“We’ve had a lot of good things and we’ve overcome a lot of difficult situations. This group is incredible, the best I’ve ever been in an England group in terms of cohesion, and the boss has been a big part of building that.”
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