- 3 weeks ago
Tuchel ahead of Nations League match v Czechia
28/09/2026
Fortuna Arena, Czechia
28/09/2026
Fortuna Arena, Czechia
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SportsTranscript
00:07Okay guys back with you once again two questions per person and if we don't have time we'll come back
00:11to you again.
00:12Robert, do you want to get an eye?
00:15Hey Thomas. Hello.
00:16Nice to see you.
00:18Reflecting on that game against Spain, a defeat with valor I think is the way most people have kind of
00:25summed it up.
00:28What does it mean? I don't know the word.
00:30The middle, defeat with credit.
00:33Okay.
00:34So middle third I think you said was amongst some of the best football that you've seen your England side
00:39play.
00:39But obviously Spain have real quality and hurt you at other times.
00:43But in the aftermath there's been loads of discussion about England's style of play, what their DNA is, personnel, that
00:49sort of thing.
00:49You're the England boss, what's top of the agenda for you right now?
00:53I think there was a lot of discussion about this before as well, not only after.
00:57I think we showed our style and we showed our courage and the players showed an identity and they showed
01:04it throughout the 90 minutes.
01:05I think we were a valid part of a very good football match overall, over 90 minutes.
01:16Both teams showed their quality, we showed our quality.
01:19I think we created a lot of very promising opportunities.
01:24We could not convert them in clear-cut chances unfortunately, but we were very promising, we gave them a lot
01:30of problems.
01:31We caused ourselves some problems with individual mistakes, this can sometimes happen, it should not happen, but it happened.
01:38But I think we played our way and we encouraged the players to play their way and the way they
01:43want to play.
01:45I found the atmosphere very, very good and I think the team was the cause for that.
01:51Everyone was ready to push and we felt that we had them, we had the world and European champions on
02:00the edge of a defeat.
02:02In the decisive moments where we played our best football, we kept attacking when we were a goal ahead.
02:07We were even more dominant and more of a threat.
02:13We were a little bit self-responsible for the break of momentum towards the end of the match.
02:20Overall we have a lot of positives to take away, not the result but everything else.
02:25And this is where we are, so the headline is maybe to repeat it, to reproduce it tomorrow.
02:32Total different circumstances, total different set-up of a match, but it's still League 1 in Nations League,
02:40so we expect a difficult one.
02:42We saw a new coach with his team, very well organised, of Czechia against Croatia, very fluid in midfield.
02:48A lot of things that we saw in Spain, we saw in the team of Czechia.
02:53So yeah, we need to be ready again, that's how it always is.
02:59Do you see this game slightly differently to the Spain game in the sense that this one must-win for
03:03you and the team?
03:04It's a bit early for must-win, I know what you mean, but it's a bit early in the group
03:08for a must-win.
03:09In general we always arrive at every match and prepare the team with a target to win.
03:17This is always the target, it was the target against Spain and this is the target tomorrow.
03:21At the same time we respect your position, we respect the quality, we respect the challenge that it brings
03:28if you play in Prague against Czechia, that's in itself, it's difficult, it will be emotional,
03:34it will be support for the home team, that's just what it is.
03:40And like I said, we always prepare for the win, we want the win, absolutely.
03:44It's in the consolation of a group and knowing where we want to go,
03:49it's too early to speak for a must.
03:53But yeah, it would be ideal, but the problem is the opponent on the other side.
03:59Hi Thomas, Esri Konza and Nico O'Reilly missed training today, so are they available tomorrow?
04:06I'm not sure yet, they missed training, so that's what you saw because of minor issues,
04:12but there are still issues and they need to be assessed and take a decision tomorrow morning.
04:17And in terms of rotation, you said you'd see how the players are because of the gap between games,
04:22so how are they and will there be much rotation tomorrow?
04:25Very good training session, today we kept them going again,
04:31everyone you saw on the pitch was in good spirits and in good quality.
04:36Ideally I would love to put the same team out there,
04:40but I need to speak with doctors, physios and the players themselves,
04:45what is responsible and what not, so let's see for tomorrow.
04:50My mindset was before the camp to not rotate too much, but we need to be of course,
04:58and we will always be very considerate with the health of the players.
05:04Hi Thomas, just on that, you talked about obviously the tight schedule
05:08and there's always this wider debate about player welfare,
05:11but do you think this schedule is sort of forcing coaches and players to consider taking risks
05:18that maybe they shouldn't have to or wouldn't in other circumstances?
05:21I don't know, I find this format now even more challenging than any other format,
05:27I have to say, a lot of travelling and playing twice within only two days of rest in between,
05:34and then flying and change of pitches and I think the change of training in itself,
05:41the change of training style, the change of style of play,
05:44sometimes the change of position for a player between national team and club
05:49brings its own risks for injury and I think this format is my feeling at the moment increases,
05:57it's more than a decrease.
05:58Can you give us an insight into what the last sort of 48 hours are like,
06:02just in terms of how quick the turnaround is, what work you can actually do?
06:06Okay, we had a home match, we were driving home, then late at night at home,
06:09tried to give them some sleep, then we trained in Wembley with the players
06:14after the match who didn't play because we had everyone on the pitch Tuesday, Wednesday,
06:20Friday, Saturday and Saturday, so four days in a row we met Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,
06:27five days in a row, even the guys trained on Saturday if they didn't start,
06:34so it was necessary in our point of view to give them a total recovery day
06:39without football boots and nobody on the pitch, so we did this on Sunday morning,
06:43gave them Sunday afternoon free time, spare time with the families, friends, whatever to do,
06:51then they came back to camp at 10 o'clock, and today in the morning was a training session,
06:58a light training session for the players who started the match
07:02and a bit of a longer session in the end for the guys who didn't play,
07:07and then back into the bus, back into the plane and back into the bus to the hotel or press
07:12conference,
07:13and then tomorrow we need to be ready again, so a lot of training is done in a meeting room,
07:19a lot of training is done in individual clips and talks, that's basically what it is.
07:26One day longer would really make a difference, but it is what it is,
07:30and I feel that the players today who are on the pitch are all ready to play mentally,
07:36they want to play, and we go, like I said, we will always take player welfare
07:41and player health as highest priority, but we will not think further ahead than tomorrow.
07:49Obviously you say it's not a must-win yet, it's too early for that.
07:52Do you feel that you need a result just to, I don't know, build the positivity,
07:56just to kind of kick on from the summer?
07:57I feel I always need a result, no matter where, like you always need a result in football
08:02to get confidence and to get the support and to get the belief you always need,
08:07and especially after a defeat, even if everyone in camp truly believed
08:12and even the players truly believed that this is the way to go forward
08:16and that we had a good performance, even then you just need it for yourself
08:21and for the belief and to show straight away a reaction,
08:26and the best reaction is, of course, if you can prove it in a result.
08:37Good evening coach, Czech Radio. What do you specifically expect from the Czech football national team?
08:45Like I said, we analysed, of course, only one match from the Czech team because you have a new coach.
08:54We saw a lot of patterns that we saw in the Spanish side.
09:01We saw a very flexible midfield of three, a lot of change of positions.
09:08We saw wingers attacking full-backs, attacking wingers in a 4-3-3 formation.
09:14We saw a team that was well organised, we saw a team that was ready to go for a new
09:20coach,
09:20for new ideas and full of motivation to take their chance and impress.
09:28That's what we saw. It was a very, very close match between both teams.
09:35Czechia scored a late equaliser which was disallowed in a very good manner,
09:43an amazing goal by the way, well played but didn't stand.
09:49So that's what we are up against.
09:51And then of course you play against the supporters and you play against the atmosphere
09:55that the underdog will bring to any game. That's just a part of it but also the beauty of it.
10:01And we will prepare the game as professional as any other game.
10:08OK, we've got two more to go. Sammy, in the middle here.
10:16Hi Thomas.
10:17Hi.
10:18Declan Rice was at the game on Friday.
10:22What does that say? You've spoken a lot about the camaraderie and the brotherhood, I guess.
10:28What does that say when he didn't have to be there?
10:30Yeah, it was good.
10:31I liked it a lot. It was good that he was there.
10:34He had, I think, a long journey, a long travel to the stadium,
10:39brought his son, so that was nice to see.
10:42And, like, Dak is gutted because he loves to play for England.
10:45He loves to be part of this team. He's one of our key players.
10:48And, of course, we miss him, but it was nice that he showed his support,
10:53showed his face and to see him quickly. It's good.
10:56And just quickly, on the sort of the rest of the three games,
11:00you said that if you'd rather not rotate too much in the remaining games,
11:05maybe some other head coaches may approach it differently
11:08and look at these games as an opportunity to maybe blood some other plays into their teams and squad.
11:15Can I ask why you view it, how you view it, please?
11:18Yeah, I think we have six, seven positions that were crucial for us in the World Cup,
11:24qualifying campaign and in the World Cup,
11:26and I would just keep on going to build automatism
11:31and to build strength and to build belief and trust with these kind of players.
11:38I think it's sometimes also not so fair if you change too much
11:42and you have too many changes within a team
11:47because then you play with a new teammate, you play in a new style,
11:51you play with a new coach that demands new stuff.
11:54So I think it's sometimes healthier if you only have maybe two or three changes maximum
12:01to find your way to impress.
12:05But listen, like I said, we will be very cautious with our players
12:09but at the same time the match tomorrow has for us the highest priority,
12:14we are not planning further ahead and we will go step by step
12:17and players are available for tomorrow.
12:20It's like always, the last checks now in the evening
12:23and the very last checks maybe then tomorrow morning.
12:26And if the doctors, physios and players give a thumbs up
12:31then we are ready to go and hopefully not too many changes
12:35but we will see.
12:40Thomas, good evening.
12:42I think in the qualification period for the World Cup,
12:45defensively it was almost impeccable from England.
12:49Since the step up in opposition, you've conceded a few more goals.
12:53How do you assess that and are you trying to fix it?
12:57What are you doing trying to fix it?
12:58Is it something that concerns you or is it a byproduct of the football you play?
13:01Not yet, but the last two matches was 6-4 against France
13:05and 2-3 against Spain.
13:10That's in itself seven goals in two matches, very unusual.
13:15I got the question before I understand the question.
13:19It's not a concern yet.
13:20I felt that we were in terms of organised defending
13:23and block defending and active defending
13:26to not spend too much time in a low block,
13:31pushing out into middle block, pushing out into our high press
13:35was on a very good level, on a higher level than in many other matches
13:40on this kind of level.
13:43So with a pure setup of defending and isolated,
13:48if you want to look isolated at how we did it within the structure
13:54and in the units of the sides, I was quite happy.
14:00And I think this was a step ahead.
14:03We suffered clearly from individual mistakes when we had the ball,
14:08especially in the deep build-up.
14:10So that is, of course, something we cannot repeat,
14:17especially not on this kind of level.
14:19We have to take care about this.
14:20We have to be technically absolutely clinical, also under pressure.
14:26And we need to improve these things.
14:29But strangely enough, when we had the ball,
14:34we were the biggest danger to ourselves around the box
14:38because we had just had too many individual mistakes.
14:42Purely in defending, I have no concerns and trust that we can do it.
14:49Some players, of course, are not here.
14:52That would also help in organizing and in the defensive block.
14:57But like I said, I think we don't have any reason to be concerned yet.
15:02And finally, it was nice to see James Trafford
15:06play in a competitive game at the weekend.
15:09What did you learn from that experience?
15:11And is there anything that you're looking for specifically
15:13for him to display in tomorrow's match?
15:16Again, it was for me and for the goalkeeper coach,
15:19for me it was important that he stays in goal,
15:22that he can just use this experience with these players
15:26that he hasn't played so much or maybe never played with,
15:29that they can use it together as a defensive unit,
15:32as a defensive block and build on these experiences.
15:36So that's why we gave him two consecutive matches.
15:44Yeah, there's always stuff to improve
15:46and it is of course on a very new level for him also.
15:50To play against the world champion in Wembley for England
15:54brings a new pressure that he needs just to feel
15:57and then we see how he reacts.
15:59He had good moments, he had crucial saves for us,
16:03he had some build-up moments where he can improve,
16:06but that's just a normal feedback for him
16:10together with the other goalkeepers
16:13and together with the back four and the defensive midfielders.
16:18So absolutely OK and always room to improve,
16:22but I'm glad he gets this experience.
16:25We just want to see who else is capable of producing performances for us,
16:31who else is ready for a challenge,
16:33who else is ready to challenge Jordan Pickford
16:37who did so well for us over so many years.
16:40And Trav got the chance now with two matches
16:43and hopefully he can improve the point tomorrow.
16:46Thank you very much and see you tomorrow.
16:48Thank you guys.