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Thomas Tuchel will take charge of his first England game against Albania on March 21 - Getty Images/Eddie Keogh
Thomas Tuchel told England players at their first team meeting he is here “to put another star” on the Three Lions shirt by winning next year’s World Cup.
England’s new head coach laid out his ambition while addressing his squad at St George’s Park on Monday evening, wanting to create a “brotherhood” and a spirit on the pitch he has seen in NBA players high-fiving and celebrating on the basketball court.
Players travelled to the national training centre near Burton and were greeted by Tuchel at the lobby of their Hilton hotel base, with the German coach then taking training and holding a 20-minute team meeting after dinner.
Tuchel has made it clear his sole aim is to win the World Cup – for which a nation is allowed to have a star on their shirt, with England currently having just one – and talked extensively to the players about how he plans to achieve that.
He was blunt in saying every minute counted with just 24 training days and six international camps ahead of the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico and, therefore, with no time to waste.
“He’d said that the goal is to put another star on the jersey and speaking to the lads after, everyone was very impressed with how he came across, with his vision of what he wanted to do and you could just see looking around that people were tuned in and really want to buy into that,” said Newcastle defender Dan Burn, who arrived after winning the Carabao Cup on Sunday.
Tuchel, who won the Champions League with Chelsea in 2021 after four months in charge, said he had spoken to players from previous tournaments and other countries about what it takes to win an international trophy. A key point, Tuchel said, was how they “interacted” with each other – highlighting the body language of NBA basketball players.
“There was probably more just about that brotherhood that he was speaking about, more than the way he would like to play and what formation he would like to do,” Burn added. “It was more probably about a mentality and how he wanted us to act around each other and what the differences were.
“He said he’d spoken to players from previous tournaments and from other countries about what the difference was between where they went out in early rounds and what happened when they won it and what the differences were.
“And a lot of it was about interactions that he spoke about in the NBA so that the best teams historically in the NBA are normally the teams who are sort of like high-fiving each other picking each other up and have a lot of those interactions. And I think knowing that we do a lot of that in Newcastle and speak about it that they can just sort of keep people switched on.”
Tuchel’s first match is in Friday’s qualifier against Albania, with Latvia arriving at Wembley three days later as England start their journey to the next World Cup. Burn has been given his first call-up and was struck by the intensity of training in his first days at St George’s Park.
Jordan Henderson, 34, was among the first players to arrive at the camp and also greeted players in the lobby on day one as the team linked up and had their first in-camp interactions with Tuchel and his assistant Anthony Barry. Tuchel told players the clock is now ticking on their time together before the World Cup and they need to maximise every session to make them winners.
“Everyone knows that the goal is to win the World Cup. That is obviously the end goal, but the process to get there, and you’ve got to do it every day,” said Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford.
“And obviously we’re together for short periods. I think there’s six camps between now and then. You have just got to do everything whilst you’re away, because it’s such a short time to put yourself in the best position for the World Cup.
“It’s not like a club where you’re together every day. It’s, like, five times a year you’re together for a week and you have to maximise every camp.”
Tuchel has focused more on the interactions between players rather than his style of play, which he believes will come in time. At his squad announcement he refused to reveal whether he would play the favoured 4-2-3-1 system he had at Chelsea when he made a quick impact in English football.
“It is more going to be how we are with each other and interact with each other and push each other and not being afraid to speak up if something is not right or something should change,” added Burn. “I’d say from speaking to him last night I’ve got confidence that everything will be done possible to try and finally bring the trophy home.”
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