Thomas Tuchel does not hesitate to challenge players publicly to demand higher standards and his approach has raised England’s quality, according to Ollie Watkins.
England are preparing for their second group-stage match against Ghana after opening the tournament with a 4-2 victory over Croatia, and during training Tuchel has continued to push the squad to raise their intensity and concentration levels.
The German’s methods came into focus after he was filmed telling Djed Spence to “wake up” during a training exercise.
“It was lucky it wasn’t me,” Watkins said. “I think I made a mistake just before Djed did but he ended up shouting at Djed, luckily.
“I think he is not afraid to shout at you. He is always demanding from you and making sure you are on it every day. I think it just shows that he is a winner and that he is always driving the standards, making sure we are on it.
“That is what you need when the aim is to win a World Cup. He is very demanding, but when he is around the base camp he is very relaxed and chilled.”
Spence dismissed Tuchel’s criticism during the session as routine.
“I probably just missed one of the zones to go to and he just told me to wake up,” Spence said. “It’s normal, you know. He’s an elite manager – he demands the highest quality from his players, and we want to give the highest quality back as well. So it is very normal in training sessions, to be honest.”
