Manager says his side retreated too readily for long periods against Croatia
Thomas Tuchel has warned England that they need to tighten up their defence if they are to mount a serious challenge for the World Cup trophy.
England beat Croatia 4-2 in their first game and can secure qualification for the knockouts with a match to spare by beating Ghana in Boston on Tuesday. They will be guaranteed top spot if Panama fail to defeat Croatia in the other Group L fixture.
But Tuchel said the performance against Croatia exposed flaws that must be addressed. The England head coach has prioritised an aggressive, Premier League style since taking charge and felt his players retreated too readily during the first half.
“We need to do things better,” Tuchel said. “Defensively we dropped a little too deep from a middle block into a low block and deep block, which is in itself not a problem, but we went a bit too early. We were a bit too man-man focused and didn’t rely enough on our structure to be able to push out again.
“If you just look at our goal that we conceded we played a back seven formation, which is just not us. Maybe it is good that we conceded, because it just tells us: ‘Let’s not do this again.’ It makes no sense, it’s not us, it doesn’t play to our strengths. We had too many easy ball losses after ball wins, so we had a huge effort against the ball, win the ball, gave it back straight away.
“We need to manage these ball wins better and in ball possession there is also stuff to improve. When do we accelerate the game, and how do we give the man on the ball more options in the gaps and show a bit more confidence into what makes us strong? That’s the beauty of it: we don’t need to invent anything new.
“But I was also very clear to the team: we deserved this win. We had a well-deserved win. And we have a lot of positives to take away, and I expect a very different team and a very different setup now. We need to improve especially our structure with the ball to be ready to defend counterattacks before they become dangerous.”
England responded strongly after Croatia equalised shortly before half-time, producing a dominant second-half display that restored control of the contest. Tuchel said the manner of the response provided encouragement but stressed that maintaining standards would be the next challenge.
“That is a tricky part, to keep the level up,” Tuchel said. “But first of all I am very happy because we found an answer to adversity.
“We conceded in a very tricky moment, last shot of the first half and then came up with the best 25 minutes, or best 30 minutes, as an answer when. The team knows that. We saw the physical input, we saw the ball wins, we saw the chances and we still have stuff to improve.
“It is important to learn from all that and the beautiful thing is that the things that were not so good we do not need to amend anything new. We just need to do our stuff better from the first half.”
Tuchel said he had seen no signs of complacency within the squad before the meeting with Ghana, who opened their campaign with a 1-0 win over Panama.
“The players keep themselves on edge,” the England coach said. “The guys who did not get the minutes from the beginning are pushing but we try to make sure in training exercises that everyone is pushing. That is why I love the team anyway. At the moment I cannot see any signs of complacency.”
Tuchel also questioned the mandatory hydration breaks, which will remain in place despite cooler conditions in Boston.
“They interrupt and change the identity of a football match much more than I thought [they would],” Tuchel said. “Now they break the match almost into four quarters. As a coach, of course I like to have influence [during them] and have my team together.
“But overall, I like football more when it’s played in one go in one half because it builds a momentum, which is hard to keep. This just adds to the characteristics of the beautiful game and it [a hydration break] takes away [from that.] But in a point of fairness of course it makes sense that every match here gets them.”
