Tuchel brings blunt honesty in pursuit of England glory

For all the headlines that Thomas Tuchel’s comments about Marcus Rashford and Phil Foden caused on Friday, the new England manager admitted he was surprised” at the furore.

- MIGUEL DELANEY

He didn’t even see it as criticism, which may be where one of the biggest shifts with the 51-year-old comes.

“I just give my analysis of the team,” Tuchel blankly stated. “Sometimes I am surprised with what people try to make out of it, that Marcus and Phil should be offended with what I said.” Declan Rice echoed his manager, saying he would rather have that “kick up the arse”.

“This is top-level international football,” the midfielder added.

In other words, there’s the line, as Rice himself puts it. England are now so close to getting over it. They may need that bit more to finally do so, and it might not always be polite. This is what Tuchel’s appointment is all about, giving the players that second star to bring what’s been missing.

“Working with the manager this week, he isn’t going to take any nonsense,” explained Rice. “He knows that he’s here to win the World Cup. And to do that, you need to push everyone, and you need to be uncomfortable. And if you’re too comfortable, you’re not going to get anywhere.”

Along those lines, Tuchel gave a little talk to the squad before their Sunday lunch. “With all respect, this is not now just to get a win over Latvia, no matter how,” the manager said. “This is about our standards. How do we win, how do we play and how do we impose ourselves and deserve a win against Latvia? It’s to raise the standards.”