00:10Good evening everyone, joined here by Thomas Tuchel, post-match.
00:14If you've got a question, please raise your hand and use the microphone available.
00:18Who would like to go first?
00:21We'll start here with Tom Barclay.
00:25Hi Thomas.
00:26Hi.
00:28Anthony Gordon has been playing so well since the knockout stages in the World Cup.
00:34It feels like the fans are really starting to appreciate him.
00:37They're singing his name pretty much every game.
00:39Has he become one of the first names on the team sheet for you now?
00:44Well, he's getting there.
00:45He's defending his shirt.
00:46He's defending his position.
00:48And he had an excellent performance again.
00:50He had a very good performance against Spain.
00:53Was very decisive today.
00:55He had an excellent goal.
00:57Which was very, very difficult.
00:59But the technique in finishing was excellent.
01:03Scored against Spain.
01:04So he has these decisive actions.
01:06He's full of confidence.
01:07And yeah, he's defending his shirt.
01:09He's defending his position.
01:12And yeah, does it on the highest level at the moment.
01:15Very important player.
01:17Hi Thomas.
01:18How did you evaluate Trent Alexander-Arnold's performance tonight?
01:22And did he perhaps show what he can offer your team with his assist for the first goal?
01:27We never doubted that he can produce these kind of assists.
01:31I think the second half, the position, a bit of deeper position suited him more than the higher position in
01:36the first half.
01:38Overall, I think we had a good and professional performance overall.
01:44Of course, the red card, like always, an early red card is such a heavy influence in the game.
01:50It makes the task sometimes a little bit more complicated psychologically.
01:55Because we already were the favourites and then you are suddenly the heavy favourites.
02:00So you need to keep focused and Trent was a big help in this.
02:05Because he's very, very secure on the ball and can be decisive with his crosses.
02:11So he did this solid in defending and one decisive action that helped us score.
02:17So a good performance overall, but in general it is difficult to analyse the match.
02:22Because it was 17 minutes or so, like in one man plus.
02:26And just need to ask again about the Manchester City situation.
02:30Because that was another development.
02:31Sorry, Kit.
02:32That's a legal matter.
02:33We're not going to come on to that at all.
02:34So no point in asking further questions on that.
02:37Pass it back to Mike first and then we'll go to James.
02:42Thomas, with the defence, you know, obviously really positive that you got a clean sheet.
02:48Were you kind of happy with the way they were functioning in that first half?
02:54They were still possibly giving the ball away sometimes, but overall what was...?
02:58Yeah, it was again, like I think two, three ball losses, even high ball losses.
03:05I think one from Bukayo, I can remember one from Bukayo, one from Harry in the middle of the pitch.
03:10It's never easy because we changed three positions in a back four, but I think they did excellent.
03:16Especially Mark, I think, had an excellent game and a fantastic reaction after Mark Gehi,
03:21after a difficult match and a very demanding match against Spain.
03:28And a fantastic reaction.
03:30Trevor played very, very solid and both fullbacks did well.
03:35It is good that we have the clean sheet, it was necessary of course, especially after the red card,
03:41to keep this clean sheet and to not get nervous, not panic,
03:45but play with more urgency, play with more dynamic, especially in the wide areas in the second half.
03:56And we did this, kept the effort up and that's how we kept the clean sheet.
03:59Is Nico O'Reilly, is he fit enough to play for the rest of the camp?
04:06I cannot say yes, cannot say no, I don't know is the honest answer.
04:10He was not available today, was not on the bench, so we have three days now.
04:14We will try everything and push everyone to be available.
04:18We used already every outfield player and it's only the second match, so we need everyone.
04:24And of course, it's an important match that's coming up.
04:27Every match from now on is important and of course, against a direct competitor right now, it's important.
04:36So, hopefully, Nico and Esri can come back, but for today they were not available.
04:41James?
04:45The game is captain, which he did also on Saturday, I think.
04:49Is that kind of a bit of a reward for him, for the buy-in, the commitment he should?
04:52I think if he was even the captain against Costa Rica before the World Cup, yeah, it is, it is
04:58always a reward and always an honour, yeah, it is.
05:00I mean, his attitude has obviously been scrutinised a bit in the past, but do you think one day he's
05:06getting to a point where he could be a permanent England captain?
05:08If you are the captain at the end of these matches, you can for sure be the permanent captain.
05:13Does that say a lot about his character, his growth, how he's kind of embracing England in general?
05:18Yeah, I think he loves to be with us at the moment, that's what I feel, and we had this
05:24small talk today about his role,
05:27and we both had, if our hearts or our stomachs said, like, let's go again, let's start again,
05:35and both our heads said maybe 30 minutes is enough for today, because he hasn't played, I think, in this
05:41quick turnaround through this season.
05:43He has done it before, but not in the season, so we didn't want to be the first ones to
05:47try that.
05:50Yeah, but like, even in this little encounter, you can see that he's confident and happy to even help from
05:56the bench.
05:57So, yeah, it is a reward, it's good, hopefully he had a little niggle in the end of the match,
06:02so hopefully it's nothing serious and he's available for Croatia.
06:07Hi, Thomas, Lewis Hall hasn't played too much under you, just what you made of his performance tonight?
06:12Very good on the left side, together with his old teammate Anthony Gordon, you could see that they played together,
06:18and the style was a little bit similar, like in Newcastle, we let them go, we let them free,
06:23we let them underlap and overlap and play as a pair on the side, so it's what he loves,
06:29I think this is his strength to contribute to the offensive actions, I think he had a very good match.
06:41Thomas, is this the kind of night, kind of slightly unglamorous international game,
06:47but it's the type of game where you really understand what it is to be an England manager,
06:51because you've got no excuse, you just have to win the game, however it plays out?
06:56Do I ever have an excuse with you guys, as an England manager, never, you never have an excuse for
07:03what?
07:03So, I love sometimes these unglamorous results, sometimes you need to just leave the stadium, win 2-0,
07:11have a relaxed evening and go on to the next one, you cannot be always glamorous,
07:16you cannot be always glamorous and super exciting, you have to sometimes do the hard work with not a lot
07:24of praise,
07:26because we were the favourites and we wanted to win, we demanded the win from us,
07:30then you go up with one man, of course, then everyone expects, we ourselves,
07:36you're suddenly the heavy favourites and that's why we didn't panic,
07:40but we needed to play with a bit more urgency, like I said, dynamic movements on the side,
07:45counter-pressing was on a high level, so we kept the effort in the man-to-man approach
07:49and the opponent's half was there until maybe the last ten minutes,
07:54where we got a little bit tired and a little bit sloppy,
07:57but overall I think that's what also builds character and shows character,
08:03if you go to Czechia, play in a away stadium, they have never lost back-to-back matches at home,
08:09and you just do it and do it with a clean sheet and it's good.
08:14You mentioned that you've used all the players now, which I hadn't realised.
08:19Me neither, me neither.
08:20Is this proving to be an even more challenging set of fixtures before,
08:26than you even suggested it would be last week?
08:29Before?
08:30Well, last week you said you weren't keen on the extended break,
08:35two games into it, is it proving even more challenging than you thought?
08:39Yeah, it is, because it's also new for the players,
08:41some players feel something in a normal window if you're not available,
08:47like now Nico O'Reilly would just go back to the club, get your treatment
08:51and be available as fast as possible, but like now we have three matches to play,
08:56so he stays with us, everything is new, he stays with us even if he was injured,
09:00not available today, because we have two more matches,
09:03and of course we want to take every possibility and every chance
09:07that he is available for one of these two matches minimum,
09:10or maybe both of them.
09:12Everything is new, everything is different,
09:16but we needed that win, like you said, to build on our momentum
09:21and to build on the performance that we had against Spain,
09:25so now we got the result.
09:26We decided not to travel back to London or to England,
09:32but sleep here and travel directly to Croatia,
09:36and have two training sessions there.
09:39Yeah, it feels like a little mini-tournament, honestly,
09:43but we all do it for the first time and we want to make the most of it.
09:49Okay, thank you very much, everyone.
09:50Cheers.
