- 14 hours ago
Tuchel happy with performance as England pummel Czechia 3-0
06/10/2026
Wembley Stadium
06/10/2026
Wembley Stadium
Category
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SportsTranscript
00:13Okay, just before we get in the way, does anybody require translation into Czech?
00:20Everyone's fine. Okay, thank you very much. Rob, do you want to get us in the way?
00:24Thomas, good to see you. There was a lot of warmth in that stadium tonight for one man.
00:27How typical and how apt that on his special night Harry Kane scores two goals and puts in a special
00:34performance like that?
00:35Brilliant, brilliant. I think the team performance was very good and Harry's performance was very good and he was again
00:42decisive for us.
00:43On this very special day for him to equal the record of Peter Shilton and puts him on this kind
00:50of level, amazing.
00:51He deserves the stage, he deserves the praise.
00:55I'm sure many more people asked you about Harry Kane. I wanted to ask you about your feelings at the
00:59end of this pretty gruelling camp, this first extended international break.
01:03Do you feel your England side is maybe a step further ahead now than they were at the end of
01:06the World Cup?
01:07Yeah, of course. And that's what we have to do. That is our goal, to constantly improve and develop.
01:15We have these experiences together and we had a big tournament together and it was still very positive and still
01:26it's necessary to move forward and to improve, especially in sports.
01:31And this is what we're trying to do. We adjusted some details in our structure and we didn't compromise on
01:40the effort and the intensity and on the togetherness of the team.
01:45The players who were with us in the World Cup, they took care of these standards and of the culture
01:51within the team, off the pitch and on the pitch.
01:54And I think that's what you could see and you just could see the positive on a long camp is
02:00that you have time for debriefs, that you have time for meetings, you have more time for training, you spend
02:05more time together.
02:06So you can develop something because the common language sinks in, the patterns sink in and yeah, again, like after
02:16a big victory in Croatia, we put in the things that we don't want to compromise on, the intensity, the
02:22effort and we created a good momentum throughout the match, created chances, got beautiful goals.
02:29So it was a very good camp overall.
02:32Good evening, Thomas, Daniel from Benchviews. Quite a few changes in the side, no athlete score, no exit cons are
02:39good showing of the depth.
02:40How happy were you with the players who came in to produce today?
02:43Good, very happy because like I said it in the last press conference, it's sometimes forgotten what it takes to
02:49just come in and have a good performance.
02:50Everyone must know, of course, his role and what is needed and how to play for the team, but also
02:57how to behave, how to be a good teammate and to buy fully into that.
03:00So we need to make sure that the standards are taken care of on and off the pitch.
03:06And like I said, the players did this. The players who were with us in the World Cup, who were
03:10with us in the qualifying campaign, they took care of that and they made it a very good experience or
03:15laid the foundation
03:16that the guys who came new or were not with us at the World Cup, that they can express themselves,
03:25that they have a good experience.
03:26And this is what you see and everyone bought into that. It's easy at the moment because everyone is hungry
03:32and eager to play.
03:33And we had four changes from the beginning and I think everyone except for Jason Steele played during this camp.
03:40Everyone deserved to play.
03:42And we kept our level on a very high level. So I'm very glad for that.
03:49And just on one specific player, Joel Konza started at right back through this campaign and went to centre back.
03:54What can you speak on his adaptability and his performance today?
03:57Very good. I know that he can play both positions. He can also play in a back three. That's part
04:01of his strength.
04:02I think he can play in all four positions, all five positions in a back five and all four positions
04:07in a back four.
04:08That's what makes him strong. He's still young. It's still a plus for him to be flexible.
04:15And it gave him the chance to start another match on a different position.
04:20So this is where he's at. He's very positive and very open for that at the moment and had another
04:25good performance.
04:26Well done. So I'm in. And then Tom.
04:28All right, Thomas. Congratulations. Obviously at the start of the camp you were sat in that seat facing questions about
04:33the World Cup.
04:34Do you sense a change in mood, confidence, momentum from a couple of weeks ago?
04:39Yeah, I do. And I think it's necessary to move on. And I think I can only repeat, we didn't
04:46go out in group stage and sometimes feels like that.
04:49But we didn't. And like you said, it was always our aim to progress and to move forward and to
04:56improve.
04:56Then the nomination process was not so easy. We missed some players. We missed some big players who were responsible
05:03for a good World Cup.
05:07And, yeah, there were some question marks. But this is what we're trying to do, build something and build on.
05:13And I said it. I said it here even like when you say correctly, when it was like a bit
05:19of criticism and skepticism around.
05:23I said we don't start new. I believe that we don't have to start completely new because we can build
05:30on what we build together.
05:31And we played some high level competitive football in the World Cup. And now we took the next step.
05:37And it's always important to take the next step. But the commitment of the players and the attitude of the
05:43players from the first day in camp was on a very high level.
05:46And I'm happy that we could prove it in all four matches. We lost the first one. So it always
05:51matters about the reaction.
05:54And the reaction was absolutely top.
05:57Thomas, if you put to one side the things that you already knew about your team.
06:01When you reflect on this international break, what are some of the new things that you've learned about your team
06:06over these four matches?
06:08I don't know. I need a bit of time to reflect and do the debrief with my stuff.
06:15Not so much new, I think. I see these kind of performances, this kind of quality, the joy to play
06:22with each other and the fluidity very, very often in training.
06:27I'm just happy that we could produce performances like this now consecutively.
06:34And this is how it should be. I feel the players enjoy playing together and buy into this way of
06:43playing.
06:43So we play with high intensity, play with a kind of calculated risk, especially in our press.
06:54And then there's always stuff to improve. But at the moment, it's always a learning.
06:59Also for me, I need a bit of time to reflect. But I can tell you already that I'm very
07:04positive about this camp and I'm very, very happy how it went.
07:09Thomas, you had quite a few players missing from the World Cup in this current squad and a lot of
07:14them have come in and done very well.
07:16Do you feel this is the best competition of the places you've had since you've been England manager?
07:23Yeah, maybe yes. And full credit to the players. This is how it should be.
07:27And I think we got some more options and I think it's important after a big tournament and building something
07:34for, of course,
07:35in the bigger picture, building something for the Euros, but still worshipping the competition in which we play now,
07:44because we want to complete the full cycle and we started very ambitious in this competition.
07:50So that's the balance that we have to get right. And after a big tournament, it's always important to move
07:57forward
07:57and to also bring fresh players and fresh blood and enforce new competition.
08:04And that's what we have now. And again, it's always about the players in camp.
08:09And the players made it a very special camp again and competition is on.
08:16Hi, Thomas. The fans were singing your name tonight and I think they were as well during the Spain game.
08:22How much does that mean to you when there has been criticism, you know, since the World Cup?
08:27Yeah, it means a lot. It's amazing. I mean, to have a song is the biggest honour and I'm very
08:34happy and very honoured.
08:36And they can just be sure that it will give my absolute best always to make our team win and
08:43play good.
08:45Hi, Thomas. You've mentioned high intensity quite a lot. I just wonder, do you think at the end of a
08:51long season in the summer,
08:53in a major tournament, England can still bring that high intensity that we've seen over the last few games?
08:59Yeah, I hope so. But let's see. Proof of concept is hopefully the final four.
09:05But we need to first get out of the group. Nothing is done in sports until it's done.
09:11So first steps first. But the proof of concept would be now in summer.
09:16We will always have this disadvantage that most of our players and the majority of our players play in the
09:23most demanding league,
09:25with the most matches in teams that play 60, 60 plus matches and every single match in the Premier League
09:31is a tough one.
09:32We will always arrive in any tournament in summer with this disadvantage. But we have a competitive edge and the
09:40players will be ready.
09:42We were ready at the World Cup physically and we will be ready at hopefully Nations League finals and we
09:48will be ready in the Euros.
09:51Hi, Thomas. You've talked about how England didn't go out in the group stage in the summer. Why do you
09:57feel the need to emphasise that?
09:59Do you feel the expectations or scrutiny has been too harsh this year?
10:05In between it felt a little bit like it, yeah.
10:09Why?
10:11Why were you in the press conference before the France game?
10:16Me?
10:16Yeah.
10:17I wasn't there.
10:18Yeah.
10:18You wouldn't know why.
10:20We'll move on.
10:20We'll get on there.
10:22Hi, Thomas. Regina from BCOMS.
10:25England have played, you know, slick one-touch football all the way to showing personal player brilliance.
10:30How much of that comes down to tactical shifts from you as a manager versus players just expressing themselves on
10:36the pitch in recent wins?
10:37Yeah. Of course, we want to give them a structure and we want to give a structure where they feel
10:42themselves, where they can express themselves,
10:44but it has to be in a structure. We cannot just throw a ball in and let them play.
10:50But we have a shift in how we approach training and we had a shift in how we approach the
10:55game.
10:55So, yeah, there were slight tweaks in the positioning of our players.
11:01Jude plays closer to Harry, for example, and there were some other tweaks.
11:06We attacked with the full-backs and don't want to give everything away.
11:10But, yeah, there are some slight adjustments that, first of all, suit into the quality of the players, into the
11:19characteristics of the players and how the team wants to move forward and how the team wants to take the
11:24next steps.
11:25So, this is what we try to do. We try to build football teams and the more time we have,
11:31the easier it is because we can repeat stuff,
11:33we can debrief, we can have a review of matches, of training sessions.
11:37It just gave us a bit of more time. And overall, the commitment, that's why I love this group of
11:42players.
11:42And I always loved being a coach in England in the Premier League and now as a national team coach,
11:50the players' attitude and commitment is just on the very highest level.
11:55And that's why I'm happy that they could prove it and that we could show these next steps. It was
12:02very good.
12:02Okay, last question.
12:04Good evening, Mr. Tuchel. Michal Musbor from the Czech web sport.cz.
12:07Our midfielder, Michal Sadilek, said that you were structure-wise even better than Spain.
12:12So, how much do you like hearing that? And also, I have to ask, how much of a difficult opponent
12:16was Czechia today for you? Thank you.
12:17I think they're a very well-organised team and we analysed the match for them against the Spanish team.
12:25And I think they caused some headache for them and some problems.
12:31I think the Czech team improved a lot, especially in the own half, in the deep build-up.
12:38It's not easy to take the ball off of them and to win the balls high.
12:42And it is an area of the game where we want to be strong.
12:47So, we had to really buy into the idea of the high press. We had to take some risks.
12:52We had to attack the goalkeeper even from a midfield position to force them into long balls
12:59because we experienced it ourselves when we were one man up, 2-0 up.
13:04And we dropped the effort just for some percentage in the first match.
13:09They could escape in the deep build-up and this is what they tried to do.
13:14And they improved a lot over the matches from deep build-up into fast attack.
13:19And that's why, in this matter, I'm so happy about the performance
13:23because we did the things where you don't get praise for.
13:27We did the things really, really good and really, really well.
13:30And you have to press cohesive and well-organized as a team with a lot of effort
13:37to win these kind of balls and to not allow any chances and counter-attacks and fast attacks.
13:43And this is what we did. They are a well-organized team.
13:47They couldn't prove it with results, but everyone needs to be beaten.
13:53We play in Nations League Group A, so we will never take that lightly.
13:57And I'm happy about the seriousness of the performance.
14:01Thank you very much.