The England team will play its final World Cup qualifying match against Albania on Sunday night. Before the game, team coach Tuchel talked about his feelings of coaching the England team for a year, preparations for tomorrow night's game and the...
The England team will play its final World Cup qualifying match against Albania on Sunday night. Before the game, team coach Tuchel talked about his feelings of coaching the England team for a year, preparations for tomorrow night's game and the team's lineup.
- Reflection after one year as England coach:
Tuchel: "I learned a lot about this job. I had to learn because it is very different from club football. I think we all grew up together and we started with a very good result in the first training camp game, coupled with a solid, no-nonsense performance - two good wins, two clean sheets."
"I've learned a lot about my own football because my assistant coaches are constantly using new information, new strategies, new ways of playing, and new numbers about physical input and output. It's good and necessary for me to stay alert, as coaches we need to be aware of the latest developments in the game to influence our players. "We want to win again tomorrow and they are very difficult to break, so throughout. They only conceded maybe three goals in qualifying - two to us and one - so it's hard to create chances and break them down, so we need to take the next step in our development tomorrow to have any chance of beating them."
- Regarding preparation before the game:
Tuchel: "We made sure that the training session yesterday was at the highest level: the quality of the training, the mentality of the players who did not play, it was pure enjoyment, both to watch and to be part of the training. This shows me again that we are building, we are moving in the right direction, so everyone is ready to play and everyone is eager to start."
"The competition continues, the players are still eager to step on the court tomorrow, and that is the most important thing. Today, we prepared for the game against Albania, we practiced our offensive solutions, discussed Albania's defensive system as usual, and conducted a tactical training session. Everything we talked about was a process, everything we can influence."
- On the health of the team:
Kane: "I'm not entirely sure who will start. We haven't made a decision yet, we will have some discussions now, later, and make a decision tomorrow morning. I still need to talk to some players. Everyone has participated in training except Konsa, who felt a little tight in his calf and stayed in London for further examination. Everyone else will be on the game list because they all participated in training. I will talk to some players later about how they really feel, and we will make a decision based on that."
