Thomas Tuchel has slammed England for a “painful” 1-0 friendly defeat against Japan.
Kaoru Mitoma’s 23rd-minute winner on a quick Japanese counter-attack saw Japan snatch the only goal of the game, which left Tuchel hurt at another lacklustre display from England after they drew 1-1 against Uruguay on 27 March.
“For sure, it hurts,” explained Tuchel post-match to UK broadcaster, ITV as he spoke of the pain of the loss. “It’s always painful to lose, and to lose at home hurts a lot. I think we got punished for not a lot, for one counter in the first half.”
He however believes that this defeat is useful data gathering given that several regulars were absent, including captain – Harry Kane which led Tuchel to question why many critics feel that England rely on Kane as he pointed to Argentina and Portugal as examples with their star forwards; Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
“We need these matches. It’s a tough opponent. We had several players not available, so it was a new formation again. We tried stuff, and we need to learn.”
“Why would Argentina not rely on Messi, or Portugal not rely on Cristiano Ronaldo?” he said. “That’s totally normal.
“Key players left camp for us, key figures, and we saw that a bit. We lacked the punch in the last 20 metres, maybe in both matches.”
Tuchel nevertheless felt that those who played were still given encouragement as he rued their narrow first-half style, before a lack of clinical final touches cost them in the second half.
“We encouraged the players. It was difficult for us. I think today in the first half, we played way too narrow. We didn’t want that, but we made the pitch ourselves way too narrow.
“In the second half, we had more width. We were more dynamic over the wings, using our full-backs more, which we wanted to do the whole time. We took more risks and then had chances but couldn’t convert.”
Phil Foden was deployed as a ‘false nine’ in a tactical experiment which ended in his substitution after one hour, but Tuchel intended to deploy that tactic on one side whilst playing a normal nine position on the other attacking side.
“It was only a false nine on one side,” revealed the German. “When we attacked on the other side, it was a normal nine.”
Tuchel added that these sort of friendlies will benefit the team in where they can improve going into the World Cup and beyond.
“We need these matches, and we need to put it into perspective. It’s not the end of the world. It’s never nice, and we don’t like it.
“It’s not a question of false nine or normal nine. It’s a matter of performing, making a statement, winning one-on-ones, and being brave. We can do better.
“It was a well-drilled team that we played against, and we had a new formation and new players.”
Looking ahead to the World Cup, Tuchel iterated that his approach and playing style are “very clear” with principles and action at the heart more than mental reasoning.
“We focus on the principles and the doing, not on thinking about what it means.
“It comes with pressure, it comes with noise, playing for England, that’s just how it is. We need to see how players adapt, and we can only see it if we try it.
“So, we tried it, and we have to learn from it. We have two months now to get it out of our clothes. The players will play a lot of football in these two months, and then we will be ready.”