England manager, Thomas Tuchel has iterated that fans shouldn’t expect “a similar performance” against Czech Republic after they thrashed Croatia 7-0 in Rijeka.
Braces from Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka plus goals from Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon and Morgan Rogers saw England sit second in their UEFA Nations League group with a dominant away win over Croatia.
Tuchel’s Three Lions now are at home against Czech Republic tomorrow evening and the German has iterated that fans shouldn’t hold the quality of that victory as a benchmark for the Czech game.
“If a similar performance means 6-0 or 8-0 then we have the wrong expectations,” clarified Tuchel but he is prepared to accept the same standard in terms of maturity and hard graft more than the scoreline.
“We should not expect that result. But if it’s a similar performance in terms of humbleness, attitude, intensity on and off the ball, then that’s what we want. That’s the standard.
“Czech Republic gave Spain a lot of headaches. We saw improvement in their team. We should not over-expect in terms of results and creating chances.
“The things we can influence we want to influence on the same level but it can look different.”
Tuchel also refused to be drawn on Czech Republic’s vulnerabilities as he explained that he can see improvement in their team.
“I will not openly talk about any weaknesses, we will always try to find gaps when we analyse opponents.
“We always try to find advantages for us but there is a lot of development in squad, I feel them getting stronger and stronger, especially in build-up.
“Clear patterns of play, very flexible, very fluid.”