England manager Thomas Tuchel wants his team to play with a ‘hunger to win’ as he prepares for his first match in charge.
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England need the “hunger to win”
Tuchel replaced Gareth Southgate as England manager in October following his resignation.
Despite reaching the Euro 2024 final in Berlin, where they lost to Spain, Southgate’s England team faced criticism for their uninspired play.
The German coach felt the team struggled under pressure at the Euros, which affected their performances.
Therefore, Tuchel urged his squad to play with a ‘hunger to win’ rather than a ‘fear of losing’.
“I’ve heard a lot that it’s a heavy shirt. It is in fact not. But I know what the players mean,” he said in a news conference on Thursday.”
“Watching the Euros I felt tension and pressure on the shoulders of the players and they were playing not to lose.”
“I want us to play with the excitement and the hunger and the desire to win and the joy to win.”
“And the chance of failure is a part of it, especially in football, but we want to implement this togetherness and the joy that everyone feels safe to express themselves and give their very best. And we play that. It’s recognisable.”
Tuchel admits being nervous
England begin their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign against Albania at Wembley on Friday.
Tuchel admits that he is feeling some nerves ahead of the game.
“I just hope so much that they can see what I see on a daily basis and they can transform it into the stadium because what I saw in the last days was amazing and was just a joy to watch and to be part of it,” he said.”
“So hopefully we can transport this energy and this fire and in this hunger into the game tomorrow. And then.”
“I mean it’s amazing. We will have a full Wembley [it will] be very exciting.”
I will be a bit nervous I guess, but that’s part of it. I’m always a bit nervous before matches so this will not be different and yeah, excited and hopefully we can prove the point and then take the first step.”
