There are easier tasks in international football: Spain, of all things, was the world and European champion at London's Wembley Stadium on Saturday evening. It was England's first international match since the summer's World Cup, where they were eliminated in the semi-finals. Since then, quite a few people in the country have blamed national coach Thomas Tuchel for this.
Against Argentina, when the score was 1-0, he switched to a five-man defense instead of courageously continuing to attack. It backfired and England was eliminated from the tournament by conceding two late goals. The disappointment about this is still deep today. As part of the current course, right winger Bukayo Saka said the defeat in Atlanta had left a “scar” on him.
Since then there has been a lot of talk about English DNA. It should be closer to the football that is traditionally played in the Premier League: physical, fast, direct. Offensive player Anthony Gordon said England should not try to copy the Spaniards' style of possession and control, but rather "go in the other direction and really play to our strengths".
Tuchel, normally focused on maximum control, had previously mused that he had to make a compromise - "embrace the chaos" - in order to get the best out of his team. He also didn't accept the restriction if it wasn't exactly an "economical" way of playing.
At the end of an entertaining game, England lost 3-2 to Spain. Captain Harry Kane missed a penalty to make it 3-1 for England; “Another day we would have won here,” he said afterwards. But contrary to his suggestion, the defeat was not just due to bad luck. The truth is that England were only one goal behind after about half an hour, although Spain had chances to score four goals. Instead, the English made it 1-1 after 35 minutes with a picture-perfect counterattack - completed by Gordon, who had called for exactly these situations. A deflected header from Kane made the score 2-1 at halftime.
England held on, but like against Argentina, the team didn't keep the lead over time. The phases of Spanish possession extended, their dominance in the game grew, and they turned the game around with goals in the 60th and 74th minutes of the game. In the end, the result seemed fair, almost logical, even if England presented themselves better than the Argentina game because they were more combative.
“It was a small consolation that the home fans gratefully accepted,” wrote the BBC in an analysis: “But the class difference in the crucial moments was still obvious.” Because Spain relies on control and not chaos. So England remains an “almost team” without any notable successes since winning the World Cup in 1966.
You don't have to read between the lines to decipher this as criticism of Tuchel. England's Football Association signed him with the explicit mandate of winning the World Cup. He didn't succeed. And due to the “transactional nature of his commitment,” as the moderate “Guardian” described it, there is sometimes more and sometimes less loud speculation in parts of the media about his replacement. The fact that he, of all people, is a German and holds the national coaching position further increases the height of the situation. Internally, however, third place at the World Cup is reportedly seen as a sufficient success to go to the European Championships with Tuchel in two years. So for now he's probably not in serious danger.
After the defeat on Saturday, the coach still focused on the things that, in his opinion, went well. Despite individual mistakes and lapses in concentration like before the 0-1 lead after just two minutes of the game, he didn't see any chaos. Instead, he praised the pressing, which meant that England won more balls in Spain's half of the pitch than the other way around. There was a clear structure in attack with lots of side changes and advancing full-backs. “A lot of good things came out of it, but unfortunately the result wasn’t right,” he summed up.
But as his commitment progresses, the results are likely to become increasingly important. England will be visiting the Czech Republic on Tuesday and Croatia on Saturday, before facing the Czechs again the following week - this time in London. The Nations League may not be particularly important, but the pressure is high. Against Spain it is forgivable to lose control at a certain point. But against nominally weaker opponents, the English have to assert their game, master phases of chaos and control and manage them in a targeted manner. Tuchel will also be judged by this.
