Roy Keane has dismissed the widespread praise for Thomas Tuchel's half-time team talk during England's 4-2 victory over Croatia as an 'overreaction', insisting the manager was merely fulfilling his basic duties.
Tuchel's half-time impact
England led twice in the first half through Harry Kane but were pegged back each time, leaving the match level at 2-2 at the break. Tuchel's half-time address inspired a dominant second-half display, with Jude Bellingham scoring within seconds of the restart and Marcus Rashford adding a fourth in the 85th minute.
Kane credited Tuchel's speech, saying: 'The manager gave us a speech at halftime just to say "Look, if we lose, we lose in our way." I think you saw that in the second half, we went full gas and they could not live with it.' Declan Rice added: 'He was top at halftime, the words he used, settled everyone. I can't say too much, it was one of those moments where you are like "Wow, what a top manager".'
Keane's criticism
Speaking on ITV, Keane said: 'Is it a bit of an overreaction to his half-time team talk? What's he supposed to do? That is his job isn't it? That's the manager's job to give them the information and they go out and produce. That's what any top manager will do, you get them at half-time and you remind them what they're supposed to be doing. It's a bit over the top.'
The former Manchester United captain acknowledged that Tuchel's intervention was effective but argued that such praise should be standard for a manager. 'Every game's different and every situation is different. I've worked with some great managers. Sometimes you go in at half-time and you think you're going to get a hard time and they go easy on you, sometimes you think you're doing well and they go hard on you. It's what you smell in the game, what he thinks the players need. He's well qualified to do that.'
Tuchel's own account
Tuchel himself explained his message: 'I said even if we lose, it will not change my perception of the last 17 days. But let's do it our way. We're too focused on the result, too focused on protecting what we anyway don't have at the moment. The second goal was just an example. I think we were a back seven and we didn't defend the goal. So why be a back seven anyway? If something happens, the result doesn't go our way, we want to play this match the way we want to and the way we were together for 17 days. I just tried to encourage them to go for it.'
England's win puts them in a strong position in their World Cup group, with the team showing resilience and attacking flair in the second half.
