Thomas Tuchel, the manager of the England national football team, has stated that he does not recall delivering a stern reprimand to Jordan Pickford. Tuchel admitted that he gave a frank half-time message to his squad, insisting they needed to perform at a higher level after a defensive display that saw them concede two goals against Croatia.
However, Tuchel did have a heated exchange with England's number one goalkeeper, Pickford, as the team struggled to build from the back and misjudged their tactical approach. This striking moment was not captured by ITV cameras, with Pickford reportedly firing back at his boss. Tuchel acknowledged that they only resolved their system after the interval.
Tuchel commented: "I don't know what I said to Pickers. Honestly, I don't remember. What we said was just to do our things better... nothing needs to be adjusted, we need nothing to develop new or change anything. We just need to get it going, try to find the gaps better in passing, don't always go around the block and invite pressure, and go back to our goalkeeper and try to push more together. From a middle block to a high press."
He added: "Basically it was about encouraging and reminding them what we wanted to do... the spaces where we want to accelerate the match and win the ball are there, and we were just not totally free. We were not on our highest level."
Tuchel admitted that England appeared overly cautious at times but praised how his players adjusted before delivering an impressive second-half performance. He elaborated: "We just dropped way too early into a deep block. From a middle block... way too early into a deep block. Normally if we go to a middle block, it's not a problem. We have clear triggers to go out of it into a high press. We wanted to have John Stones pushing into midfield."
"They blocked John with their No. 9, so maybe they also knew or it was a coincidence. It took us a while to understand that Elliot Anderson can then push. That took us quite a while, and so we lost a bit of confidence, couldn't find the right triggers, and we had the feeling that we have to protect something. Everyone wanted to help and help and help, and we ended up too deep and too passive. In the second half, it was much better. We were much more active and aggressive."
