Thomas Tuchel reveals key reason why England failed at Euro 2024 under Gareth Southgate | Football

Thomas Tuchel believes England failed to win Euro 2024 because they lacked ‘clarity’ and says the players were ‘afraid’ of failure.

Despite struggling to impress throughout Euro 2024 last summer, Gareth Southgate’s side managed to reach the final where they were beaten 2-1 by Spain.

Southgate came under intense scrutiny during the tournament, with former England strikers Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer among those who heavily criticised the team’s style of play.

Tuchel replaced Southgate as England manager in October and the former Chelsea boss is preparing to take charge of his first game as the Three Lions play Albania at Wembley in their opening World Cup 2026 qualifier on Friday night.

When asked if England had a clear playing style under Southgate at Euro 2024, Tuchel told ITV: ‘Not last summer, no.’

Asked what was missing, Tuchel replied: ‘The identity, the clarity, the rhythm, the repetition of patterns.

‘The freedom of players, the expression of players, the hunger.

‘They were more afraid to drop out of the tournament, in my opinion, than having the excitement and hunger to win.’

When asked what he feels is the missing piece for England, Tuchel said: ‘Excitement.

‘The view that people feel that’s the team to beat. They feel that’s the team to beat. That we arrive with a group to beat, that we know already when we arrive, once we’ve qualified, once we arrived that everyone knows this is the team to beat.’

In his pre-match press conference on Thursday, Tuchel also dismissed suggestions that England’s players have struggled because were played in unfamiliar positions by Southgate.

Asked if he felt that had been a problem for England, Tuchel said: ‘No, not in the last few years.

‘I think everyone is trying that and I think Gareth did excellent in doing so.

‘I felt the that team at the Euros were not, how should I put this… they were not free enough to express themselves in a stable structure.

‘But England were not the only team to change structure from match to match and I think we have to make sure when we play now that everyone knows their role on the field and also accepts this role and plays disciplined in this role and then from the acceptance of the spaces for your teammate comes the freedom and within your space you can look for solutions, find solutions.

‘We need to bond a little bit better, we need to find more rhythm and find a little bit better connections on the field.’

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