Thomas Tuchel speaks after England’s 6-4 win over France (Image: BBC)
Thomas Tuchel insists he still has a strong relationship with the England fanbase despite being booed before the thrilling 6-4 win over France in the third-place play-off match. England completed their best-ever World Cup campaign on foreign soil, securing bronze medals in Miami in a rollercoaster final match. The win over France saw the Three Lions lead 4-0 at half-time after a blistering 45 minutes, before the two-time champions responded to cut the deficit to just one goal by the 66th minute.
Kylian Mbappe bagged a brace at the Hard Rock Stadium to move on to 10 for the tournament. Saka scored a penalty to complete his hat-trick and make it 5-3 before Jude Bellingham completed a frenetic victory in the eighth minute of stoppage time after Ousmane Dembele’s finish. However, Tuchel was loudly booed pre-match in Miami when his name was announced over the stadium’s tannoy. The 52-year-old has received the blame for England’s semi-final collapse to Argentina in midweek, when they were just five minutes from a first final since 1966.
Asked in his press conference about his relationship with the England fanbase, Tuchel said: “I don’t think that I lost the trust. Whatever happened in these 45 minutes against Argentina when we came too passive, whatever happened, why it happened, we were close.
“It’s my job to take decisions. My decisions, my interventions, my substitutions, my change of structure did not have the effect I wanted it to. I have to live with this. It’s very painful for me because I did it in good faith, with a clear plan and idea behind it. It didn’t work out.
“I take the blame and the responsibility but I strongly believe we built more in this World Cup than we can lose in 30 minutes and me personally, in a decision that turns out not to be effective. The pain will stay with me, the scar will stay with me. In the end we need to win the trust in seven, eight weeks when we’re back together at the Nations League.
“We need to gain the trust and rebuild it. You have it but it’s never a given. This is normal in high-level sport that you have to prove yourself and prove a point every time.”
And asked if he remains committed to the job, Tuchel told the BBC: “Yeah because to see a team fight like this gives you energy. The tiredness will come after. We will still feel the pain tomorrow when it’s the final. This will take a while. Overall, it gives me more energy than it takes from me.”
Saka, when asked about the criticism his manager has faced, told the BBC: “I think it’s just part of the game. When you lose, there’s always going to be noise. When you win, there’s going to be noise. It’s how you react to it and use it as fuel. Today we finished strong. That’s all we could really do and we did it.”
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Thomas Tuchel is confident he retains the backing of the England fans (Image: Getty)
While captain Harry Kane similarly told ITV: “I think [this win] just helps finish on a small high. Everyone is still going to be hurting once we come down from the win and the medal. They’re still going to be processing why it happened and what we could have done better. It’ll be the same for him [Tuchel] as well.
“But yeah that’s part and parcel of being the England manager, when you’re daring to dream as big as we dream and you fall short. We all fall short. You’ve got to take that on the chin. We as players have to do it and the manager will have to do it. If anything, that just makes us stronger.
“It was his first ever major [international] tournament. I’m sure he’s learned a lot from this experience, from us and the whole campaign. The best coaches and best players find a way to improve from these experiences.”
Tuchel added to the Beeb: “Difficult [to sum up this match]. It was enough for four matches, what happened here. We had a brilliant first half then a turbulent second half. You could see the difference one day makes and the difference in the schedule. We were just so, so, so tired and drained from the last weeks.
“So massive compliment and full respect to the mentality that we showed. Going through all the adversity, absolutely brilliant. I was afraid of the physical demand of the match because we know the quality and speed of France. The schedule for them was just less demanding, they had one day more in between the semi-final [and this] and they had way less travel distance than us.
“This sums it up for us. We played in the heat, overtime, altitude and whatever. I was worried physically. You could see it in the second half, all the cramps and tiredness. I was never worried about the mentality. This team created something very special and they showed it again.
England put six goals past France and Bukayo Saka scored three of them (Image: Getty)
“France played at full flow and full risk so we got lucky to not concede the equaliser and finish it off with the penalty and a brilliant goal. We had the ability to close it but also they had the ability to open it up again.
“Eight years ago they were the champions, four years ago they were in the final and they were in the Nations League final. There is a slight gap. But it’s no problem, we want to close it. Today is the first step to close it. We did it, we beat them. The next one will be against Spain in the Nations League.”
Tuchel insists he does not regret his contentious usage of Saka despite the winger, who didn’t play a single minute against Argentina, scoring a hat-trick at the Hard Rock Stadium. The German said: “No. He did everything right. I just had the feeling in the semi-final for Morgan Rogers, that he would be involved in something special. That was it.
“The games in itself demand so much. We are forced into changes because of cramps and the flow of the game. Bukayo showed he’s a key player, that was never a doubt. I was not even aware now that he had a hat-trick. I lose the overview of the goalscorers! But well deserved, brilliant.”