Thomas Tuchel told England’s players the goal is “to put another star on the jersey” as the new boss stressed the importance of camaraderie and capitalising on limited time ahead of next year’s World Cup.
Sir Gareth Southgate’s permanent successor began work on New Year’s Day and is hellbent on replicating Sir Alf Ramsey’s World Cup 1966 heroes after agonising back-to-back European Championship final defeats.
Tuchel spoke about “building a brotherhood” as he announced his first England squad on Friday and reiterated that to his players as he laid out his ambitions and expectations three days later.
New call-up Dan Burn said: “The manager had a meeting last night speaking about that, saying we have really only got 24 actual training days up until the World Cup.
“When you put it in perspective, it is not a lot at all. It’s not going to be where you can really implement a strong way he wants us to play.
“It is more going to be how we are with each other and how we push each other, and not being afraid to speak up if we feel something is not right or something should change.”
The Newcastle fan favourite continued: “He said the goal is to put another star on the jersey.
“Speaking to the lads after, everyone was very impressed with how he came across, with his vision of what he wanted to do, and you could see looking around that people were tuned in and really want to buy into that.”
Morgan Gibbs-White was among those excited by Tuchel’s “short, sharp” address.
“He was very intense,” the England attacking midfielder told BBC Radio 5 Live. “He was very sure. It was almost like he knew, he believed in what he wanted.
“He believed in his own ideas, he believed in what he wants, and I feel like when you have someone that believes in what they want, you believe it as well.
“I feel like it was nice for the players to see that side, that aggression, that intensity, to show you that he’s not here just for a jolly up. He’s here to win and that was really nice to see.”
Tuchel’s initial focus is on mentality rather than style as the journey to the World Cup begins with Friday’s qualifier against Albania.
“He said he’d spoken to players from previous tournaments and other countries about what the difference was between where they went out in early rounds and what happened when they won it,” Burn said.
“A lot of it was about interactions. He spoke about in the NBA that the best teams historically are normally the teams who are high-fiving, picking each other up and have a lot of those interactions.”
Candidness and accountability are others ways of engendering togetherness, with Burn saying he would have no issue pulling up the likes of Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham or opening up to the group.
“Sometimes people don’t want to speak up because they find it, I don’t know, a bit embarrassing,” he said.
“I love NFL and all that and I feel like they’re really good at just (being honest). They’re not bothered. If they feel something that’s going to help the group, they’ll just get up and say that.
“I feel that’s something English football could learn from because I feel like we’ll learn most about each other and you get close to each other as a team when you do that, you take a risk and stand up in front of people and speak and be a bit more vulnerable.”
