Spain pose fresh test for Tuchel’s England in Nations League clash
Come Saturday, England will face Spain in a Nations League match, 73 days after their World Cup semi-final defeat in Atlanta when they surrendered a winning position.
The memory of Atlanta remains vivid: Enzo Fernández’s high-camp celebration recalling Andy Möller at Euro 96 was followed by Lautaro Martínez, unmarked, nodding home, and allowing Lionel Messi the freedom of Georgia on the inside-right channel proved costly as Croydon BoxPark fell silent.
Thomas Tuchel has distributed blame for that collapse and summarised his position as "it’s not me, it’s you"; he said shovelling on Big Dan Burn with nine minutes to play was a reaction to players having already decided unilaterally to bunch up in front of Jordan Pickford and "follow in the tradition of failures past" and has said "99% of fans don’t ask him about his Atlanta substitutions."
Analysis this week argued the players "gassing out" followed Tuchel asking them to run too hard in the group stage, and that a squad largely coming off hard Premier League seasons could not replicate that energy in the knockouts; their rearguard efforts against Mexico and Norway were described as portentous preludes to facing Argentina.
Reflecting on comparative strengths, Anthony Gordon, now playing in Spain, said "we don’t have that strength like the Spanish, where we control games like they do," and offered his prescription: "Play to our strengths, which is play physical, play direct football and on the counterattack."
"I talk less than most captains but I know people are watching. They think: ‘If this guy’s running like an animal, I have to follow.’ If you talk too much and then don’t do what you have to, people aren’t going to listen" – Raphinha gets his chat on with Sid Lowe about how he lets his hard-working legs do the talking for him when he leads Barcelona.
With Tuchel unrepentant, the England setup prepares for Euro 2028 with another immediate challenge, starting Saturday with Spain. Join Michael Butler from 7.45pm BST for a Nations League clockwatch, including Italy 0-0 Belgium, Turkey 0-0 France, and more.
