Tuchel embraces 'Tournament Thomas' nickname as England target Ghana knockout blow

Thomas Tuchel has declared himself in the form of his coaching life at the World Cup, embracing the “Tournament Thomas” nickname coined by midfielder Declan Rice as England prepare to face Ghana in Boston in their second Group stage match.

England opened their campaign with a 4-2 win over Croatia, and a positive result against Ghana would go a long way to securing their place in the knockout rounds. Tuchel, who has previously won the Champions League with Chelsea and managed Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain at club level, says the international tournament environment has brought out something new in him.

“I don’t do anything extra, it just gives me a lot of energy to be at a World Cup, to have this tournament and be in competitive mode,” Tuchel said. “I’ve had one of the best days and weeks of my coaching career until now. I am surrounded by world class players and fantastic personalities. It energises me and that’s how it needs to be done.”

Tuchel described his role as finding the right balance between intensity and warmth. “I want to have the right mix between relaxation and the smile and the arm round the shoulder and good spirit,” he said. “I hope that they feel it because the competition is on and I want to be at my best and support them, first of all, to be their best because it’s their stage.”

The England manager was also keen to stress that complacency has no foothold in the squad following the Croatia win. “It is our job to not be complacent and say ‘ok, everything is done now,’” he said. “The players know that hard work is needed and at the moment I cannot see any signs of complacency.”

He added that the squad’s internal competition is driving standards upward. “The guys who did not get the minutes from the beginning are pushing,” Tuchel said. “Normally we need to hold them back and that was straight away the case.”

Off the pitch, the England camp has found an unlikely soundtrack for their World Cup campaign. The Football Association have installed a turntable to play vinyl records in the team’s base, and the players have adopted Oasis’s Wonderwall as their unofficial tournament anthem — a decidedly old-school choice that appears to have gone down well across the squad.