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Thomas Tuchel stressed talent alone is not enough to make his World Cup squad as the right “social skills” and personality will be needed for England to stand a chance of glory this summer.
It is just five months until the back-to-back Euros runners-up kick-off their quest for success in North America with their Group L opener against Croatia in Dallas. Tuchel only has two March friendlies before naming his squad for the tournament, having qualified impressively during an autumn when he spoke of building a “brotherhood” capable of beating the best.
The England manager has been impressed by the strides they have made since he took charge a year ago but has a lot to consider as he weighs up a selection he thinks will be capable of adding a second star to the shirt.
“When I speak to players who have been in World Cups, it has always made the difference when the connection was right, when the communication was right, between the players first of all,” Tuchel said.
“So, when the players had the feeling that the right group is in camp, that they knew their role, why they are in camp, what is expected of them, and they had the feeling that the tournament could even go on for another four weeks and they would be happy to be together, then they were successful.
“When they had the feeling after the round of 16 already ‘oh, when can we finally go home?’ and the energy was not right and they didn’t make it. This just tells me that we have to get the selection right. It will be very important that we don’t select just for talent, but also for what we need from a player. What the social skills are of a player, is he a good teammate? Can he support if his role is maybe the supporting role? So, this is where the focus is.”
Tuchel, speaking in an interview released on Thursday but filmed last month, still has to finalise England’s tournament plans on top of considering his selection for what will be a taxing summer. A warm-up camp in Florida featuring two games is being lined up before kicking off a World Cup group featuring Croatia, Ghana and Panama.
“It is a big tournament regarding distances, the time zones that you travel, the altitude – difference of altitude, difference of weather conditions,” Tuchel said. “It will be very hot. We will have a lot of players out there who hopefully play until May for international titles, they will play for national titles and we will demand, the World Cup will demand, a lot out of them.
“Then we will be hopefully six to eight weeks together if we make it until the very end. It will demand a lot of our social skills, how we are together as a group and we need to get the nomination right.
“We need to find the right balance in the team and take it as an opportunity and take it as a dream coming true to be part in a World Cup and to play, hopefully, a major role is nothing else than a dream.”
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