Thomas Tuchel, manager of the England national team, spoke openly after leading his team to a home defeat against Japan in a friendly match last night.
Thomas Tuchel, England's manager, admitted feeling deeply pained after his team lost 0-1 at Wembley to Japan for the first time in history in a friendly match last night. Japan's winning goal came from Kaoru Mitoma, a winger from Brighton.
Tuchel said, “Of course, it’s painful. Defeat is always painful, and losing at home makes it even more so. We were punished by a single counterattack in the first half.”
“We wanted matches like these. We knew this was a strong opponent. We had several players unavailable. We used a new tactical plan, tried many things, and we have to learn from it.”
“We have to look at it from the right perspective. This is not the end of the world.”
“We could have done better, but we were playing against a well-trained team, while we used a new strategy and new players.”
“In the second half, we played better. We used the flanks more with wingers and full-backs, which is what we wanted to do all along. We took more risks and created chances, but we couldn’t score.”