The Lions Den: Can Tuchel end 60 years of hurt?

With the World Cup already in full flow, allow me to introduce the newest column to Tameside where I’ll discuss England’s progress throughout the tournament. 

I’ll also re-introduce myself, I’m Toby Camplin, I write the Reporter’s weekly City Watch segment, which will also be continued through the summer, but will be stripped back until the conclusion of England’s progress.

This will be the shortest edition on account of the fact that England haven’t actually played as I write this, but there’s still plenty to talk about in the meantime. 

The Three Lions will have kicked off their campaign on Wednesday evening against Croatia, by far their toughest opponent in the group stages.

In the lead up to the World Cup, England faced both Costa Rica and New Zealand in their warm up games, both played in the States so the players will have had a chance to adjust to the heat they will be feeling.

The temperatures are just one of many controversial talking points about this years tournament, but so far we’ve had a great start, some fantastic games and unexpected results. 

Most notably, one of the favourites, Spain drew to debutants, Cape Verde in a stunning result for the newcomers.

With shock results already coming, what lies ahead for Thomas Tuchel and his players? 

Well, most will remember England’s last World Cup match against Croatia in 2018, where the Three Lions narrowly missed out on the chance to play in the final, losing 2-1 in the Semis after extra time.

A lot has changed since then, England have been to two Euro Finals back to back, Gareth Southgate stepped down as our Manager, but Harry Kane still leads the line. 

A lot was discussed about the squad selection, the inclusion of players like Toney, Quansah, Henderson and more were all criticised, whilst Foden, Palmer, Maguire and Alexander-Arnold were all left out in the cold.

Although there are a couple of questionable choices, in my opinion, I like what Tuchel is trying to do, he himself admitted he’s picking ‘harmony over quality.’ 

Trent even missed out on a place when Tino Livramento was injured just a few days ago, with Trevoh Chalobah of Chelsea taking his place.

There are players and leaders part of the squad who have become accustomed to winning, with the likes of Rice, Madueke, Saka all having just won the league with Arsenal, Harry Kane winning multiple trophies in Germany with Bayern and all of the Man City players with silverware under their belt from the past decade under Pep whilst winning two cups this season.

This is a squad who knows how to win and that mindset and culture can be pivotal especially during knockout football. 

Even Tuchel himself is a tournament knockout bred manager in my opinion, he won the Champions League with Chelsea back in 2021 when they were nowhere near favourites or close to being the best team in the campaign.

These things are all academic until you put them on the pitch, and they will all be mindful of that. 

England will play their first game in the closed roof and air conditioned Dallas Stadium, with the conditions definitely suiting them. 

Following the game against Croatia, Ghana and Panama lie ahead in the group stages, let’s not see an early exit, shall we!