Thomas Tuchel has warned England fans not to expect “sexy football” – but insists he “loves” the pressure of big games.
England will have to deal with the expectation levels of being red-hot favourites to see off DR Congo in their first knockout clash in this World Cup.
Tuchel has an outstanding win record of 74 per cent in knockout football and says he will bring his expertise to the business end of the tournament.
England boss Tuchel said: “I just love it. I just love it. It just gives an extra edge. It’s what makes FA Cup special and Carabao Cup and like whatever.
“But listen, like the first rounds of FA Cups and the rounds of 32s and in Carabao Cup, they’re not sexy. They’re not glamorous. You need to overcome them, and later it becomes glamorous, it becomes a big event.
“Like in Champions League, the first rounds, you need to overcome it. You need to go out of group, and then you need to find the win. You need to wear opponents down.
“You know that they have quality, and we will face again now in the first knockout, we will face a copy of Ghana, a copy of Panama, a proud team, a defensive team, a committed team to defending, a quick team, happy to counter attack.
View 3 ImagesDR Congo promise to offer another tough test for England(Image: (Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images))
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“We have more of the same to come so need to get our expectations right. Don’t get frustrated, keep on believing because we have 90 minutes, we have 120 minutes and we have a lot of chances to win this match and this is where the focus is.”
Tuchel has won the Champions League with Chelsea and enjoyed great success at club level with Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint Germain and Bayern Munich.
But Tuchel insists there is magic recipe but he will urge his players not to “freak out” if the knock-out games become tense and nerve-wracking.
Tuchel added: “I don’t think we have any secret. We frame them, of course, but this is normally what we do. We give them a headline. What to focus on, what are the key messages.
View 3 ImagesThomas Tuchel has a knack of winning big knockout ties – after winning the Champions League with Chelsea
“Everyone of you expects us to win, every one of the fans expects us to win, so we’re just matching at the moment our own expectations. There is not a lot of gain.
“There’s not a lot of praise, and still you face a team that didn’t allow chances, that don’t allow a lot of chances, it can be tiring, it can be a bit nerve-wracking. It can be monotonous to break this block down.
“But that’s where the energy goes to, and that’s where the mindset has to be, that we don’t freak out. We don’t start to doubt, we keep believing and that’s been our foundations for the past four weeks to be ready for the highest level.”
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