Thomas Tuchel was involved in an awkward exchange with ITV presenter Gabriel Clarke following England's 1-0 defeat to Japan at Wembley on Tuesday. The result marked the first loss on home soil since Tuchel's appointment as head coach in October 2024, with Brighton's Kaoru Mitoma scoring the winner in the first half.
Despite dominating possession, shots, shots on target and expected goals, England failed to score, suffering a setback in their final home game before this summer's World Cup. In the post-match interview, Tuchel appeared irate when asked about his full-back selection, which saw Ben White and Nico O'Reilly start after Djed Spence and Tino Livramento featured against Uruguay.
When Clarke suggested the full-back area was one of 'serious consideration', a baffled Tuchel replied: 'Full-back area?' Clarke clarified: 'In terms of your options there,' to which Tuchel responded: 'We have a lot of options and will arrive with good full-backs.'
Tuchel was then quizzed about the shirt 'weighing heavy' on some players, but he disagreed, saying: 'I don't want to engage in this discussion... I want to focus more on the principles and on the doing than thinking what it means.' He added: 'We have two months to get it out of our system now, the players will play a lot of football in these two months and we'll be ready.'
England will face Croatia, Ghana and Panama in the group phase of the World Cup in the United States, with their first match on June 17.
