Ahead of his first training session as the new head coach, Thomas Tuchel gathered his men to outline vision for the World Cup 2026 – with Dan Burn revealing what was said
Thomas Tuchel told his England players “to put another star on the jersey” in an inspirational opening speech at St George’s Park. Ahead of his first training session as the new head coach, Tuchel gathered his men to outline vision for the World Cup 2026.
And to begin with, it was a simple rallying cry. “He said that the goal is to put another star on the jersey,” revealed Dan Burn, who will be hoping to win his first cap when England face Albania at Wembley on Friday night. And speaking to the lads after, everyone was very impressed with how he came across, with his vision of what he wanted to do.
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“You could just see looking around that people were tuned in and really want to buy into that.” And it seems Tuchel wants his players to ditch the typical English reserve and be more touchy-feely – American basketball-style – on the field.
Burn explained: “He (Tuchel) said he’d spoken to players from previous tournaments and from other countries about what the difference was between when they went out in early rounds and what happened when they won it.
“And a lot of it was about interactions. He spoke about in the NBA – the best teams historically in the NBA are normally the teams who are sort of like high-fiving each other, picking each other up and having a lot of those interactions.
“We do a lot of that in Newcastle and speak about it. They can just keep people switched on and give people little bits to keep motivation levels high.”
And in terms of trying to end a trophy drought, Burn sees comparisons between his club and country. He said: “I see a lot of similarities between Newcastle and England in that respect so yeah it would be amazing for everyone associated with the whole country really (if England won the World Cup).
“I’d say from speaking to him (Tuchel) last night, I’ve got confidence that everything possible will be done to try and finally bring the trophy home.”
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