Tuchel says England were ‘not brave enough’ in first half against Croatia – but hails his players’ reaction to secure victory | OneFootball

Thomas Tuchel hailed the reaction of his England players in their 4-2 win over Croatia after what he described as a “complicated” first half.

England went in at the break level at 2-2, with Croatia twice equalising after goals from Harry Kane.

But Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford struck after the restart and the Three Lions boss praised the improvement he saw in the second half.

“A good second half, a good reaction,” Tuchel told ITV.

“I think the first half was a bit complicated for us. It was a bit nervy and the decisions we took, we chose to go safe and play too many balls backwards, we struggled to find a rhythm, didn’t have the confidence to go through the gaps.

“I saw a statistic of 33% ground duels won in the first half and 73% in the second half so even off the ball, it felt we were not brave enough, not committed enough together and I loved the reaction of the players in the second half and the second half was excellent.

“We deserved to win but it was emotional, a lot of emotions involved, and it took us a while to get going but we did get going and that’s the positive.”

Captain Kane credited the England boss for the improvement the team showed after the break, and asked about what he said at half-time, Tuchel explained: “I think I just said that even if we lose, it will not change my perception of the last 17 days, but let’s do it our way.

“We’re too focused on the result and too focused on protecting what we didn’t even have at that moment and the second goal was just an example.

“I think we were a back seven and we didn’t defend the goal, so why did it need to be a back seven anyway?

“If something happens and the result doesn’t go our way, we want to play this match the way we want to and the way we were together for 17 days and I just tried to encourage them to go for it.”