The Japan Times - Tuchel urges tired England to find 'energy' in Andorra qualifier

Tuchel knows the pressure is on to deliver a hefty victory in Barcelona against an Andorran team sitting 173rd in FIFA's world rankings.

Tuchel's reign as England boss started with comfortable wins against Albania and Latvia at Wembley.

Now the German takes the Three Lions on the first away trip of his reign and Andorra, who have lost all six previous meetings, should pose little threat to his unbeaten record.

But Tuchel cited the motivational difficulties posed by the summer international break, which comes after a draining season and just before several of his players jet off to the Club World Cup.

"I can fully understand that this is not the easiest time of the season for an international break," Tuchel told reporters on Friday.

"The players come from a short break of holiday, from a long and tiring season and then accepting again the role.

"It can be demanding but what I feel from the group is they are happy to be here.

"We are quite new together, it's our second camp and I have trust and belief that we will do what is necessary to get the result that we want.

"It is on us to keep the tempo high. It is on us to bring the attacking energy to the pitch and to do this in a relentless way."

Tuchel used Spain's 5-0 win over Andorra in 2024 -- in which the tiny principality trailed only by one goal at half-time -- as evidence that England should not take a huge victory for granted.

- 'Test of our patience' -

"It is important not to over expect from us in terms of already a clear result, biggest chances, goals already after 10 or 20 minutes, and get impatient and get frustrated with ourselves," he said.

"I think it's a test of our patience. Andorra played against Spain and it was 1-0 at half-time with a set-piece.

"It's a World Cup qualifier. Respect your opponent, you respect the quality, the defensive organisation of your opponent and you understand how difficult it is to break down."

Tuchel and his players have spent the week in Spain to aid team bonding and help prepare for the 2026 World Cup, which will be staged in sweltering conditions in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Cycling in sauna-like conditions and testing on their core body temperature have formed part of the camp, while the temperature is forecast to be 26 degrees Celsius come kick-off on Saturday.

"We just tried to figure out how the players individually react to heat because it will be a very hot and humid World Cup," said Tuchel, who will be without Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins due to a "minor" injury.

"We did this so that we can provide individual cooling systems and individual electrolyte drinks and so on."

Nine England players, including captain Harry Kane, will play in the Club World Cup after Tuesday's friendly against Senegal in Nottingham.

But Tuchel hopes their impending commitment in the US doesn't prove a distraction.

"You get just lost if you think now about the Senegal game and then you think about the Club World Cup. Then you just lose focus," he said.

"We take it step by step. We will have a serious line-up tomorrow and we think the line-up is exactly the line-up that gives us the biggest chance to put the game in our way.

"After the match, we take decisions for the Senegal match and we can maybe then think a little bit more about individual players who go after that to the Club World Cup, but tomorrow, it's a full focus on the World Cup qualifier."

M.Sugiyama--JT