Thomas Tuchel offers insight into England World Cup dream 35 years in the making

England manager Thomas Tuchel recalled his vivid memories of Italia 90 as the Three Lions suffered penalty agony and now has the chance to end 60 years of hurt

Thomas Tuchel has been dreaming about starring in a “magical” World Cup since he was a teenager. He has led England to the brink of qualification for the United States next summer and he is already dreaming of winning the trophy.

And it has already brought back wonderful childhood memories of playing in the back garden while he was watching England at Italia 90.

Tuchel recalled turning his collar up to look like former England winger Chris Waddle and remembering Paul Gascoigne and the epic semi final and penalty heartbreak against his own Germany who went on to lift the trophy.

It was a brilliant insight into Tuchel’s mindset and just how much this job means to him and his dream of leading England to glory and the chance for the players to write their names into the history books.

England boss Tuchel said: “I was watching like crazy, I was Chris Waddle with the collar up in my garden and I was Paul Gascoigne, and I was all these kinds of guys.”

READ MORE: Thomas Tuchel sends warning to England’s big names with ‘brave’ World Cup selection vowREAD MORE: FIFA set to dish out ‘substantial’ punishment after Serbia vs England controversy

Tuchel had actually been clutching a book about England’s Italia 90 campaign – All Played Out by Pete Davies – which prompted the conversation.

A few of us journalists had told him about some good English football books to read and Tuchel also recalls collecting souvenir picture books after major tournaments.

When asked what was his favourite World Cup, Tuchel said: “90? I was 17 then, I think my first, there was no internet, there was no online focusing, there was just this book that you always got from the Euros and from the World Cup.

“I always got it as a present, either for my birthday or for Christmas, and we had these books and all the photos from every match of a World Cup.

“I watched these things for four years, I knew every player, I looked at their shoes and their style and this was something magical.

“That’s why if you know that from me, you know what it means to me to hopefully go to a World Cup, what it means to me to qualify and go with England, just a brilliant moment in my journey, I enjoy it a lot and I will give my very best.”

Tuchel was laughing when told that All Played Out – which tells the story of how the late great Sir Bobby Robson led England to the semi finals – does not paint the best picture of journalists covering the tournament at the time.

But England were struggling at the start of that tournament to their best World Cup since winning it in 1966. It was a transformative time for English football amid hooliganism and problems on the terraces to a nation falling back in love with the team again.

England’s win in Serbia was fabulous but it was also in stark contrast to underwhelming back-to-back wins over the minnows of Andorra which had sparked doubts about Tuchel’s leadership.

But Tuchel says he is learning on the job and, after an impressive first camp, the second last June was a major worry. He says this one, despite labouring to an underwhelming win over Andorra at Villa Park, has been first class and was the secret behind their win in Serbia.

Tuchel added: “We try to be very clear to the players and have a new start, I was happy with the first camp although I was not so happy with the second camp but we said: ‘OK, if it’s a learning, it can be a very important camp.’

“If we have right learnings so one of the learnings was ‘we need clarity, the players need clarity, what do we play in this camp, how do we play, what is the structure and where do I compete’ because the competition is on.

“So we told them and showed them and trained them very, very clearly, because the rules need to be clear, because everyone comes from a different club, from a different style, yeah, and from there, step by step, the intensity increased, the accuracy came, and I’m happy that it all clicked.”

Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.