THOMAS Tuchel took a big dollop of “British humour” with a smile as England confirmed their qualification for the World Cup next year with a 5-0 win against Latvia in Riga on Tuesday night.
Anthony Gordon put England ahead, captain Harry Kane scored twice before the break, Andrejs Ciganiks’ own goal made it 4-0 before substitute Eberechi Eze completed the rout four minutes from time.
Boss Tuchel said fans had been “quiet” for much of the 3-0 friendly win over Wales at Wembley a few days earlier, and the travelling Three Lions throng let him know what they though about it.
Supporters chanted, “Thomas Tuchel, we’ll sing when we want”, and, ”Thomas Tuchel, are we loud enough for you?”
“I got a bit of stick in the first half, so fair enough,” Tuchel said. “I take it in good humour, with a good sense of humour. I accept it.
“They had a reason from my last comments and I guess that’s fair enough.
“I found it quite creative. It made me smile and this is how it has to be. It’s British humour and I surely can take it. No harm done.”
Tuchel added: “It’s so important. They are here and I said the support in Serbia was brilliant.
“The support was brilliant and we are very sure the support in America will be absolutely brilliant. We need it.
“It makes such a difference if you go out as a player or as a coach and you see the fans behind the team and singing. This is also part of what we do.
“We want to make them proud, we want to make them happy. They should be happy to watch us and they should be able to identify with how we play.
“We are on our way to building something and top performance from them.”
England, who have won their six games in Group K, scoring eighteen goals without conceding, host Serbia and travel to Albania next month.
Kane’s brace took his record to 76 goals in 110 games for his country.
“Harry just gave a speech when he said that everyone will be ready to keep this thing going in November, that no one will step back and take this thing for granted. They feel they’re building something,” Tuchel said.
“If you just look at the goal from Ebs, we have a ball lost and Harry goes all the way back to his own half and puts his head down in another sprint defensively.
“As a captain, as number nine, there is no real need to do this. No one would ever blame him if he did not do it but he does it and that is the standard and that is the example that he sets and what everyone feels at the moment.
“And that is so brilliant to see as he helps us win the ball and in the end results in the goal from Ebs, a brilliant goal.
“Harry is ready to put in the intensity and the shift that is needed. It is a pleasure to have him. He is in excellent shape physically, mentally, in top form, top shape. So everything is fine.”
