Tuchel Frustrated by England’s Lacklustre Display in Narrow Win Over Andorra

England manager Thomas Tuchel was met with boos at the final whistle in Barcelona, despite Harry Kane’s 50th-minute tap-in securing a narrow 1-0 win over Andorra, a team ranked 173rd in the world. The result spared England from an embarrassing draw, but the performance left plenty to be desired.

Although Tuchel has guided England to three wins in as many World Cup qualifiers since taking over, his push for a more attacking brand of football is yet to fully materialize. And against Andorra, his team struggled to impose themselves, frustrating the manager with what he described as a worrying drop in effort.

“I didn’t like how we finished the game,” Tuchel admitted. “We started well, the first 25 minutes were good, but the last half hour was disappointing. We lacked urgency, we lacked seriousness. That’s not the kind of mindset you need in a World Cup qualifier.”

Despite sitting at the top of Group K on the road to next year’s World Cup in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, England’s recent form suggests there’s still a long way to go if they’re to be real contenders.

Tuchel was visibly relieved to escape with a win after Andorra threatened an equaliser late on, but he didn’t hold back in his post-match assessment.

“In the end, we played with fire. It felt like one of those cup games where the favourite doesn’t sense the danger. The players seemed to know it wasn’t going our way, and instead of digging in, the energy just dropped. That’s the opposite of what we needed.”

‘The Booing Is Fair’

Ahead of the match, Tuchel had warned that a blowout win might not be realistic given how fatigued many of his players were after a long domestic season. Nine squad members are headed to the Club World Cup after Tuesday’s friendly against Senegal in Nottingham. Still, Tuchel expects better when they take the pitch at the City Ground.

“We’ll look at the match again and make it clear what we expect from them,” he said. “We’re not going to stop pushing for improvement.”

England fans, who made up the majority of the crowd at the RCDE Stadium, made their disappointment clear throughout a lacklustre match that felt more like a pre-season warm-up than a high-stakes qualifier. The booing grew louder as the game wore on, something Tuchel didn’t take issue with.

“The booing is OK,” he said. “They weren’t happy, especially with how we finished the first half, and honestly, I can’t blame them. They had every right to be frustrated.”

Tuchel did, however, distance himself from reports of abusive chants directed at British Prime Minister Keir Starmer during the game. “I didn’t hear any of that,” he said. “If it happened, of course it’s not acceptable, but I didn’t hear it.”