Haaland is the symbol of a team playing with freedom. “There are some clear favourites out there and England are one of them,” he said.
“So I think all of you should put every single pressure on the English lads.”
Tuchel rejects the underdog narrative. “Norway overperform,” he said.
“But internally they know very well how good they are. They proved it.
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They eliminated a big, big, big nation on a big stage. From there on, there is no such thing any more as favourites.”
Heat and Pressure
England face not only Haaland but also searing temperatures in Miami. The mercury is forecast to push 34°C at kick-off.
England have so far played in air-conditioned arenas or cooler conditions.
Tuchel is confident his team's warm-weather training in Florida will help. “When we stepped out of the plane in Miami, we expected it to feel painful,” he said.
“Maybe we are still lucky and we get another dark cloud over the stadium and full rain.
But the science says that we banked a lot of heat training. We haven't lost that.”
The pressure of expectation also weighs on England. Supporters expect to win based on world rankings and squad value.
Tuchel wants his team to play with freedom.
“We need to play better,” he said. “We need to spend more time in the opponent's half.
We struggle too much to overcome a high press. We need to be better in the deep buildup, in the high press.
More connected.”
Tuchel believes his players are overthinking. “It's a matter of … we're a bit stuck in thinking,” he said.
“We are thinking about the pass and then it is already half a second too late. The gap is not there any more.
We are a bit overprotecting, overthinking and we need to get rid of that.”
Stopping Haaland is the key. “You can't avoid focusing on him, for sure not,” Tuchel said.
“There is so much quality in his moments and you have to make decisions.
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He will always arrive on the second post so the question is when to make contact with him.”
