England vs. Spain: No room for “negative” tactics as Thomas Tuchel seeks redemption for “self-inflicted” World Cup wounds

Ahead of England’s opening UEFA Nations League clash with world champions Spain on Saturday, Sports Mole's Senior Reporter Oliver Thomas shares his thoughts on Thomas Tuchel and his Three Lions.

Oliver Thomas, Senior Reporter: 'Tuchel has to hold his hands up'

England vs. Spain UEFA Nations League Match Preview

I hope we see a team that has moved on from the disappointment of missing out on a World Cup final, but one that has also learned one or two things from that tournament overall, both positives and negatives.

With Tuchel, he has to try and get some fans back on side now, because I think he annoyed a lot of people with his comments about England's ‘DNA’ and how that seemingly played a part in their loss to Argentina.

Many will agree that on another day, with a little bit more conviction, England would have seen out the last few minutes in that game against Argentina to reach the final. Unfortunately, the one man in charge of England disagreed and decided to shut up shop with about 20 minutes plus stoppage time remaining.

It was just an avoidable, self-inflicted result. It was so frustrating to watch from an England point of view. Tuchel's negative tactical decisions backfired, and he has to hold his hands up for that now.

He has since come out and defended those controversial defensive substitutions in that match, but he has admitted that he played a defensive style a bit too early in that game, and we can all agree with that.

He has said that he now has to live with that. It is ‘his scar and not ours’ in his words. Hopefully, having acknowledged that error, we won't see Tuchel make a similar decision again in these big games when it matters.

Hopefully he will show a bit more belief in his players – I think he has that belief in his players, but from a fan's perspective, we need to see that belief in the decisions he makes on the pitch.

Gaining the trust of the fans and some of the players is a big part of his role as England manager, but ultimately, it is all about results and if he can somehow steer England to a win against the world champions Spain, then for some, what happened at the World Cup will be all but forgotten.

Hopefully, if we were to go 1-0 up against Spain, England won't just sit back and allow Spain to come forward at ease in search of an equaliser.

England do have quality players. Looking through the squad, many are now playing at the top level in the Premier League on a consistent basis. Many are playing in the Champions League too. Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane are playing abroad with Real Madrid and Bayern Munich respectively, two of the biggest teams in Europe.

We have seen England now get to two World Cup semi-finals and two Euros finals in the last eight years, so this England group have shown that they can compete at the highest level.

Now, it is just finding a way to make that next step, forming a team that is capable of making that next step, and that is what Tuchel has been brought in to do. He is the guy who has been brought in to bring it home for England and win some silverware!

He failed at the first attempt, and he has another crack at it now with the Nations League, albeit a minor tournament that doesn't really come close to the World Cup or the Euros.

In the Nations League on Saturday, England couldn't have a tougher test in their first match than Spain. They have won just two of their last nine meetings with Spain, and their most recent clash was of course the Euro 2024 final (a 2-1 defeat).

I think England will come into this game as underdogs, but if they can make a strong start, put Spain under a bit of pressure early doors and win that midfield battle too, I think that could be key.

With Elliot Anderson, Bellingham and one more, whoever that may be - it won't be (Declan) Rice, of course, because he has pulled out - stopping Spain from dictating the game on their terms and at their tempo could help massively in trying to claim a positive result from this game.

We just want to see a positive reaction from England after the World Cup. If England are anything like as prolific as they were in that 6-4 win over France in the third-placed playoff, then they could have a shout of getting something from this game, but I think it will be a difficult one against Spain.