‘No one is unbeatable’: Tuchel eager for England to impose style on Spain

Proof of concept. It is Thomas Tuchel’s latest buzz phrase. The England manager has dropped it into the conversation pretty regularly since the Friday of last week when he named his squad for this international window, the one that was always going to decide whether his team finished first or second in their Nations League group.By it, Tuchel means a test of his methods, what he is trying to build – or, more accurately, fine-tune – as he turns his gaze towards Euro 2028 and tries to move on from the devastation of the World Cup semi-final exit against Argentina. The test does not come any bigger than the one which faces him and his players in Madrid on Sunday night.England ticked off part one of the mission at Wembley on Thursday when they defeated Croatia 2-1. Now for the serious business: Spain at the Metropolitano Stadium. The win over Croatia ensured that England retained a puncher’s chance of top spot, which would in theory bring easier opposition in the two-leg quarter-finals in March. Victory over the world and European champions – nothing less – would secure it owing to England’s superior goal difference.Tuchel is calling it a “final” and he wants this. “Yeah, push our limits, see where we are,” he said. Remember England’s previous Nations League campaign when they were in the second tier? The team learned little from the ties against the Republic of Ireland, Finland and Greece – except that it was unwise of Lee Carsley, the interim manager, to jam in all of the glamour No 10s against Greece at Wembley. The matches did not help England in their preparations for the World Cup.This is different because Spain are the country to beat. They have lost only once in 43 games and that was on penalties to Portugal in the 2025 Nations League final. Technically, it went down as a draw (even if nobody thinks it was) and so Spain’s run, which began in March 2024, is considered (by some) the longest unbeaten in men’s international history. Since they drew 0-0 with Cape Verde in their opening World Cup group game, they have won 12 straight, including all five of their Nations League matches.Jude Bellingham has been given greater licence to roam from midfield with England. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The GuardianTuchel, his staff, the players and the Football Association regard the Nations League as a springboard into the Euros when England will co-host. They are desperate to reach the four-team finals tournament next June because it would ensure continued high-grade opposition. And they are desperate to lift the trophy, mainly because winning is a good habit. It is easy to feel that England’s fans are not as invested. Expect that to change if the team advance to the finals, especially if those games were in England, which would be a possibility.Tuchel has re-geared his personnel this season, partly because of injuries but not entirely. He had only 11 players from the World Cup in his squad against Croatia; two more – Ezri Konsa and Djed Spence – hope to return against Spain after injury niggles. The manager is using different players, most notably Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ben White, Lewis Hall, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Alex Scott and Rio Ngumoha. Lewis-Skelly is back from a one-game ban against Spain. Scott is out injured; it felt significant that he was at Wembley to watch the Croatia game. Tuchel wants to keep him close.Tuchel’s main tactical tweak has been to give Jude Bellingham greater licence to drift from the No 10 role, to overload on either side, to run on intuition. But it is not only Bellingham. Others have been encouraged to push into out-of-the-ordinary zones, including the full-backs. It is no longer a positional team approach. The idea is that it is freer, more fluid. Tuchel is obsessed with finding ways to accelerate the play through midfield.The principles remain. Aggression, physicality, working hard on the cover. Intensity, including when pressing high. Are England the most economical team? No. Tuchel is aware of this. He just wants to go for it and see whether his England can impose their style on Spain. It was the same when they played them at Wembley in the Nations League opener and there were good periods before Spain ran out 3-2 winners. This time, Tuchel wants more.“It’s not a must-win game if you go to Spain,” he said. “But the mindset is important. Beating Croatia so we could have this match was the first step and now it’s important that we play with the same mindset that we played at home [against Spain] – attack them, try to make it a physical game, impose our strength. And we will. I’m very confident about that.”skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionMikel Oyarzabal scored the winner for Spain in the Nations League reverse fixture at Wembley. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The GuardianTuchel felt England deserved more from the topsy-turvy match against Spain at Wembley when his team conceded early and were almost overwhelmed in the first 35 minutes. They stabilised and went 2-1 up before the game turned when Harry Kane missed a penalty for 3-1.“Once we got our energy going and played with this for the equaliser for 1-1, we were strong,” Tuchel said. “Harry’s penalty was maybe the key moment for us because we were very strong then and deserved to be 3-1 up. It would have been very difficult for Spain to come back against us. We had too many big individual mistakes in our own half on the night.“But honestly, if you deeply look into the [Nations League] matches … Spain had some crucial ball losses against Croatia [in Split] and got away with it. They conceded some big, big chances and still managed to win in the end [with an 88th-minute Mikel Merino winner]. So no one is unbeatable. We’re full of confidence. It’s exactly what we wanted. We feel that we have something to take that we lost the last time.”Tuchel was tetchy at the beginning of the first Nations League window in September, the wounds still raw from the criticism after the Argentina defeat. Everyone was on egg shells. The mood has greatly improved and Tuchel is back to his old self; eyes twinkling, in control. He was asked whether England had come a long way since the summer.“Yeah, I think we’re there,” Tuchel said. “We’re ready to win on Sunday. I know what it takes and while no one can ever guarantee it, I think it’s the moment to check how far we are. And proof of concept.”