England offer rare peek behind the curtain with no place to hide under Tuchel

T he tall hooded figure kept barking instructions under a hot Missouri sun. Thomas Tuchel was looking for perfection as preparations for Ghana geared up. England’s head coach watched from a distance at first but it was not long before he was making sure the training drill was up his standards. Tuchel, wearing a hoodie to protect himself from the UV rays, loomed over a group made up of Elliot Anderson, Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon, Marcus Rashford, Djed Spence and Ollie Watkins. This was a rare peek behind the curtain. At international tournaments there are days when journalists are allowed to watch 15 minutes of open training. They are often anodyne experiences, limited to a bit of jogging around, maybe a glimpse of a rondo if you’re lucky, but there was more insight at England’s base in Kansas City on Saturday morning. Mannequins were carefully arranged in four zones and it soon became clear there is no hiding place when Tuchel is watching. The German is a perfectionist who has been known to measure the height of the grass used at training. “If he sees something that he doesn’t like he calls it out,” Dan Burn said when he spoke to the media later in the day. The honesty is refreshing, the clarity welcome. On this occasion the focus seemed to be on England accelerating the play and moving through the lines. The players were passing through the mannequins. They could only take two touches. …