At 02:45 CEST on September 30 (Beijing time), the England national team will visit the Czech Republic in the second match of the UEFA Nations League group stage. Ahead of the match, Thomas Tuchel, England's head coach, held a press conference. This article covers the first part of the press conference.

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Looking back at the match against Spain, I think most people would describe it as "a glorious defeat" because there were many positive aspects on display in that game...

What does that mean? I'm not entirely sure I understand that phrase.

It means "an admirable defeat"...

Okay, I understand.

So I think you mentioned earlier that the quality of play in the attacking and midfield areas was some of the best football you've seen from this England team. But clearly Spain is very high quality and caused you significant problems at other times...

Yes.

But after the match, there's been a lot of discussion about playing style, the team's DNA, and the quality of English players. As England's head coach, what is the most pressing priority for you right now?

I think there was a lot of discussion about this before the match, but I feel that it was only after this game that we showed a clear style of play, courage, and our players demonstrated a clear tactical approach and identity. They maintained this spirit throughout the 90 minutes.

I believe that over the course of the 90 minutes, we were a strong and credible force in this high-level football match. Both teams displayed their strengths and quality, and we showed our quality in full. I think we created many threatening and promising attacking opportunities. Unfortunately, we couldn't convert these opportunities into goals, but our attacking intent and momentum were very threatening and created significant problems for our opponents.

Of course, we created problems for ourselves through some individual errors. This can happen sometimes, and while it shouldn't happen, it still does. But I think we stuck to our style of play, and we always encourage our players to play in their own way, the way they want to.

I felt the atmosphere in the stadium was excellent, and I believe the players and team created that passionate atmosphere. Everyone was ready to commit and fight. Yes, we felt that in key moments when we played our best football, we pushed the world and European champions to the brink. After we went ahead, we didn't stop attacking and became increasingly influential and threatening, right up until the end of the match when we had to take responsibility for disrupting our own rhythm.

But overall, beyond the result, we have many positives to take from this, and this is our current situation. So the main challenge ahead might be to repeat and rebuild this performance in tomorrow's match. Although tomorrow's match will have different conditions and context, it's still a high-level UEFA Nations League match, so we expect it to be an extremely difficult game.

We've observed the Czech Republic's new coach and his team. They showed great discipline in their match against Croatia, and their midfield is very fluid. Many of the technical characteristics we saw in Spain can also be seen in the Czech Republic. So yes, we need to be fully prepared. That's always the case, and that's the challenge we face.

Is your outlook on this match different from the Spain game? In one sense, this is a match you and the team need to win, isn't it?

It's too early to talk about "must-win." I understand what you mean, but in a group stage, it's too early to talk about "must-win." Generally speaking, our principle for every match is the same: every time we come to the pitch and prepare the team, we have one goal only, which is to win. That's always our objective—it was the objective against Spain, and it will be our objective tomorrow.

At the same time, we respect our opponents. We respect their strength, and we respect the significant challenge of playing against the Czech Republic in Prague. Playing in Prague is very difficult. The atmosphere will be intense and passionate, and the home team will be fully supported by their fans. That's normal.

So, as I just said, we're always prepared to win, and we have an incredible desire to win. No doubt about it. Considering our overall position in our group and what we aim to achieve, it's too early to talk about "must-win." Winning is certainly the ideal outcome, but the challenge lies with our opponent on the other side of the pitch.

Hi Thomas, Conor Coady and Nico O'Reilly didn't participate in training today. Will they be ready for tomorrow? Is there any update on other personnel?

I'm not certain yet. They didn't participate in today's full training session, as you saw. This is due to minor physical discomfort or injury concerns, but even minor issues need to be managed carefully. They need further medical assessment, and we'll make a final decision tomorrow morning.

Regarding squad rotation, you mentioned earlier that you would assess players' physical condition based on the recovery time between matches. How are they now? Will there be significant changes to the lineup for tomorrow's match?

Today's training was excellent. We maintained our rhythm and form, and every player on the pitch demonstrated very high morale and technical quality. Personally, I'd like to field the same starting lineup again, but I need to communicate closely with the medical staff, physiotherapists, and the players themselves to assess which decisions would be responsible. And what wouldn't be responsible. So we'll see how the situation develops tomorrow.

Before I arrived at the team camp, my general thinking was to avoid excessive rotation, but yes, we always need to be careful and take serious responsibility for our players' physical health.

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