Thomas Tuchelwas involved in an awkward moment with ITV presenter Gabriel Clarke following England's 1-0 defeat against Japan on Tuesday. Tuchel was speaking after the Three Lions were beaten at Wembley Stadium for the first time since his appointment as head coach in October 2024, with Brighton's Kaoru Mitoma scoring the winner in the first half.

England had more possession, shots, shots on target and expected goals (xG) than their opponents, but couldn't find the back of the net and suffered defeat in their final home game before this summer's World Cup.

And in his post-match interview with ITV presenter Clarke, Tuchel appeared to get irate about a question around his full-back selection. The German head coach chose Ben White at right-back and Nico O'Reilly at left-back to face Japan, after picking Djed Spence and Tino Livramento for the 1-1 draw against Uruguay last Friday.

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When asked if the full-back area is one of "serious consideration", a baffled-looking Tuchel said: "Full-back area?"

Clarke replied: "In terms of your options there," to which Tuchel responded: "We have a lot of options and will arrive with good full-backs."

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Tuchel was then quizzed about the shirt "weighing heavy", after some players failed to impress when handed opportunities to stake their claim for a place at the World Cup.

But the ex-Chelsea manager didn't agree with that and said: "No, I don't think so. I don't want to engage in this discussion because I think it's very clear what we want to do and how we want to play.

"And I want to focus more on the principles and on the doing than thinking what it means and whatever. It comes with pressure and noise with playing for England, that's how it is.

"We need to see how the players adapt to that and we can only see it if we try it. We tried it and we have to learn from it.

"We have two months to get it out of our close now, the players will play a lot of football in these two months and we'll be ready."

England face Croatia, Ghana and Panama in the group phase at the World Cup in the United States, with the Three Lions first game taking place on June 17.

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