Thomas Tuchel demands England players ‘fighting from the bench’ in World Cup bid

Thomas Tuchel wants substitutes to park any frustration and roar on team-mates from the bench as the England boss stressed the only way they can win the World Cup is by fighting as a group.

The back-to-back European Championship runners-up are among the favourites for glory at next summer’s tournament, which they qualified for with two matches to spare.

Tuchel has promised he will not dodge tough decisions around the World Cup, with the England boss saying system takes precedence over star names while seeking to build a “brotherhood”.

That approach, and trust in the group, meant stars Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden started among the substitutes against Serbia, with the pair coming on to help provide fellow replacement Eberechi Eze’s late goal in Thursday’s 2-0 win.

Put to Tuchel that England cannot win the World Cup without goals and big moments from substitutes, he said: “One hundred per cent.

“We need a good bench. We play in 40 degrees and we will play after a long, long season.

“We are maybe the nation that suffers the most from international football, from long seasons, from two cups, from cup finals, from semi-finals.

“One hundred per cent we need to be ready to do substitutions until hopefully the late stages of the World Cup.”

Tuchel says it is natural in a “strong national team” for benched players to be unhappy.

But England’s coach said “they don’t have to be happy”, just as hellbent on collective glory as the rest of the team.

“You can be angry at the coach, you can be angry at the situation, but if you see the nations that win, see the clubs that win the Champions League, then the bench is on their feet,” Tuchel said.

“For the last eight to 10 minutes there is no one sat there thinking, ‘I should be on the field, I should be on the field, why am I not there?’ They are just there.

“I experienced this once in the amazing run with Chelsea and it was non-stop, everyone was pushing and fighting from the bench even if they were not picked and they were ready.

“This makes in the end the difference and I strongly, strongly believe we should arrive with a team like that. Even if they are disappointed, which is absolutely normal.”

Tuchel, too, struggles with some decisions, saying leaving new boy Alex Scott out of the 23-man matchday squad for Serbia gave him “stomach pain”.

Whether FIFA will use a 26-player selection or alter it for the largest World Cup ever remains to be seen, while the toll on players led England’s manager to be asked if five substitutions was enough.

“Good question,” Tuchel said. “I think we will not get another number so quickly out of FIFA!

“We have to adapt with five and think outside the box and maybe worship even the extra slot we have at half-time.

“We maybe can have one or two changes at half-time to get another slot for the changes in the second half.”

Such plans will be fine-tuned after final fixture of the year away at Albania, where he vowed not to take risks with any players for the Tirana qualifier.

“We have two training sessions,” he added. “Last time after Andorra there were four or five guys who really trained their way into the Serbia match with outstanding training performances, so the door is open.”