Thomas Tuchel has set the record straight after he said England were 'afraid' to drop out of Euro 2024 under Gareth Southgate last summer.
Southgate steered the Three Lions to two major finals during his tenure, uniting a nation after the disappointing Roy Hodgson and Sam Allardyce eras.
However, though England made the final of Euro 2024, they were far from their best throughout the tournament.
Tuchel, speaking to ITV ahead of his team's World Cup qualifier with Albania, criticised their set-up under Southgate and said his predecessor's side looked 'afraid' to be eliminated.
Thomas Tuchel has set the record straight after he said England were 'afraid' to drop out of Euro 2024 under Gareth Southgate last summer
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Yet the 51-year-old hasn't backed down, with the former Chelsea boss doubling down instead.
"It was just my feeling. It was my feedback, first of all it was my feeling watching the TV, long before I even knew I may be in charge," he said at a press conference.
"I think it is a pretty clear statement and I don't know how to put it in other words.
"I think it has to be the other way around. I want us to play with the excitement and the hunger and the desire to win and the joy to win and the acceptance of failure is part of it, especially in football.
"We want to implement the togetherness and the joy and for everyone to feel safe to express themselves and give their very best.
"We want to play with a hunger and a joy to win and not with the fear to lose. Anything can happen in football we know this but the focus is on winning, a higher number of touches in the opponent's box, higher amount of attacks, higher amount of high ball recoveries."
Tuchel represents an exciting appointment for England.
Though Southgate did well, he failed to win a trophy with his defensive playing style coming in for criticism.
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Thomas Tuchel has replaced Gareth Southgate as England manager
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Tuchel wants England to be attacking as they begin their quest to reach the 2026 World Cup.
"I think offensively we try implement out style, structure and rhythm," he continued.
"Put players into positions where they feel comfortable and express themselves, hopefully to their full potential.
"In modern football and the quality of the opponent, Albania, and the respect you have to give every opponent, especially off the ball it is necessary we stay open to adapt.
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"Be it in structure-wise or in the line-up and do what is needed.
"I don't think we can be ignorant and say we do what we want and we do what we do and everyone else will adapt to us.
"This will happen but everyone will try to find a solution against us and that is why we want to adapt off the ball."
Tuchel has had just days to work with his England players.
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Captain Harry Kane, however, says members of the squad have been enthused with what they've seen from their new boss.
He said: "We've been really sharp in training and taking on new information. All the lads have been really good at taking on that information.
"The training yesterday was a high level."
