Thomas Tuchel has laughed off the sarcastic chants of England fans who took aim at the German following his criticism of the “silent” Wembley atmosphere last week.
Tuchel complained about the lack of noise produced by his own supporters in their last outing against Wales, and the travelling England supporters in Latvia responded by breaking into a series of chants that challenged Tuchel’s claim in the game’s opening minutes, most prominently singing: “Are we loud enough for you?”
The fans also stood in defiance against their manager, singing: “Thomas Tuchel, we’ll sing what we want!” They then asked Tuchel to put his money where his mouth is, chanting “Thomas, give us a song! Thomas, Thomas, give us a song!”
While the German manager did not respond with a vocal performance of his own, he did acknowledge the fans with a wave, which was met by a cheer from the away end.
And off the back of his side’s 5-0 win in Riga, one that sealed 2026 World Cup qualification for England, Tuchel couldn’t help but smile when touching on antics in the away end.
“I got some stick in the first half but fair enough and well done, good sense of humour and no problem,” Tuchel said, who could have no complaints about the noise this time around. “It was brilliant support from start to finish.”
Tuchel was left unimpressed with his own support after last week’s 3-0 win over Craig Bellamy’s Wales, which saw a significant contingent of the 70,000-crowd leave before full-time amid severe delays on the London Underground.
“The stadium was silent,’ Tuchel said. ‘We never got any energy back from the fans. If you just hear Wales fans, it’s a bit sad. The team deserved big support. What more can we give in 20 minutes?
“The support in Serbia was absolutely fantastic. I love English football fans but the atmosphere today didn’t match the performance on the field.
“I stand by this statement. We cannot do more than being 3-0 in a derby. I was thinking: ‘Why is the roof still on the stadium?’
“I would have wished for a bit more support in phases where it gets difficult. In the second half to get behind us, there was a bit too much support for Wales.”
The same could not be said in Riga, with England’s rowdy travelling contingent getting their side over the line.
