As England kicked off their training session under Florida’s blazing sun, living up to the state’s nickname as the ‘Sunshine State,’ head coach Thomas Tuchel could be pleased with the team’s spirited energy matching the warm weather.
“That’s so Barcelona!” shouted Dan Burn, following an easy tap-in by his former Newcastle teammate Anthony Gordon from just two yards out. Their camaraderie remains intact despite Gordon’s recent £70 million move to Barcelona last week.
However, there was noticeably less interaction between Gordon and Marcus Rashford, whose position at Camp Nou Gordon seems to have usurped. This dynamic adds an intriguing subplot within the squad, especially as both players vie for the starting spot on England’s left-wing attack.
Observing Jude Bellingham up close reveals his remarkable athleticism and football prowess, as well as his commanding presence within the team. When Bellingham calls for the ball, it’s delivered promptly. A slight side-eye from him followed a pass that lacked the desired speed.
Nonetheless, the majority of the session maintained a brisk pace, akin to a trial day atmosphere—something Tuchel seemingly appreciates. He opted to observe rather than directly engage, pacing among the groups with a whistle and stopwatch, exuding authority.
England had a successful first day in Florida as they trained in preparation for the World Cup
Thomas Tuchel can be pleased with his work – and took a liking to a sprinkler in the heat
The German coach only removed his black cap once, not to commend a skillful play, but to cool himself under a sprinkler. When a coach redirected the water away from a rondo, the players humorously insisted on the refreshing spray returning.
‘This week is about building our capacity to the conditions,’ said Jordan Henderson, whose hybrid role of squad player and Tuchel’s chief whip was impossible to miss.
Henderson counted the passes in the rondos and even tweaked the rules at one point. ‘I was the referee, so I was allowed to,’ he later smiled.
Harry Kane’s leadership is less demonstrative. He led the group of 26 onto the pitch and, after his group lost out in one challenge, he did 15 press-ups as a forfeit when the others stopped at 10. The captain looks in magnificent shape, as we might expect on the back of a 61-goal season for Bayern Munich.
The challenge in which his group came up short was fun – five players connected by towels and needing to juggle the ball 15 yards between them before teeing up a team-mate to finish first time into a small goal. When John Stones contrived to hit the crossbar from three yards, Kane did not hide his horror. Laughter soon followed. As it did when Burn ended up on his backside amid the whiplash speed of another keep-ball exercise.
Those towels soon came in handy at a mid-session break, during which Bellingham pinged the new Adidas Trionda fully 50 yards and flush on to the crossbar. Who else?! His dad, Mark, was in attendance at the session, as were some others parents.
But the father figure of this squad is Henderson, as Tuchel intends, and the midfielder spoke afterwards about setting standards now and maintaining them, revealing the ‘invisible work’ mantra they are using internally.
‘Invisible work is making the hard yards – getting back when you lose the ball, the reaction to win the ball back,’ he said. ‘It is the little things that not everybody will see, but we notice and we understand the importance of that as a team. It’s about doing that, not only in training but in every single game we play.
The squad know there are hard yards to come ahead of their opening game against Croatia
‘We have to be ready to sacrifice for each other. We have to be ready to do all that invisible work and to support each other, because we all know the talent the squad has and how we can hurt teams. It’s exciting, but there’s a lot of work to be done.’
That worked started here, beneath bright skies and even brighter smiles. Only when the players disappeared did the storm clouds move in and empty. That timing felt like a piece of early good fortune for Tuchel and his players.
‘When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors!’ read the sign nailed to the training-ground gate, and in monsoon season that is just one inconvenience England are certain to encounter.
But for today – day one – all is well. Only 47 more to go before the World Cup final in New York, 1000 miles north of here. Tuchel should be happy with the first steps taken.
