Thomas Tuchel brutally shuts down England question live on ITV with blunt answer

Thomas Tuchel ruthlessly shut down a reporter with a blunt answer on Anthony Gordon's goal after England's 3-2 Nations League loss to Spain on Saturday. A night to remember quickly turned into an outing to forget as the Three Lions walked away from their opening game of the competition empty-handed.

Marc Guehi found himself pickpocketed by Lamine Yamal on the edge of his own area just two minutes into the match, with the Ballon d'Or nominee slotting past James Trafford from close range. Gordon levelled matters with around 10 minutes remaining of the first-half with a swift counter-attack, before Harry Kane gave the Three Lions the lead moments later after his header deflected off the thigh of Marc Cucurella and past Joan Garcia.

Kane had the chance to make it 3-1 just after the break from the penalty spot, only to slip on the hallowed turf of Wembley, double striking the ball and giving away a free-kick to Spain. Goals from Alex Baena and Mikel Oyarzabal flipped the scoreline once more, as the world champions took all three points in the capital.

Tuchel spoke live on ITV in the aftermath of the clash, where he was probed on his thoughts regarding England's overall performance. The line of questioning then turned to Gordon's goal potentially encapsulating the England template to success, but the head coach was quick to shut down that suggestion.

He said: "No, the Anthony Gordon goal was a counter-attack," with a wry smile, adding: "The ball went in...a counter-attack."

When questioned further, Tuchel added: "If you want to call it that, it's a ball win and a top transition goal. We scored amazing goals and could have created more if we are more clinical in the 20 metres, because we had an incredible amount of ball wins.

"So, the effort against the ball is also identity. The effort against the ball, and the bravery and the courage to have the high ball wins was outstanding. I think we had 12 or 15 more ball wins in the opponents' half than Spain, but we couldn't convert enough into chances and goals, because otherwise, we would have won the match."

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When asked what he made of Gordon's performance in particular, having recently made the move from Newcastle United to Barcelona, Tuchel added: "Good performance with ups and downs, like the team. This is a team sport."

Despite the loss, England captain, Harry Kane, remained positive about his team's performance against the 2026 World Cup winners. He explained: "We reached good levels in the World Cup but didn't quite put a full 90 minutes together.

"Probably similar again today. We had a lot of good moments though. I think that period (where England took the lead) was as good as we've played in a long, long time, and that's the standard that we know we can reach.

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"We're playing against the reigning world champions, European champions and we went toe to toe. And on another day, for sure, we would have won that game.

"We have to take the positives from it. It's disappointing now, of course, but we have to dust ourselves down and go again in a few days."

England now have a two-day layoff before they're back in action against Czechia in the Nations League. The Three Lions then take on Croatia away from home on Saturday, October 3, before returning to home soil for their reverse with Czechia on Tuesday, October 6.