Matt Lawton, Chief Sports Correspondent, Boston
In Dallas he complained about photographers blocking his view of the players during the national anthem (Matt Lawton writes). Now, in Boston, Thomas Tuchel has taken a gentle swipe at Fifa, about the hydration breaks.
One of the pleasures of covering this World Cup is the England head coach’s press conferences. He speaks with candour as well as eloquence, and is not afraid to have a moan if he feels it is justified.
A chap from Nigeria asked him if these interminable interruptions were ruining the entertainment, and Tuchel was only too happy to agree. Not least because the temperature is likely to be as low as 19C for the game against Ghana on Tuesday, possibly even with a bit of rain.
“Yes, I think that it interrupts and changes the identity of a football match much more than I thought,” the England head coach said. “Of course, I’ve had hydration breaks before when it was really hot and necessary, but those were shorter and only occurred in a few matches. Now, from a standpoint of fairness to every team, it breaks the match almost into four quarters. I think it changes the characteristics of the match more than I expected.
“As a coach, I like having the opportunity to influence the team and gather them together, but overall, I prefer football when it’s played in one go per half. It builds momentum. It’s hard to build and keep momentum when there are breaks. The battle on the field between the players plays out over a longer period of time; that is what adds to the character of the beautiful game, and this takes away from it. But in terms of fairness, of course, it makes sense that everyone gets it.”
Bradley Collyer/PA