Thomas Tuchel has come out swinging after England's 2-0 win over Panama, insisting that "the bigger the game, the bigger England will be" as his side march into the World Cup knockout stages as Group L winners. It's the kind of bold statement managers make when they know the performance wasn't exactly a classic, and let's be honest, this one wasn't.
England got the job done, which always matters in tournament football, but the word laboured pretty much sums it up. Panama are no mugs, but they're also not the sort of side that should be making an England team look uncomfortable for long stretches. There were moments of quality, enough to win comfortably on paper, but the cohesion and the sharpness that Tuchel will need in the rounds ahead were only showing up in glimpses.
Now, to be fair to Tuchel, he's not wrong that tournament football has a habit of getting better as the stakes rise. Players sharpen up, the crowd gets louder, and the adrenaline does something to a team that training ground sessions simply can't replicate. England have had this pattern before, grinding through the group stage and then suddenly looking like a proper outfit once the knockouts start. It's frustrating but it's also kind of their thing at this point.
The positive spin is that they're through, they topped the group, and the squad is still fresh with energy in the tank. Tuchel clearly knows what he wants from this team and has been steady in his messaging throughout. Whether the players can actually deliver that step up when it really counts is the only question worth asking right now.
England fans have been here before, daring to believe, and sometimes being right, sometimes being heartbroken. The hope is that Tuchel's conviction isn't just press conference talk and that when a tougher opponent arrives in the next round, England genuinely do find another gear. The talent is there. The belief seems to be there too. Now they just need to show it on the pitch when the pressure is properly on.
Let me know your thoughts.