Thomas Tuchel has said he believes England struggled live up to expectations at Euro 2024 because the team played with a "fear" of losing and did not have the "hunger" to win.

Despite reaching the final in Berlin where they lost to Spain, Gareth Southgate's England team were criticised for their uninspiring displays and lack of attacking threat in a competition they were favourites to win.

Asked in a news conference on Thursday about an interview he had given to ITV in which he indicated that he felt the team struggled with the pressure at the Euros and their performances suffered as a result, Tuchel doubled down on his opinion.

"It was just my feeling. It was my feedback and first of all it was my feeling in front of TV just way long, long before I even know that I may be in charge," Tuchel told a news conference on Thursday.

"That was my feeling. I think it's pretty clear statement and don't know how to put it in other words, and I think it has to be the other way around.

"I want us to play with the excitement and the hunger and the desire to win and the joy to win. And the chance of failure is a part of it, especially in football, but we want to implement this togetherness and the joy that everyone feels safe to express themselves and give their very best. And we play that. It's recognisable.

"We play with the hunger and the joy to win and not with the fear to lose. Anything can happen in football, we know this, but the focus is on winning is on a higher number of touches in the opponent's box, a higher amount of attacks, a higher amount of high ball recoveries. This is where the focus is."

Tuchel will take charge of his first England match on Friday when the Three Lions host Albania at Wembley Stadium to begin their qualifying campaign for the 2026 World Cup and the German coach admitted he is feeling some nerves ahead of the game.

"I just hope so much that they can see what I see on a daily basis and they can transform it into the stadium because what I saw in the last days was amazing and was just a joy to watch and to be part of it," he said.

"So hopefully we can transport this energy and this fire and in this hunger into the game tomorrow. And then, I mean it's amazing. We will have a full Wembley [it will] be very exciting. I will be a bit nervous I guess, but that's part of it. I'm always a bit nervous before matches so this will not be different and yeah, excited and hopefully we can prove the point and then take the first step."