Brighton boss reveals verdict so far on England and Tuchel

But he accepts they have not been the prettiest to watch.

The Albion head coach is back at work at Lancing after a busy few weeks following the 2025-26 season.

His travels have included time at the World Cup as well as a trip to the Austrian F1 Grand Prix and an exotic holiday.

But he is keeping a close eye on Thomas Tuchel and his England side as they move into the knockout stages.

They face a major test in the Azteca when they take on co-hosts Mexico in the last 16 on Monday (1am).

Hurzeler is aware Three Lions fans are not totally won over by how their side have been playing.

But he said: “England has a clear structure how to play.

“On top of that, they have players with high quality and, for me the most important, I still think there's a good connection.

“There's a good environment around the team, a good connection between the coaching staff and the players.

“I don't see it as negative as you might see it.

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“I'm still quite optimistic because, of course England are not perfect so far, but they keep improving while they are still in the tournament.

“And teams often grow through these difficult moments.

“Teams often grow when they can handle these difficult situations and I think England had quite a few so far.

“But the quality is they find a way to deal with it.

“On top of that, for me, they have the experience, they have the quality in every position.

“They have a coach who understands how to prepare for knockout football.

“It will come back to small details. It will come back to small margins and I'm still quite optimistic regarding England.”

England have played in fits and starts but have recorded three wins and a draw so far and have generally finished games strongly.

Thomas Tuchel has guided England to the last 16 (Image: Bradley Collyer/PA Wire)

Hurzeler, who was present at the goalless stalemate with Ghana, added: “I think tournament football is different to club football.

“Everyone would like to play spectacular football, but the first objective in a tournament is to survive and to keep progressing.

“And sometimes efficiency becomes more important than aesthetics.

“They are efficient, they are maybe not the most aesthetic at the moment, but England has shown resilience.

“They find a way to win games and, for me, that is more important in a tournament, especially knockout football.”

Reece James is understood to be in contention to face Mexico after injury but Hurzeler believes Tuchel has a lot of faith in Djed Spence in that position.

He told TalkSPORT: “I think he has a clear profile regarding his full-backs.

“He has clear demands, clear expectations of what a full-back in general should be doing in this system.

Djed Spence has played at right-back (Image: Martin Rickett/PA Wire)

“And I see a system which is quite flexible.

“I see in this system a full-back play like a playmaker role and a full-back who can really create a dynamic of deep runs with overloads, with underlaps.

“I think, therefore, he will keep pushing Spence, because this is a profile who has all these attitudes inside of him. With all these qualities.

“He likes full-backs who join the attack, who attack the box.

“He has it with (Nico) O’Reilly on the left side. Now he has Spence on the right side.

“I think he has a clear profile for each position, and that's the same for the full-backs, and then he tries to get the best out of them.

“Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't work but for me the most important is to be really consistent in the messaging, to be really consistent in the principles he wants the full-backs to play.

“That's what I can see in the first games so far although, like I said, not everything is perfect.”