BOSTON — Football managers need more media duties like a hole in the head. There are now so many pre-match and post-match interviews to contend with that coaches at the highest level barely have time to think.
So when Fifa requested that someone be put up for interview during the half-time interval of World Cup matches, England manager Thomas Tuchel rightly insisted he be kept clear of them.
Nations have been using an unused substitute or a member of the backroom staff to fulfil the requirement.
Tuchel’s most trusted confidant Anthony Barry drew the short straw for England’s group opener against Croatia.
An arduous formality, Barry was expected to just get through them, throw in some space-filling cliches, and move on.
