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The way that Thomas Tuchel remembers it, he was the only choice for the award. He had led Chelsea to Champions League glory in 2020-21 so when the German publication Sport Bild named its coach of the season, it had to give it to him. “Yeah, there was no way out,” the England head coach says, with a smile. “Because if Jürgen Klopp won at the same time the Charity Shield they give it to him …”

The line is delivered in trademark style: deadpan, apart from the twinkle in his eye and it is especially funny to imagine Klopp’s reaction when he reads it. What happened next for Tuchel was less of a laughing matter. As a part of the deal, he gave an interview to Sport Bild and during it he joked about how he would have “no problem” bringing Erling Haaland to Chelsea and playing him up front with Romelu Lukaku.

Haaland’s club at the time, Borussia Dortmund, were unimpressed and Tuchel found himself having to say sorry to them. “I always need to apologise,” Tuchel says. “They don’t get my humour.”

Tuchel has had other Haaland-related problems. In 2019-20, when Tuchel was in charge at Paris Saint-Germain, he watched him score both Dortmund goals in a 2-1 Champions League last-16 first-leg win. PSG turned it around to edge through 3-2 on aggregate. It did not go so well for Tuchel in 2022-23 when he was at Bayern Munich and Haaland had gone to Manchester City. Haaland scored in both legs of the Champions League quarter-final tie, City progressing 4-1 on aggregate.

Tuchel has close-up experience of how devastating Haaland can be and is braced again. Because there is no doubt Haaland will represent the single greatest threat to England’s World Cup ambitions when he steps out to face them for Norway in Saturday’s quarter-final in Miami.

Haaland has had fun at the tournament. On the field, where he has scored seven goals in four appearances, including the two that helped Norway to the historic 2-1 win against Brazil in the last 16. They have never previously made it this far at a World Cup. And off the field, too.

The 25-year-old enjoyed a shopping trip in Dallas, for example, where he brought a cowboy hat and boots, together with a silly T-shirt. “Y’all can kiss my Dallas,” read the wording on it. Haaland uploaded the pictures to social media and he is the symbol of a team that approach the England game with a certain lightness; everything to gain, nothing to lose.

That is how Haaland wants to portray it and there was the moment on Thursday when he took great delight in pushing his view of the climate around the match. “There are some clear favourites out there and England are one of them,” he said. “So I think all of you [in the media] should put every single pressure on the English lads.”

Tuchel wants to fight the notion. “Norway overperform,” he says. “But internally they know very well how good they are. They proved it. They eliminated a big, big, big nation [in Brazil] on a big stage. And from there on, there is no such thing any more as favourites.

“I understand that it’s a bit of a lighter situation [for Norway] and they can ride this wave. But we’re not thinking in this matter and I don’t feel our players are playing with fear. I don’t feel the weight of the shirt. And now we go. No matter who is on the other side, no matter if we are favourites or not or if the pressure is on.”

England felt the heat when they arrived in Miami. It will be the first real test of their ability to cope in searing temperatures with the mercury forecast to push 34C at kick-off. England have so far played in the air-conditioned arenas of Dallas and Atlanta and the rain of Boston, New Jersey and Mexico City.

Tuchel is confident the warm-weather training he has overseen, especially the pre-tournament camp in Florida, will stand the players in good stead. It has also been very hot in Kansas City, where England have their base. “When we stepped out of the plane in Miami, we expected it to feel painful,” Tuchel says. “Maybe we are still lucky and we get another dark cloud over the stadium and full rain. But the science says that we banked a lot of heat training. We haven’t lost that.”

The heat is there on a metaphorical level. It has not needed Haaland to turn it up. There is absolutely no sense that Tuchel or any of the players will take progress for granted. And yet at the same time the supporters expect to win. The sentiment is based on world rankings and the book value of the respective squads. It is the curse under which England must labour.

Tuchel’s message is that it is time to take the handbrake off. To find a liberation after the slog of the tournament until now. To click as the team did in the pivotal game of qualification – the 5-0 victory over Serbia in Belgrade.

Tuchel has thought a good deal about identity. He wants his England to reflect some of the best characteristics of the Premier League and is honest about how they have often fallen short. On the other hand, he appears to have reached the conclusion that it is impossible to groove the kind of frameworks that are the norm in the club game. There is not enough time with the players. Does it matter if the results are there? If the big moments belong to England?

“We need to play better,” Tuchel says. “We need to spend more time in the opponent’s half. We struggle too much to overcome a high press of the opponent. We need to be better in the deep buildup, in the high press. More connected.

“Our identity is not so obvious from a football point of view in this tournament. We struggle. It’s not a matter of commitment. It’s a matter of … we’re a bit stuck in thinking. We are thinking about the pass and then it is already half a second too late. The gap is not there any more. We are a bit overprotecting, overthinking and we need to get rid of that.”

Tuchel will take victory however it comes. One thing seems certain, Haaland must be stopped. “You can’t avoid focusing [on him], for sure not,” Tuchel says. “There is so much quality in his moments and you have to make decisions. He will always arrive on the second post so the question is when to make contact with him.

“Some defenders like to stay zonal and get the earlier jump. Some like to step back and start fighting with him on the ground, physically – but then he pushes you aside and gets a free header. If you stay zonal he jumps over you. He has all the weapons.”