Thomas Tuchel rejects calls to rest England players ahead of Prague Nations League match
Thomas Tuchel said it would be "madness" to allow England players or their clubs to pick and choose matches during the elongated Nations League window and pledged to push for victory against Czechia in Prague on Tuesday.
Tuchel accepted that Declan Rice needed to rest and would not be part of the squad, noting the Arsenal midfielder’s heavy workload and fitness issues; Rice watched England’s 3-2 defeat by Spain at Wembley on Saturday. Tuchel stressed he had his group available and that he would not make compromises over player availability as England prepare for a busy international sequence.
Asked about contact with club managers, Tuchel said: "I don’t take calls from Premier League managers. I never called any national team coach [when he was in club football]. I cannot manage [the minutes of] the players. It’s just impossible." He added: "Why would I do this and start giving the players the impression that it’s OK to take a step back or share a half or to rest one match? I would never. It’s madness. We want to win the next match." Tuchel reiterated he would prefer not to rotate but admitted it might be impractical, saying: "I would love not to rotate but I am not sure if it’s possible. An ideal scenario would be to go again and go again and go again. With six or seven players minimum that start again – to put the responsibility on them and for them to feel the trust."
Tuchel accepted that Saturday’s defeat by Spain had raised the stakes for the trip to Prague but said the squad could cope: "It’s nothing we can’t handle. We need to be proactive and go for it. There is no room for managing [the players] or an economic style. It’s how the team want to play, how we want to play so let’s go." He described the match as wild, saying England conceded early, could have been four or five down by the 35th minute and had loose defending before rallying to lead 2-1 at half-time; the contest turned after Harry Kane’s missed penalty in the 54th minute when Kane felt his standing foot give way.
Tuchel defended Jude Bellingham’s intensity, saying: "It’s the only style he can play. That’s just his game. It’s not an economic game. Let’s see. I would love to have him four times on the pitch. The concern is that he hasn’t done it this season in this tight period. We will need to check with the physios. We will not put Jude at any risk." Bellingham created a game-high five chances against Spain, provided the assist for Anthony Gordon’s equaliser for 1-1, won the penalty that Kane missed which would have given England a 3-1 lead, repeatedly stretched the world champions with his running and clashed with Real Madrid teammate Marc Cucurella on 35 minutes.
On England’s overall performance and how close they were to victory, Tuchel said: "If Harry doesn’t slip we win the game. If Harry doesn’t slip we go two goals up. We were clearly the better team until that moment. Of course, Spain never panic. How far away are we from that? One small slip from Harry." He added: "If we had won, we would have deserved it but it wouldn’t have made us favourites for the Euros. We need to go step by step. They came with their strongest team. We had some key players missing. I am fine with this performance. We could have won the game and didn’t."
After the Prague match, England travel to Rijeka to play Croatia on Saturday before returning to Wembley to face Czechia next Tuesday.