Thomas Tuchel has described the idea of allowing England players or their clubs to pick and choose their matches during the elongated Nations League window as “madness”, and promised to go full throttle for victory against Czechia in Prague on Tuesday.
The manager did accept that Declan Rice needed to rest and could not be part of the squad, given the Arsenal midfielder’s heavy workload across a number of seasons and his well-documented fitness issues. Rice was at Wembley on Saturday to watch England lose 3-2 against Spain in their opening Nations League game.
Now that Tuchel has his group together, he sees no room for compromise — and certainly no reason to talk to club managers who might want to strike deals over their players’ minutes. “I don’t take calls from Premier League managers,” he said, adding that he never called any national team coach during his own time in club football. Managing the players’ minutes, he said, is “just impossible”, and he would never give his squad the impression that it is acceptable to take a step back, share a half or sit out a match. “It’s madness. We want to win the next match,” he said.
Tuchel would prefer not to rotate his starting personnel, though he admitted it may prove impractical. England face three games in quick succession: Prague on Tuesday, then Croatia in Rijeka on Saturday, before returning to Wembley to face Czechia again next Tuesday. His ideal would be to send the same players out “again and again and again”, with six or seven of them starting once more so that the responsibility falls on them and they feel the trust placed in them.
The 3-2 defeat by Spain has increased the pressure on the trip to Prague, something Tuchel accepted but was not troubled by. “It’s nothing we can’t handle,” he said, calling for his side to be proactive and to go for the game rather than adopt what he described as an economic style.
Asked whether Jude Bellingham could sustain his all-or-nothing approach across another three England matches in such a short period, Tuchel was blunt. “It’s the only style he can play,” he said. “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 was at his rampaging best against Spain, creating a game-high five chances, including the assist for Anthony Gordon’s equaliser to make it 1-1. He also won the penalty that Harry Kane missed with the chance to give England a 3-1 lead, and his running with the ball repeatedly stretched the world champions. On 35 minutes he clashed with his Real Madrid teammate Marc Cucurella.
Tuchel suggested that kind of flashpoint brings out the best in the midfielder. “Jude likes that, he gets better if that happens,” he said. “It’s better if he plays with a bit of rage. It’s what he does. I think sometimes he is looking for these moments to get his fire going. He doesn’t know any teammates during an international game. He is still friends with them but not for the 90 minutes.”
It was a wild game against Spain. England conceded early and could have been four or five goals down by the 35th minute, with their defending loose. They rallied to lead 2-1 at half-time, and the match turned after Kane’s penalty miss in the 54th minute, when he felt his standing foot give way.
Tuchel insisted his team is not far away from beating the very best. “If Harry doesn’t slip we win the game,” he said. “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 that a win would not have made England favourites for the Euros, that his side must go step by step, and that Spain arrived with their strongest team while England were missing key players. “I am fine with this performance,” he said. “We could have won the game and didn’t.”