Thomas Tuchel has suggested that Manchester City’s England contingent are worried about their futures after the club was found guilty of breaching the Premier League’s financial rules. The England head coach, who said he would be prepared to keep selecting City players even if they were relegated, revealed that the case had been a major topic of conversation in the camp before the Nations League fixture against Croatia.
Asked whether the situation had become a distraction, Tuchel gave an honest answer while making clear he could only speak for himself. “If I say now it’s not then I can just speak for myself, which would be totally narrow-minded,” he said. “I think it is a distraction. It is. Let’s say it is a subject. If it’s a distraction, I don’t know.”
Tuchel described the matter as an unavoidable talking point, raised at breakfast and at mealtimes among groups of eight or 12 people. He added that the City players themselves were receiving a great deal of outside feedback on the case. “Are they worried or concerned? I think that would be a very human reaction if you don’t know what’s going on for the club that you signed,” he said. “They’re still young. They’re ambitious. They’re told they are totally innocent and don’t know what’s going on. It is a subject.”
For all that, Tuchel said he had seen little sign of it affecting his squad’s day-to-day work. “I don’t see it when I see them in my meetings. I don’t see it how they behave with other teammates, and I don’t see it in training being a distraction. But it’s a topic. How can’t it be?”
The Football Association blocked a subsequent question to Tuchel on whether the City case represented a danger to English football. City maintain their innocence and announced an appeal against the verdict on Friday.
On the pitch, Tuchel selected three City players for this camp: Elliot Anderson, Marc Guehi and Nico O’Reilly, who has withdrawn injured. Guehi made a costly error during last weekend’s defeat by Spain and Anderson was off colour in the win over Czechia last Tuesday, but Tuchel believes both are ready to start against Croatia on Saturday night. England are second in Group A3 with three points from two games.
Jordan Pickford, who remains the No 1, will replace James Trafford in goal, and Tuchel must decide whether to restore Jarell Quansah at right-back after Trent Alexander-Arnold shone against Czechia in Prague. Alexander-Arnold was an unused substitute when England drew in Rijeka in 2018, and his place remains uncertain. Tuchel considered whether this was now or never for the Real Madrid defender, who turns 28 next week. “Maybe, maybe a little bit,” he said. “Once you are in camp it’s a big opportunity if other players are not here. Trent is a unique player. He is not a runner, he is not someone who runs through the last line, who does overlaps, underlaps.”
Tuchel explained that Alexander-Arnold is building a connection with Bukayo Saka, and set out the adjustment the full-back may need to make. “Bukayo is normally used to a lot of movements around him,” he said. “That brings normally the best out of Bukayo. They need also to find a way to not be too static, to not be too ball-position focused and that we play with dynamic movement. That’s maybe the challenge for Trent: to buy a little bit into a new idea and a bit out of his comfort zone. He’s trying and it’s never too late to prove a point.”
Tuchel is content with Saka’s current level. The Arsenal winger struggled with fitness during the World Cup but has been a regular for his club this season. “He had a strong start,” Tuchel said. “I could see he was pain free. He had a bit of a strange ending to last season. He was playing through the pain, he was deciding matches but struggling to have big influence – and yet then having the biggest influence, by scoring decisive goals. He scored decisive goals without being fit and without having the capability to accelerate and decelerate. Now I felt him more involved, and felt he was more dangerous at the start of the season – and still I think there is some level still to come when he plays for England.”