Thomas Tuchel had to have “clear-the-air” talks with Ivan Toney before considering the striker’s recall for the 2026 World Cup, as he revealed he was “not happy” with “the level of training and level of commitment” in last year’s June camp.
The England manager nevertheless re-opened communication with Toney around the period of putting in the provisional 55-man list a few weeks ago, after a frank chat saw them start anew.
On considering the various “obstacles” and “scenarios” of the expanded 48-team World Cup in testing conditions, Tuchel gradually realised that the Al Ahli striker offered many solutions – enough to edge out Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who was close to a call-up.
“I was not happy with the June camp,” Tuchel said of Toney. “He knows that. And we had to clear the air after that. That was the first step to even start thinking about calling him up again, because I was not happy. That was then out of the picture and no more issues.
“And then we started talking more deeply about the team and started talking different scenarios and what would be the most offensive lineup if we are going 1-0 down with 15 minutes to play, ten minutes plus extra time we need a goal. We are pushing. We are around the box. Balls are flying into the box. What are scenarios? Then his name comes up constantly. Because he has a presence.
“Harry loves to play with him, because he thinks that he takes the attention off him. He is even more of an old-school No 9 than Harry himself. So would he be a player you would like to fall the ball down to if there is a ricochet in the box? Yes. Absolutely. Would he be the player that you want to have this touch? Does he take, with his presence, the attention off other strikers? Yes.
”We are trying to build a strong set-piece squad. He can have his role there, defensively and offensively, and he is a world-class penalty taker. He ticks suddenly a lot of boxes. It was necessary that we talked with him again and clarified with him if he’s happy to come.
“The closest to him was then Dominic Calvert-Lewin because he’s also strong in the air. He could help us with set pieces. He’s a very good penalty taker. And after having another conversation with [Toney] and having good feedback from his club coach – very good feedback – and having good feedback from the Euros in Germany, we decided to reopen the door and invite him in.”
Tuchel said it “took a while” to have the chat with Toney, and that he’d done a lot of background work on it. Assistant coach Justin Cochrane was sent to watch the 30-year-old in the Saudi Pro League, and there was constant chat with club manager Matthias Jaissle, who used to play for Tuchel.
“It took a while, and it was in the last weeks, when we started deeply to talk about the selection, like after basically the nomination for the 55, or around the nomination of the group of 55, we made sure we are on the same page going forward, to even put him on the 55, and then from there stayed in touch, to make the decision to put him in.”
Tuchel added that he felt Harry Maguire’s statement soon after learning he would not make the squad was “not necessary”.
Asked for his feelings, the manager said: “Surprised, and I think it was not necessary. I felt his disappointment. I felt that he was upset. He expressed it, which is fair enough. I can see all the arguments to have in camp. I respect him a lot as a player. I respect him even more for his quality that he showed in March. As a football player, I can see all the arguments to have him in camp, but it’s just a decision, not a personal decision, just a decision for someone else. It was not necessary. Let’s put it like this.”
Tuchel revealed that he made calls to all 50 players who had been with the camp, as well as Luke Shaw.
He revealed that he still felt he learned something from every response.
“The ones who were close, and to be totally open the reaction also of the players towards the disappointment just also plays a factor. Because I learned a lot yesterday from all the phone calls. And it gave me just confirmation, who would pick the phone up happily when we call.
“Even [if they were] in Australia on holiday. Who will be actually: ‘When do I have to be where?’”
On the same theme, Tuchel has had psychologists – led by Richard Hampson – monitor the camp to even assess how players and staff speak to each other.
“They’re just part of the process, they’re listening to our language,” the England manager explained. “They’re just part of our, more or less, part of our meetings in a formal way. They’re listening to our language. They’re listening to how we talk about players, how we talk about the set-up of teams, and then he is part of our staff.
“Rich, he’s part of the youth teams and develops and observes communication, behaviours within the group, behaviours within the matches and compares it to other national teams on the highest level and shows us opportunity where to improve. He upskills the leadership group. He gives us feedback and observations throughout the camp.”
