Thomas Tuchel is a man who knows what he wants – except, that is, when it comes to next summer’s World Cup.
Three strikers? ‘Not sure, not sure about it,’ he said.
But you seem set on the make-up of your squad? ‘It’s nice to give you this impression,’ he laughed. ‘But no!’
Look at the England squad for next month’s internationals – the defence is the weakest for a generation – and we should take comfort from Tuchel’s claim that nothing is set in stone, apart from maybe Jordan Henderson.
This is a fluid situation, says the England manager. He even joked about the rotation of his chair in the Wembley suite that he uses to talk to journalists. ‘Every time it moves some degrees,’ he said.
It shows his attention to detail that he remembers. And this job will need a lot of attention to a lot of details if England are to win the World Cup. Goodness, it needs work just to be competitive.
Thomas Tuchel’s latest England squad was a head-scratcher – but nothing is set in stone
The defence is the weakest in a generation with Trent Alexander-Arnold sent a warning
Ivan Toney, now in Saudi Arabia with Al Ahli, returned from the cold in a surprise selection
The defence is the obvious concern, with three right backs who are either too old, too fragile or not very good at defending. More on Trent Alexander-Arnold shortly. But is the other end of the pitch not of equal concern?
That you can apply a rational argument to a recall for Ivan Toney, who left Brentford for Saudi Arabia last summer, is a worry. He scored for Al Ahli this week, a penalty, when up against two Saudi Arabian centre backs aged in their 30s, one of whom is uncapped.
Tuchel says his numbers are good – 22 Saudi Pro League goals – but so are Abderrazak Hamdallah’s, the Moroccan 34-year-old with one goal fewer.
Out of sight should ideally mean out of mind when it comes to less competitive leagues, but maybe it is worth a look at Toney, especially when Harry Kane will be another year slower in the United States, while Ollie Watkins and Dominic Solanke have never really convinced at this level.
I offered Liam Delap as an alternative, but Tuchel did not yet seem as keen as me.
‘The fact is, he went down with Ipswich,’ he returned. Ouch. He did, though, offer encouragement to the highly rated 21-year-old for future involvement.
Kane, Toney and Watkins will all be in their 30s come the World Cup and this in three countries – the US, Mexico and Canada – where experts have warned temperatures could be dangerously high during matches.
On that, Tuchel gave some fascinating insight. Indeed, next month’s training base in Girona could resemble a NASA boot camp.
Harry Kane, Toney and Ollie Watkins will all be in their 30s at next year’s World Cup
Next month’s Three Lions training base under Tuchel could resemble a NASA boot camp
‘I have done pre-season in Orlando and I will be very surprised if we do not suffer,’ he said. ‘Suffering is one of the headlines for this World Cup.
‘Now, in camp, we will test the players to see how they react to heat. On a very professional level, we will increase our knowledge of how to cool players down, when to take a cooling break, what helps and cools each player individually.’
Tuchel will go to the Club World Cup to get a real feel for the sun on his neck. He also confirmed players taking part would not be released early from this camp.
That is the right call, given the limited training days and limitless questions. ‘Can you play high pressing in the heat?’ he mused. ‘Can you play man-to-man? Can you play transition games?’
England struggled to achieve most of that in Germany last summer in comparatively fairer climes. Next month’s qualifier against Andorra in Spain is probably the most they will sweat in literal terms before the World Cup, but as Tuchel says, it is not Dallas and it is not a World Cup semi-final.
He says all of this, by the way, with a smile and with conviction. He is affable and engaging. Even questions about the continued inclusion of Henderson, who will turn 36 during the World Cup and plays in the Netherlands for Ajax, are met with good grace.
‘I understand the question,’ he said, the inference being that Adam Wharton was missing out. ‘But once you meet Jordan, see Jordan and speak to Jordan, it’s such an obvious choice.
‘Your perception is far away from my perception, but I understand it. This isn’t Adam Wharton versus Jordan Henderson. What Jordan brings to the group, an Under 21 player cannot bring.’
Questions over the continued inclusion of Jordan Henderson were met with good grace
There are more questions than answers but Tuchel was rather laidback in his press conference
So why not take Henderson as a coach? ‘I never thought about this,’ said Tuchel. ‘I hope he is still at the highest level. It is ideal if he does it (the World Cup) as a player. Let’s see if he is still on his good behaviour.’
With that, Tuchel was gone. After half an hour, we had more questions than answers. That is not necessarily a bad thing – you would be alarmed if he thought this squad was the solution – but he is also rather laidback for a manager who does not have a defence of latter-stages standard.
He admitted one mistake from Alexander-Arnold could mean ‘packing your suitcases and going home’. A killer quote, but a bit of a killer for confidence.
And right now, 12 months out from packing those suitcases and leaving home, it is hard to be too confident about England’s chances of having a trophy with them on the return leg.
