Some England players face the prospect of having a mini-holiday before reporting for international duty in what Thomas Tuchel described as an “awkward” end to the season.
England are set to play a World Cup qualifier away to Andorra on June 7 and then host Senegal in a friendly at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground three days later, even though the Premier League season finishes almost two weeks earlier on May 25.
This summer’s football calendar is further complicated by the Fifa Club World Cup in the United States, which runs from June 14 to July 13, and will feature clubs such as Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester City.
It means that the England head coach faces having to let some of his players like Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and Cole Palmer leave in between the two international fixtures.
The rather disjointed scheduling has seen Tuchel raise concerns of the timing of the June international window and how it prevents players from having an uninterrupted rest at the end of the season.
“Being a club coach or international coach — the Fifa June window is I think debatable… if it makes sense,” Tuchel said. “Not everyone plays a Champions League final or a club final so there is this awkward period for a player. They have 10 or 14 days’ break, then they go to internationals.
“They get a little bit of holiday but they think: ‘Other players are on holiday, I need to come back. I can’t enjoy my two weeks because I need to do individual [work] and then I go suddenly to international camp.’
“So the June window is not ideal for anyone, especially the players. But it’s there. It’s Fifa who can maybe align the calendar and find a gap where we put this window somewhere else to open the window for the better of the players.
“I’m just worried about the pause of the players. I’m not so concerned about the amount of games they play in total. I’m more concerned that they never have a real break of three to four weeks.”
Kane, the England captain, said he would “never complain” about playing more matches but added that he does not think players are being listened to on the issue of football’s increasingly packed schedule. “It’s a hard situation,” he said. “I think there are arguments for both [sides].
“There are arguments from the club’s point of view, to generate more money, because we probably earn more money. And there’s also a player-welfare point where there’s only so much you can do without more injuries. So it is a really hard balance.
“I don’t think the players are listened to that much, if I’m totally honest. But also everyone wants their piece, their tournament, their prize, and the players are the people who have to get on with it.
“It is what it is. I love playing football, so I’m never going to complain about playing football. I think if you manage it well, with your coaches and your manager and your clubs, there’s ways of getting more rest in certain moments. But it’s not an easy question, it’s not an easy situation.”
'Maguire out for footballing reasons'
Tuchel has also revealed that Harry Maguire was omitted from the latest England squad primarily for footballing reasons rather than a lack of fitness.
It had been thought that the Manchester United centre-back was left out because of the calf injury that has sidelined him since March 3, but Tuchel revealed that while fitness came into his thinking, his main reason for not calling Maguire up was a preference for Ezri Konsa and Marc Guehi.
First impressions suggest Tuchel wants two right-footed and two left-footed centre-backs in his squads ahead of next summer’s World Cup, for which England began qualifying this week with two home victories over Albania and Latvia.
“It was a close decision,” Tuchel said of Maguire missing out. “We chose Guehi and Konsa at the moment. I think they are a little bit in a better rhythm and deserve to be with us. Two right-footers in central defence and the rest were left-footers in the centre of defence.
“The second reason was [Maguire] was not fit when we [named the squad]. It was presumed that he can play but we didn’t want to nominate a player who we had to take a risk with and constantly assess whether he can do a full training session or half training session.”
Maguire’s cause for a squad place hasn’t been helped by him being part of a malfunctioning United side and playing in a three-man defence for Ruben Amorim’s team. It is anticipated that Tuchel will stick with a back four as his default system for England.
“It’s not easy for [Maguire] at his club at the moment — he plays in a back three,” Tuchel added. “But he’s a top professional and he’s very important for England.
“He took [his omission] unbelievably well. He wrote me messages to wish us good luck and you see what a person he is. He’s a top guy and he will always be in contention.”
