Thomas Tuchel’s England: what changes have been made within the field of England?
Where Southgate, certainly towards the end of his kingdom, would have given the news to new or unexpected calls on the day of the announcement of a team, Tuchel confirmed with some players who would have been called the evening before the great revelation.
All the players who were on Tuchel’s radar received a message in the days preceding the announcement of the team that inform them that they could be called.
Most of the 26 players actually confirmed in the Tuchel team received all the messages at approximately 07:30 GMT, before the announcement of 09:00 on March 14th.
The clubs were usually called hours in advance if their players had been selected. This time, the official communication to the domestic teams has not reached, in some cases, up to 20 minutes before the team was confirmed.
The reasons for this secrecy remain unclear, although the approach lends itself to the prevention of news losses before the official announcement.
Perhaps the most significant change for the players was Tuchel’s move that appoints his initial XI in a day.
Southgate usually called his team in the evening before an appointment, while many players knew the XI based on the form and the staff lined up during training.
But, for Friday’s match against Albania, the players were informed of the team during a meeting of the midday of the day of the game.
For Monday’s qualifier against Latvia, the sources indicated that the players did not know the entire initial XI until about 16:00, less than four hours before the game.
Some clues to the training have also shown red weapons. For example, Morgan Rogers and Anthony Gordon presented heavily training the day before the game of Albania, making many in the field believe that the couple would start the game.
Yet both began on the bench, although Rogers was appointed in the XI against Latvia.
Not that the uncertainty about the team selection seems to have hindered the players.
Six points, five goals and two clean sheets represent an encouraging start for Tuchel.
