Thomas Tuchel says he will not at any point seek favours from Premier League managers.
Tuchel, who oversaw his first win as England boss on Friday, will take charge of his second game at the helm later today, as the Three Lions host Latvia in their next FIFA World Cup qualifier at Wembley Stadium.
Newcastle United man Anthony Gordon has already picked up a knock whilst away with England and the former Chelsea boss has admitted he is not in the business of looking after players based on their upcoming club schedules.
Thomas Tuchel says he will not make changes to his squad based on Premier League schedules
Tuchel has already slammed Mikel Arteta after he used midfielder Declan Rice twice in the Champions League recently, despite the Gunners leading 7-1 prior to their second-leg clash with PSV.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is another who has previously been left frustrated at injuries that crop up on international duty, admitting he was once “never so angry” when John Stones returned with a knock.
“Given the fact Declan Rice played after a 7-1, a 7-1 first leg and Declan played the next match with Arsenal,” began Tuchel when asked about the situation yesterday at a press conference.
“I didn’t have the feeling that they think so much about us so I don’t think we have to break our heads about this.
“I take care of the players. We take care about the schedule. But it would be the wrong signal to tell players now: ‘Hey you have tough club matches coming up so I rest you now.’
“We have a qualifier to play, we do what’s good for us, we monitor them, we are in contact with the clubs, we are in high level monitoring where the statuses are known and we won’t take any unprofessional risks.
“Because first of all I feel responsible for the players. I don’t want the player to be injured, I want the players to play in the quarter-finals of the Champions League – all of them – because I want to watch it, I want to see it.
“So this is where it is and in the end we take care of ourselves and the clubs take care about themselves and the main focus is taking care of the players.”
In FourFourTwo’s view, Tuchel is right to hit back at Premier League managers, he only has a limited time to work with players on international duty and is clearly passionate about delivering success for the Three Lions in the future.
England host Latvia on Monday evening at Wembley Stadium and will be bidding to follow up on their 2-0 success over Albania just a few days ago.
