Tuchel says overlooking Alexander-Arnold for England is 'maybe unfair'

London – England head coach Thomas Tuchel has conceded that omitting Trent Alexander-Arnold from his latest squad may verge on “unfair,” yet insisted the decision was purely sporting as he prepares his side for Friday’s friendly against Uruguay at Wembley.

Despite the international retirement of Kyle Walker and a long-term injury to Reece James, Alexander-Arnold—now starring for Real Madrid—has again been left out. Tuchel instead retained Newcastle’s Tino Livramento, Tottenham’s Djed Spence and Bayer Leverkusen’s Jarell Quansah, a natural centre-back, among his right-back options. When Quansah withdrew hurt this week, Tuchel turned to Arsenal’s Ben White, who has seen limited minutes this season, rather than recall the 26-year-old Merseysider.

Asked on Thursday to justify the snub, Tuchel replied: “It’s just a choice. It’s a sporting choice and a difficult choice, and maybe a hard choice, and maybe to a certain degree, maybe unfair, but these choices have to be made.”

The German revealed he had spoken directly with Alexander-Arnold. “I know that it creates noise when you leave a player like Trent out, and, yes, we had a call. I tried to explain the situation, but he just has to accept it.”

White’s return has generated its own headlines. The 28-year-old left England’s 2022 World camp in Qatar early and subsequently made himself unavailable, never publicly detailing his reasons. Gareth Southgate failed to coax him back before Euro 2024, yet Tuchel received an instant yes.

“Once I asked Ben if he would be ready to play for me and for England, he straight away, without hesitation, said he would love that, and he would love to come back,” Tuchel said. “And he is desperate to come back. The reaction came within seconds, and was very authentic, and very, very positive. He was very emotional about it, that showed me that he really means it.”

Tuchel confirmed White has spent the week “clearing the air” with teammates and urged supporters to back a player who “has my support.”

England host Uruguay on Friday and Japan next Tuesday, both fixtures at Wembley, as Tuchel fine-tunes his squad ahead of this winter’s World Cup.