Thomas Tuchel has to make more Alexander-Arnold difficult phone calls after what happened in England vs Andorra
Thomas Tuchel made the bold call to axe Trent Alexander-Arnold from his squad for England’s latest round of World Cup qualifiers and may now be ready to do it again.
Alexander-Arnold has failed to nail down a surefire starting role in Xabi Alonso’s starting 11 since joining Real Madrid in the summer.
Tuchel opted for Newcastle United’s Tino Livramento and Chelsea’s Reece James in place of Alexander-Arnold at right-back for his latest squad.
James was given the nod against Andorra, and alongside former Chelsea teammate Noni Madueke, the 25-year-old was integral in England’s play.
Reece James shines vs Andorra as Trent Alexander-Arnold left out
Alexander-Arnold faces the tough task of dethroning Real Madrid legend Dani Carvajal if he’s to play regular matches for Alonso’s side.
Speaking after his squad announcement, Tuchel said to the Guardian: “For this camp we decided on this position for Reece and for Tino Livramento simply out of competition.”
Tuchel continued: “I think Reece is slightly ahead at this position [right-back], due to how he ended the season and how he played for us in the camps.
“He won the Club World Cup and is a key player for Chelsea at the moment and he did excellently for us, and the second place for this camps goes to Tino.
“There had to be some difficult calls, for me and we wanted to do it because we wanted a tighter squad and we wanted there to be more competition in the squad.”
Tuchel also indicated he’d spoken to Alexander-Arnold specifically on the phone to give him the bad news, saying: “I spoke to Trent, it was a difficult phone call but I wanted that he hears it from me, which he appreciated.”
While to door may not be shut on a return for Alexander-Arnold to the squad, James’ performance against Andorra will have given the Chelsea full-back credit in the bank with his former Blues boss.
That may well lead to the England manager needing to make further tricky phone calls to Madrid in order to let the ex-Liverpool star down, if James can stay fit to stay ahead of him.
Breaking down Reece James’ performance v Andorra
While England’s play against Andorra was languid in large parts, James and Madueke were the main source of threat on the right-hand side.
James regularly looked to overlap Madueke and drive some incisive balls across the Andorran box, one of which managed to evade both Madueke at the near post and Harry Kane in the six yard box, with the goal left gaping.
| Reece James vs Andorra | |
| Assists | 1 |
| Chances created | 2 |
| Passes into final 3rd | 6 |
| Duels won | 5/6 |
| Minutes played | 68 |
James’ willingness to overlap opened up the space inside for Eberechi Eze, Elliot Anderson, and Madueke to combine in the half-space, leading to Madueke’s shot-come-cross that resulted in an own goal for England’s opener.
It was James again who was integral in England’s second as the Chelsea club captain lofted a wonderful ball to the back post for Declan Rice to nod home, sealing all three points for Tuchel’s side.
Tuchel will be looking for more of the same out of James again, in a tougher test away in Serbia on Tuesday night, but the Chelsea man definitely looks like the first choice right-back option for the German ahead of next summer’s World Cup.