England manager Thomas Tuchel has defended his decision to omit Trent Alexander-Arnold from the latest Three Lions squad, despite acknowledging the defender may have deserved a chance. The Real Madrid full-back was left out for the upcoming international break, with Ben White and Djed Spence preferred.
Tuchel responded to a social media post from Alexander-Arnold captioned 'Madrid and nothing else', but declined to elaborate further. The 27-year-old published the post after being overlooked, while his club teammates Fede Valverde and Jude Bellingham are set to face off at Wembley on Friday.
The German head coach explained that the squad has adopted a different game model since Alexander-Arnold was absent in September, October and November. 'It was built off intensity, positivity, building in the profile of the right full-back, overlaps, underlaps,' Tuchel said. 'It's a different profile of player who were with us and performed so well.'
Alexander-Arnold's debut season at Real Madrid has been disrupted by injury, causing him to miss the last two international breaks. Tuchel noted that this has influenced his thinking, but left the door open for a return. 'He should've deserved a second chance, maybe,' Tuchel admitted. 'I'll make sure I'll see some matches from Real Madrid to get my last impressions. He's on the long list, everyone is still in the mix.'
