‘He just has to accept it’ – Tuchel on Alexander-Arnold snub and White recall | OneFootball

Thomas Tuchel says he has spoken to Trent Alexander-Arnold about his decision not to call up the Real Madrid right-back.

Alexander-Arnold was snubbed from the original 35-man squad and following an injury to Jarell Quansah, the England boss instead opted to call up Ben White as his replacement as oppose to Alexander-Arnold.

“It’s just a choice,” Tuchel explained. “A sportive choice. Maybe a hard choice. And maybe to a degree unfair.

“The choice was for White because I saw him play in the [Carabao Cup] final, in the Champions League match before and he was back to his old self. It was a chance to meet him in person and see how he reacts with the group.

“I know what Trent can give us so the choice was for Ben and Tino Livramento, to stick with the guys who had a good camp with us in September, November, December. They also need the minutes, there are a lot of players in this position, Djed Spence as well, who also fight for a ticket. I didn’t want to leave them out.

“I know that it creates noise when you leave a player like Trent out. We had a call, I tried to explain the situation. He just has to accept it.”

It is the first time White has been back in the England squad since he chose to leave the camp during the 2022 World Cup.

“First of all, I think everyone deserves a second chance,” said Tuchel. “Second, I don’t know exactly what happened. I was also not 100 per cent interested because I wanted to open a new page and a new book and a new opportunity.

“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 to come back and was desperate to come back when the chance opened up for him with the injury of Jarell Quansah late.

“The reaction came within seconds. It was very euphoric, very positive and very emotional about it. That showed me he really means it.

“The way he behaves and the way he has trained here in camp has been exceptional, very, very good. It shows his quality.

“I think it’s necessary he clears the air with his team-mates and I think he will once players who come back who were in the World Cup together with him.

“Then we go from there. Let’s see how it goes and let’s see how he feels, if he feels as comfortable and as confident as he thought he would. Until now, this is the case.

“He has my support, hopefully he gets the support from the spectators and we take it from there.”