Thomas Tuchel reveals Trent Alexander-Arnold reaction to England squad omission as Reece James favoured | OneFootball

Three Lions boss insists the new Real Madrid star has not been dropped

Thomas Tuchel has revealed Reece James is ahead of Trent Alexander-Arnold in his thinking right now — and says the Real Madrid defender found that hard to hear when told on the phone.

Alexander-Arnold was left out of Tuchel’s England squad on Friday ahead of World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Serbia next month.

Tuchel explained that the right-back’s move from Liverpool to Real represents a big career change, and that the 26-year-old must settle in to life in the Spanish capital.

Chelsea captain James, 25, was a key player for Tuchel when he was manager of the Blues and scored his first goal for England in the German’s first camp in charge back in March.

James, who was included in Friday’s squad, appears set to be an important player for Tuchel’s England going forward.

“I think Trent is a player who needs to feel trust and love from his manager and team-mates and from his club, his country, the fans,” said Tuchel. “He needs that.

“There were a lot of things going on when we called him up [for June]. We were all aware of it but maybe we underestimated it a little bit in the last camp because he was in the middle of his transfer, in the middle of preparing his [Real unveiling], which I think was one day after camp. And his preparation in fluent Spanish.

“He straight away goes with his new club, which is one of the biggest in the world, he goes to the Club World Cup. There was a lot going on.”

Tough decision: Thomas Tuchel

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Tuchel continued: “Now, for me, it is the moment for him to settle and find his rhythm there. The competition is on to even be in the squad. Reece is, at the moment, slightly ahead in this position, given what he did for us in the last two camps and how he played the Club World Cup with Chelsea.

“And then we went for Tino Livramento because of the rhythm that he has and he gives us the option to cover both sides. Also, as a left full-back.

Tuchel went on to describe his decision to leave Alexander-Arnold out as a “competitive decision” — a case of the player simply having been dropped rather than anything else.

The England manager added that Ben White and Harry Maguire are in his thinking. Tuchel explained that Maguire has other players in his position playing better but that White had a “very good chance” to be included before suffering a minor injury.

I think Trent is a player who needs to feel trust and love from his manager and team-mates and from his club, his country, the fans

Thomas Tuchel

“No, Harry Maguire is not done,” Tuchel said. “At the moment I think the guys that we choose in Harry's position are slightly ahead of him.

“I think Harry carries sporting weapons that can be very, very valid in tournament football — can be very valid for us — so he will always be in our mix and in the competition for camp, but also for the World Cup.

“Ben White had a very good chance to be with us. I was very happy with his pre-season and the feedback I got from him and from the club about his pre-season. He started matches for Arsenal in a very, very competitive team and a very competitive position.

“So he started and straightaway got injured. That ruined all his chances to be back with us, [but] he would have had a very good chance.”