Thomas Tuchel says he can feel a “change in attitude” ahead of Andorra friendly | OneFootball

Thomas Tuchel was in high spirits in his press conference ahead of England’s World Cup qualifier against Andorra.

The game will be played at Villa Park, home of Aston Villa, with kick off commencing at five o’clock, UK time – the Three Lions are not playing at Wembley Stadium due to the venue being used for Coldplay’s tour.

The England boss has confirmed the squad availability within the camp for the upcoming games and addressed he is happy with the squad’s current progression.

“I did not think so much about where I want to be, but I am happy with where I am at the moment. There was a lot of learning for us and for me personally in the first two camps. We had an excellent camp until now but as you know it’s never about what you did and it’s always about what you do in the moment and to go forward, progress and get better.

“I am happy where I am, and I am happy where the team is, and we can feel a change in attitude as we arrive in the World Cup season.”

All England players are fit and ready to play, apart from Manchester City’s John Stones, who left the camp this morning with a muscle injury and will return to his club.

“Unfortunately, John Stones just left, he came with minor muscle issues to the camp and did not progress as we thought and hoped he would, so he left the camp this morning because we will not take the risk with him, not against Andorra or Serbia.

“Everyone else is available, we had 21 players yesterday in training and 21 players today in training and we just need to make sure everyone is available for tomorrow.”

The England boss also confirmed that Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane will start at Villa Park tomorrow evening.

“Yes. He (Kane) starts. There is no balance, the competition is on and it is World Cup season.

“We have a condensed camp, and that means we will start with the team that we trust and the best team possible, and we will manage the second game. We will not do it backwards.

“We will not get caught up in experiments and everything that counts is today and tomorrow and then we will do our assessment after the match to see who is available.

“The players will start to play two matches a week after the international camp and I do not see a problem why they can’t start that one week earlier and play on a Saturday and a Tuesday.”

England teams have seen success through the Women’s first-team and England under-21s set up, but Tuchel doesn’t see that as any added pressure to his current position.

“No (it doesn’t add pressure). If it is something, then it is a good omen, and I was so happy for Sarina (Wiegman) and Lee (Carsley) because they made it, and they made an extraordinary effort and a huge success with back-to-back victories.

“It is possible (to win a trophy with England), there is no curse on English teams, and it is a good omen, and we will do our very best to follow their example.”

England are blessed with a range of tremendously talented midfielders, which causes a problem for Tuchel on who he chooses in those roles to get the most success for England – the only issue is, the boss is not convinced on a definite ‘number six’ right now.

“At the moment, the four players are competing in central midfield, Jordan (Henderson), Declan (Rice), Elliot (Anderson) and Ruben (Loftus-Cheek). They are all very mobile players, and there is not one deep number six, maybe John Stones, but he left this morning.

“The strengths of our players is to be mobile and in modern day football that is more of an advantage than a disadvantage and we have our ideas of how we will set up and you will hopefully see some glimpses of it tomorrow and against Serbia and from there we will go.

“We have top players and we will find the right pairing, we have to be flexible because anything can happen, someone can be injured and it is not the moment to make a final decision for the World Cup.”

Ruben Loftus-Cheek has earned his first England call-up for the first time in eight years, Tuchel previously worked with the midfielder when at Chelsea and has said it has been ‘a pleasure to work with him’.

“I am very happy that I had the chance to call him up. He is a nice guy to be around, very friendly and very polite with a good sense of humour.

“He is full of qualities and sometimes I don’t think he is aware how good he is and how good he can be but he fits in seamlessly because of his character and his quality and he competes for a place in central midfield and it is good to see that he is fit and not injured.

“If he stays healthy, he is always in the frame to make an impression on the international level.”