Thomas Tuchel wants England stars to 'suffer' amid warning over World Cup issue | OneFootball

Next summer’s World Cup is set to be played in difficult conditions

Thomas Tuchel has told his England players to get ready to “suffer” in the extreme heat of next summer’s World Cup.

The tournament is taking place in Canada, Mexico and the United States, with researchers warning about soaring temperatures.

Tuchel is aware of the issue and he will travel to the Club World Cup in the USA next month to experience the heat.

The England boss has also revealed how he and his backroom staff are researching ways to keep players cool.

Players will also be tested to see how they can cope with the heat, with their training camp before next month’s World Cup qualifier with Andorra taking place in Barcelona.

“It’s more matches to play,” said Tuchel, when discussing next year’s World Cup. “It’s different time zones. It’s humidity, it’s heat, it will be draining, it will be a lot of suffering and age will then play a role.

“The age of the players will play a role, but I will not leave anyone out because of age. Making sure that the players are fit will be our top priority.

“That is why it is important to see matches now in America and in Miami at three in the afternoon. How it looks and we need to understand how to cool the players down, to drink. What are our options?

Thomas Tuchel is aware of the issues that could impact England’s chances of success at next summer’s World Cup

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When speaking back in March, Tuchel stressed his desire for England to a play a style of football similar to that in the Premier League.

“I think we have to increase the intensity in our games, the intensity, the rhythm - I want to have more touches in the opponents’ box, I want to have more ball recoveries in the opponents’ half,” he said.

“I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t play a high press in the next matches, this is common nonsense, it happens every time in the Premier League, it happens every three days, the players are exposed to that so why not bring it (to England)?”

The World Cup next year, however, will see players playing in extreme heat. The BBC revealed in January how research led by Queen’s University Belfast predicted 14 of the 16 stadiums being used for the tournament could exceed potentially dangerous temperatures.

Suffering is one of the headlines for this World Cup

Thomas Tuchel

Tuchel has admitted that such conditions may impact the style of play used by England next summer.

“We have reflected already on a game model,” he said. “Can you play high-pressing? Can you play man-to-man? Can you do all this? Can you play transition games? Is this possible?

“But we also don’t want to overthink it, because the challenge is also to be in the here and now and not make problems bigger in thinking constantly about adversity and the obstacles we have to overcome.

“But our team is on it, the FA provides support on the highest level to the conditions. I am curious to go to the Club World Cup and see the stadiums and actually feel the heat and then we will go from there.

“We even have now in camp…we will test the players how they react to heat and all that stuff.

“In a very professional level, we will increase our knowledge of how to cool players down, when to take a cooling break, how to individually cool players down, what helps each players.

I am curious to go to the Club World Cup and see the stadiums and actually feel the heat and then we will go from there

Thomas Tuchel

“So there is a level of support going on at its highest level at the federation which I am very happy about as it allows me to focus on football.

“That is the problem, now we play against Andorra in perfect conditions, so of course, we want to be on the front foot.

“We cannot now pretend to play in Dallas in a semi-final - because it is not in Dallas and it is not a semi-final. So this will always be the issue to get the balance right.”