Thomas Tuchel urges caution over Bukayo Saka as England ramp up World Cup prep
By Simon Peach, Press Association Chief Football Writer, West Palm Beach
Thomas Tuchel says England have to be careful with Bukayo Saka ahead of the World Cup as the Arsenal winger continues to build his way back from an Achilles issue.
The 24-year-old linked up with the national team in Florida on Saturday along with team-mates Declan Rice, Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze after the quartet were given time off after the Champions League final.
Saka began the shootout loss to Paris St Germain but has only started five matches for Premier League winners Arsenal since withdrawing from England’s March meet-up with an Achilles injury.
The forward’s fitness is a consideration for Tuchel, whose side face Costa Rica in a warm-up friendly in Orlando on Wednesday before taking on Miami FC the following day behind closed doors.
“We still have to take care a little bit about Bukayo, who had an injury in the March camp and carried it through, of course, into his club campaign,” Tuchel said.
“He was available and made himself available in the end of the season, and did this brilliantly, but he was managed in between matches and that continues a little bit at the very moment, so we’re building him up.
“Noni is 100 per cent available, Declan is 100 per cent available and Ebs as well.”
Tuchel confirmed Saka has yet to do “consecutive training” sessions since joining up with England and vowed to manage him sensibly.
“They decided together, Bukayo and Arsenal, to let him play through his pain and discomfort, even if it was not possible to train the whole week in the build ups,” the German coach said.
“He was decisive in the second leg against Atletico to bring them to the final, he played the final. But like I said, he was managed in between, and this is what we do.
“The player and his needs and health are always first, so what we are doing now, we were monitoring on his week off and now we are bringing him back on the pitch.
“Yesterday, he was not with us, today he was and did the full training session. He is available for tomorrow, but he needs management to be fully, fully 100 per cent, which he is not. But he is on a high level.”
Tuchel confirmed Rice as England’s vice-captain over the weekend and says the Arsenal players are in a “very good spirit” and “very good shape” after the painful Champions League final defeat to PSG.
“I feel them proud, I feel them confident,” the manager said. “They know what they did, they know what it took them to win the title in England.
“They had this little period where suddenly it was in doubt and they overcame it and managed to win the title.
“It meant a lot to them and I think they have a clear understanding that they go toe to toe the best team in the world at the moment with Paris, and they had them, and they just lost in a penalty shootout. They came in best spirits and I’m happy for that.”
Tuchel has 31 players to choose from against Costa Rica, with England’s 26-man tournament squad complemented by training players Rio Ngumoha, Alex Scott, Josh King, Ethan Nwaneri and Jason Steele.
The England boss is “ready to give it a push” after only allowing players 45 minutes in Saturday’s 1-0 win against New Zealand in Tampa, meaning some will get 60 or more minutes on Wednesday.
John Stones has lacked such game time during his final season with Manchester City but Tuchel has no concerns over his fitness.
“He feels very, very good,” he added. “He feels totally competitive. He hasn’t played a lot of minutes, not as many as we would have liked, ideally, but he was available.
“I think that’s a big difference, so he was not injured about through the season.
“He was available, he has trust in his body, and most importantly, now he did ever so good for us when he was in camp. He offers us a lot.”