Thomas Tuchel explains why he's left Real Madrid star Trent Alexander-Arnold out of latest England squad

The Real right-back has suffered an injury-disrupted campaign in LaLiga, being ruled out with a hamstring injury between September and October, and then sustaining a muscle tear that saw him on the sidelines between December and February. He has won 34 England caps but has not played for his country since a World Cup qualifier against Andorra in June of last year. Since, he has not been in any of Tuchel's squads, and his latest exclusion raises serious doubts over his participation at the tournament, given that this was an extended, 35-man squad; the former Chelsea boss has picked Tino Livramento, Djed Spence, and Jarell Quansah as options at right-back. 

Tuchel has explained that leaving Alexander-Arnold out was "tough", but he added: “I know very well what Trent can offer us. I played many times against him and suffered when he played against my teams with Liverpool. So I know very well about his strength and what he can give.

”But at the moment it is like we have evidence how good we were in September, October, November, and the players who are in camp for right full-back, they have to push for their ticket, they have to compete, they have to show again that they deserve this.”

He continued: “I know that it's a tough decision for Trent as it is for Ollie Watkins at the moment and for Luke Shaw,” Tuchel said. “These tough decisions come with the job. It is a sporting decision.

“It is a sporting decision that we stick with Quansah, with Livramento and with Spence. It is a decision for Dominic Solanke and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who I don't know as well as I know, for example, Ollie Watkins.

”I feel I have a very clear picture of what Ollie can give us. I saw him in tournaments. I saw him with us in qualifying football, so I want to have a look at two other players to get a better picture and have a clearer opinion.

“I know it's a tough one. I know it's a big name. I think it's a huge talent and with a big career, but I feel that I know what Trent can give us and decided still to stick to the players who were in camp.”

Tuchel has explained that he intends to "split" his squad to protect his senior players, with a number of key players, including Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, and Morgan Rogers among them, set to link up only for the Japan game. 

Anthony Gordon, Elliott Anderson, Nico O’Reilly, Marc Guehi, Ezri Konsa, Dan Burn and Dean Henderson will also be among those joining up only for the second fixture.

“These guys have played 3,500 minutes, some 4,000 minutes [this season],” Tuchel said. “More important than the pure number of minutes is some of these guys have played more minutes than the whole of last season.

“All of these players have contributed in September, October and November. They have credit with me. To give them a break mentally and physically, we will benefit from it.”

After their friendlies against Uruguay and Japan, England will face Costa Rica in another warm-up game in June before the tournament. In the group stages, they are set to play Costa Rica, Croatia, and Ghana.