England boss Tuchel admits his treatment of Alexander-Arnold was 'unfair'

Thomas Tuchel has admitted that his treatment of Trent Alexander-Arnold has been ‘unfair’ - but not unjustified. The Real Madrid star has played just once under the German coach since his appointment in October 2024 - that solitary outing coming via a 26-minute cameo against Andorra.

Since then, Alexander-Arnold has not been included in a single squad by Tuchel. But he was a surprise name included in the Three Lions’ selection for the upcoming international break.

In explaining his recall, Tuchel has admitted that his treatment of the defender might not have been fair on the defender. Albeit the England boss explained Alexander-Arnold’s exile by suggesting that he had more ‘trust’ in the players who had performed well ahead of the World Cup.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, the England boss said: “Was it always fair? Maybe not from my side. But if you remember, the next camp was September.

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“We were suddenly flying and we stuck to the same squad in October and that was it for him. There was never a chance for him to come back whether that was for or not. I just trusted the guys who were in camp.

“And I had evidence for it. Jordan Henderson said it so, so impressively well before the match against France. You just never know when your next England match is coming so guys this is it, this is the next England match.

“You play with the fullest, you show up with the right attitude and you give it all because you never know.

“It’s not even a shout-out to Trent, it’s a shoutout to everyone that’s a mentality that we want to have. You come to camp, it’s not an international break, it’s an international window. This is important and this matters.

“You don’t come to relax. You don’t come to take a break. You come to perform and it;s difficult to perform for England and the guys who perform now have our trust. And the guys who come new into camp, we demand the highest of them. It includes Trent but it’s not exclusively for him. It’s for everyone who comes to our camps.”

In all, Alexander-Arnold has earned 34 caps for England since his debut under Gareth Southgate in 2018. In that time, he has scored four goals.

His return to the Three Lions fold comes after a somewhat difficult debut campaign with Real Madrid where he made just 35 appearances for the Spanish giants. He has made three starts under new boss Jose Mourinho this term.