Thomas Tuchel insists he holds no anger towards his players after a wave of withdrawals disrupted Three Lions of England’s team preparations ahead of Tuesday’s friendly with Japan at Wembley Stadium.
NOP NIGERIA reports that Noni Madueke, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, John Stones and Adam Wharton have all pulled out since Friday’s 1-1 draw with Uruguay. Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Fikayo Tomori and Aaron Ramsdale also withdrew from the squad.
The camp is England’s final gathering before the deadline for naming squads for the FIFA World Cup 2026 on 30 May.
Tuchel admitted he was “disappointed, but not with the players; with the fact we want to have everyone in good spirits and health”.
He added: “It’s the reality of end of the season and the end of March; the reality of having players in European matches and more than just one competition with all the cups going on.”
The German named a 35-man squad and split the group across the Uruguay and Japan fixtures to manage workloads.
“We have players in camp that have already played more minutes than last season, so there is some concern,” he said. “The players needed and deserved the mental break from football.”
England head to North America in June to face New Zealand and Costa Rica in warm-up games before World Cup group ties against Croatia, Ghana and Panama.
