Thomas Tuchel sends Harry Maguire brutal verdict – ‘I did not prefer it and it would not assist’
Thomas Tuchel has made it clear Harry Maguire’s England career looks finished and also issued a warning to Trent Alexander-Arnold
Thomas Tuchel’s England will not feature Harry Maguire anytime soon(Image: Getty Images)
Thomas Tuchel sent a brutal message to Harry Maguire after the Manchester United star and his mum threw a strop when he wasn’t selected for England’s World Cup squad.
The German boss also sent a blunt warning to former Liverpool ace Trent Alexander-Arnold after welcoming the 27-year-old for the team’s preparations to face Spain, Croatia and the Czech Republic in the forthcoming Nations League fixtures, telling him he has “no choice” but to master the art of defending if he harbours ambitions of featuring in his long-term vision for the Three Lions.
The Real Madrid fullback was also omitted from England’s World Cup squad but has now been thrown a lifeline. Yet former Chelsea manager Tuchel showed no such mercy towards 33-year-old Maguire, after he and his family complained about being left out of the 26-man squad for the summer tournament.
It’s no surprise that Harry Maguire is out of the England squad(Image: News Images/NurPhoto/Shutterstock)
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Maguire aired his frustration publicly, moaning that he was “shocked and gutted” by the decision, and Tuchel declared the United defender “did not help” his cause with his remarks, while also revealing his omission ahead of the official announcement.
Nevertheless, Tuchel insists Alexander-Arnold now has a significant “chance” in this set of fixtures. But when quizzed on whether the attack-minded right-back must improve defensively, Tuchel responded: “He has to, he has to. It’s necessary. My conviction is that he will but he has no choice.
“I know what he is capable of. I know about his talent. I know what he is saying. That he is desperate to play for England and he will fight for his shirt. So here we are. He is in camp and he has the chance. It’s a long camp and it’s a good moment to to show up.”
Trent Alexander-Arnold has not played for England since June 2025(Image: Getty Images)
Tuchel hadn’t spoken to Alexander-Arnold prior to selecting him this time around but had witnessed how the Real Madrid star publicly expressed his desire to return. The call-up also comes after Ben White and Reece James were ruled out through injury.
Tuchel said: “I spoke to him before the World Cup and told him my decision and this time it was the good news. He heard the good news over the nomination.”
However, Tuchel adopted a firmer stance towards Maguire, whose mum declared she was “absolutely disgusted” by his summer snub, which she branded “disgraceful”. One of his brothers, Joe, called it “possibly be the worst decision I’ve ever seen in my life” and his sister Daisy labelled it a “crazy decision”.
Tuchel, who opted for Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite over Maguire, didn’t completely close the door but made it crystal clear that he was not impressed by the behaviour.
Harry Maguire’s mum, Zoe, was fuming when he missed out on the England squad(Image: zoemaguirewilkinson/Instagram)
When questioned whether the backlash to his omission complicated any future selection of Maguire, Tuchel added: “It doesn’t help. It does not help.
“I will not hold it against him for the rest of his life because I’m not that type of person. I can forget easily and quickly, but I didn’t like it and it doesn’t help.”
Tuchel proceeded to maintain he has “no doubt” that he retains the complete backing of his squad. The England manager was brutally candid in his assessment following the World Cup semi-final loss to Argentina during the summer, questioning England’s footballing DNA.
Tuchel also caught his players off guard with his defensive substitutions, as he allowed the match to slip from their grasp before claiming they had failed to follow his instructions. This undoubtedly frustrated squad members following the Argentina loss, but Tuchel insists the players remain behind him and will emerge stronger ahead of Euro 2028.
Tuchel’s substitutions were highly criticised after England’s exit(Image: 2026 Getty Images)
“I have no doubt how keen they are. No doubt,” Tuchel affirmed. “Because I know them, I was seven weeks with them. We had a qualification campaign together, we are 18 months together, I have no doubt that we step up and produce performance in the next cycle. I’m responsible for that.
“I feel that it’s not a new beginning that we are starting now, so we build on a solid and very valuable foundation, and the target is to win the home Euros.”
Tuchel acknowledged this week that he remains “scarred” by the summer’s events when England came tantalisingly close before capitulating against Argentina in the semi-final. England’s third-place finish after defeating France in the play-off still marks their finest-ever World Cup showing on foreign territory.
Yet in selecting his first squad following that tournament, there was considerable soul-searching and candour regarding England’s shortcomings, his own disappointments and a determination to convince supporters who tell him it was a triumph. Tuchel conceded, though, that attempting to make England play more like Spain while fans also demand Premier League pace and ferocity presents an enormous challenge. And he returned to that DNA remark.
Tuchel said: “I’m just wrestling with myself, because even if you control matches in the Premier League, how many English players are there in these teams that really try to control matches? Is this in our DNA? Do we really value control?
“Is this something that makes us feel good in a match? Is this something that comes easy to us? Do we even realise: ‘oh, we’re controlling a midfield, everything is fine?’ Or do we go like, ‘yeah, but we’re stuck in midfield. We should go, we should attack’.
Thomas Tuchel ‘parked the bus’ as England dropped out of the World Cup(Image: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
“This is also something I’m still a mixed, because I saw training sessions on the very highest level of my career. But I see training sessions with a lot of speed, with a lot of ball speed, with a lot of physicality, with a lot of dribbles.
“So, it makes me just struggle, how and when, because we’re talking about the highest pressure moments, we talk about semi-final against Argentina, 80% of the stadium is Argentinian. So now can you please become Spain for 15 minutes?
“I would still say it’s not how English fans cherish a match. I don’t think that an English supporter goes to a Premier League match and wants to see a controlled match and 1-0 late.
“I think deep down in the core, English players – and it’s a beautiful thing, it’s a beautiful, beautiful thing – and the spectators, they go for it. Let’s go. Let’s play six-three, let’s play four- three. Let’s not play 1-0. We want to put the ball up front.”
Tuchel added: “And this is what I feel now that I have a tournament as an experience, I feel that this team is ready to fight, is always ready to go, and this is the beauty of it. Come high pressure moments, where we can play better football, where we maybe lack even a little bit of courage or this energy. So maybe it’s more, maybe even going down that route.
Asked whether it was his responsibility to train the players to retain possession, he said: “I’m not sure that I have the time to coach them to [keep the ball. ] I should coach them to keep the ball? Ok, I need to think about this…”
“I am the biggest critic of myself, and reflection is sometimes necessary to get better, and experience is a crucial part of coaching. But 99% of people who have come up to me have special memories.
“The downside of not only being ambitious, but having the full belief that we can go and win it, it hurts even more if you don’t make it. So this is where we are. But I think, coming back to the positives, we built this brotherhood and we had a fantastic spirit, and the team showed this never-give-in mentality, and we will not compromise on that.”
