Thomas Tuchel explains Man Utd star’s omission from England squad

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·25 de marzo de 2025

Thomas Tuchel explains Man Utd star’s omission from England squad

Thomas Tuchel has provided an explanation for why he left Man Utd defender Harry Maguire out of his first England squad.

The new Three Lions boss called up Ezri Konsa, Marc Guehi, Levi Colwill and uncapped pair Dan Burn and Jarell Quansah ahead of the 32-year-old for the World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia.

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Tuchel reasoned that, in terms of right-footed centre-backs, Guehi and Konsa are in better form than Maguire, but added that match fitness was a major factor in his decision.

Maguire, who has been a regular in the national team since 2018, has not played since 2 March because of a calf problem.

Tuchel explains Man Utd star Maguire’s England omission

“I spoke to all of them who were not on the list to give my direct feedback on my decision,” Tuchel said.

“It was a close decision. We chose Marc Guehi and Ezri Konsa at the moment. I think they are a little bit in a better rhythm and deserve to be with us. Two right footers in central defence and the rest were left footers in the centre of defence.

“The second reason was that he [Maguire] was not fit when we did the nomination.

“It was presumed that he can play but we didn’t want to nominate a player who we had to take a risk [with], and in the first training or second training and constantly need to assess whether he can do a full training session or half training session.

“We did the same with Reece James and only because of the feedback that he could do every session full was the reason we brought him in to camp. Harry knows that.”

Tuchel added that the fact Maguire plays in a back three for Man Utd was also taken into consideration, although he insisted that he will remain in contention for England squads going forward.

“It’s not so easy for him at the club at the moment,” he said. “He plays in a back three on top of it but he’s a top professional and he’s very important for England.

“He took it unbelievably well. He wrote me messages to wish us good luck and you see what a person he is. He is a top guy and he will always be in contention.”

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