Thomas Tuchel said the decision to bench Declan Rice for England’s win over Andorra came after the midfielder lacked ‘rhythm’ in the build-up to the game.
England made it three wins from three in their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign, but ultimately flattered to deceive in their 1-0 win over Andorra.
The Three Lions huffed and puffed, dominating the ball for large swathes of the game, but only Harry Kane found his way onto the scoresheet midway through the second half.
Still getting to grips with his squad, Tuchel fielded an experimental XI in Barcelona, with Curtis Jones deployed at right-back and Jordan Henderson starting in the heart of England’s midfield for the first time since 2023.
Rice has been a mainstay of England’s midfield for the past few years, but only came on as a late second-half sub, with Tuchel suggesting the decision to bench the Arsenal star was solely based on what he had seen in training prior to the game.
‘Declan [Rice] looked a little bit out of rhythm and I think Jordan [Henderson] deserved to play,’ Tuchel told BBC Radio 5 Live post-match.
‘And also for what Jordan brings to this group, well deserved. We started well and then lost the rhythm and precision and also the energy to be more decisive and score more goals.
‘It is necessary that we look at it and then present in detail to the players what we don’t like, what we want to do better and what are the standards.’
Rice played 52 games in all competitions for Arsenal last season, and is one of many England stars who could have done without this international break at the end of the campaign.
But Tuchel insisted that fatigue after a draining season was no excuse for England’s lack of urgency against their lowly-ranked opposition on Saturday evening.
‘The window is the window, so no excuses of course,’ the German said post-match.
‘We said many times that the clubs don’t like the window, and even for the national teams, it’s not an easy window because they come from holidays and long seasons. But still, I think we can and have to do better in the 90 minutes.
‘We played 25 minutes where I had the feeling it was a matter of time before we created chances and scored, but we lost this momentum completely in the last 20 minutes of the first half.
‘Started okay again for the first 15 minutes of the second half, but we lost it again. It was a lack of energy and quality at the end of both halves and I think it’s the most honest thing to admit it and not talk around it.
‘We expect more and we can deliver more and we’ll try to take this as a learning and do better as quickly as possible.’
Harry Kane: ‘We were not good enough’
Kane’s second-half strike saw England’s captain notch up his 450th career goal, but the Bayern Munich striker admitted his side must be better regardless of the schedule.
‘It’s not one that many will remember and we had good spells but we take the three points and move on,’ he told ITV post-match.
‘We were probably not good enough on the ball and it gave them some confidence and then the last five or 10 minutes, we have to stop them.
‘We need to be better for sure. June is never an easy camp and we have people coming in after long seasons. We have a friendly on Thursday we can learn from again.
‘The fans were great and they made themselves heard, and we are disappointed we couldn’t score more but we will look towards the next game.’
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