It was in December, as England’s senior Premier League players started this ongoing schedule of a game every three days, that Thomas Tuchel knew he “had to do something different” for this week’s friendlies against Uruguay and Japan.
He instinctively understood it would be a mistake to just treat it as a normal international camp - an increasingly rare opportunity with a full squad - even if it was the last one before the World Cup. The load would be far too much.
Having been a club manager himself, Tuchel knows “clubs are not in a position to rest the players”.
“They have decisive matches coming up… a crucial moment of the season. Very stressful.”
The prospect of this international break was only adding to that stress for Premier League managers. Some have been dreading it. One was recently complaining about an experienced national team coach who made a senior players train for six consecutive days.
And while there is an argument that the players should know better and be able to explain their situation to international staff, the majority don’t want to be seen as a problem in a World Cup year. They’re desperate to go.
That should theoretically be cause for thought for international managers themselves, since this is arguably also a rare period where they have the same fitness requirements as their club counterparts. They’re not trying to win two qualifiers, after all. And if a star player does his hamstring now, after all, they don’t just miss the end to the season. It would mean they go into the World Cup badly under-cooked, to the point it could be almost pointless trying to play them.
Except, judging from some of the squad announcements over the past few two days, Tuchel is one of the few to realise this with his novel “staggered” squad.
Perhaps that comes from his proximity to the Premier League as well as his club experience, since it has evolved into a league with almost no give. So, having sat down with his staff and FA technical director John McDermott, Tuchel genuinely came up with something truly inventive, that may well end up making a difference given how fine the fitness margins now are.
This really is “management”, in the best sense.
Tuchel has opted for a 35-man squad, albeit with senior players like Harry Kane, Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka only set to come in for the second friendly against match against Japan, and less experienced players dropping out.
A group that initially looked unwieldy will actually be very efficiently used.
Through that, he has also afforded England almost a perfect solution, from an imperfect situation. Or, as Tuchel himself put it, “it felt at the time a bit messy and this solution felt the least messy”
He will get a bit of everything he needs.
For one match, fringe players will be given the opportunity to show what they can do and push for their places. For the second match, established stars will receive the fine-tuning they need, as well as the necessary experience of at least one match together in six months before they are actually called up for the World Cup itself.
They will also be afforded the "spring break" they badly need, in lieu of an actual winter break. Some Premier League coaches privately joked they were almost crying with joy at this. The senior Manchester City and Arsenal players, for example, will get a full six days off after Sunday’s Carabao Cup final.
It is the smartest thing Tuchel could have done. He gets the experimentation and more exacting tactical preparation, as well as the chemistry-building and the tension.
On that latter point, Tuchel wants to keep the squad at a mere 19 for both games - if with some allowances possible - so as not “to sit anyone on the tribune against Japan”.
Even the effect of this shouldn’t be discounted. If it sounds ludicrous for well-paid players to be complaining about sitting in their tracksuit and watching a match in a stadium, the point is about the mental break they need.
Ensuring they do not have to attend one game means they “get off the hamster wheel”, that they can do their own thing during this congested period.
“We are qualified and we have friendly matches and that gives us the chance to give players a mental and a physical rest,” Tuchel said. “I see that the likes of Bukayo, Morgan Rogers, Elliott Anderson - they are just three names - they have more minutes than they had in the whole of last season. And then I look at their schedule and consider like, ‘OK, will Morgan Rogers get a rest at [Aston] Villa with them in the Europa League and fighting for the Champions League? Absolutely not, and that is fair.
“I would not rest him if I was his coach. So if we want him not fully exhausted in June… I think we will benefit from it and even in the short-term now. I think that it gives me the chance actually to demand more from them when they come and start training on Saturday, gives me the chance to demand more from them than if they would be there the whole week.”
It also offers a clarity at what could have been a complicated spell for those outside the core group.
Tuchel said he was considering some squad-building “but then I had the idea this would not be fair to the players who might say I wanted to show that I’m capable of playing, I wanted to show I’m a better defender or midfielder and compete for my place and now how we’re team-bonding, so I can I show up.
“So it would be the right thing for some but not for others and I had the feeling it then becomes messy and mixed up and different motives why you arrive in camp.
“In having the 19 players on the pitch for four training sessions and the match is very clear and then it will become clear and calm for the players then it is as fair as it can be for players.”
Tuchel acknowledged this leaves open the risky perception of an A squad and B squad - if admittedly rejecting the terms - but said you also have to “recognise the reality”.
“I would never call it A and B - but these players have at the moment more credit with me than the other players. I think just naming it is more clear. I see the danger.
“But is there not also a danger if we call everyone [up] that it’s just like a huge mix-up in motives and situations and how you approach a friendly match in this kind of a season? Is this not also a danger, having all these motives? Someone wants desperately to fight for every minute, someone else feels ‘two friendly matches, I’m quite exhausted’. This is no longer the case.
“In the end I thought this was the clearest solution to come up with and it gives us clarity what we want from the first part of the camp and what we want from the second.”
It was put to Tuchel that a winter break would actually be better. “Of course but that will not happen. And I love Boxing Day. Don’t kill our Boxing Day football!”
His novel solution, however, ensures he isn’t “killing” his players with fatigue. It might make a huge difference to England's entire World Cup.
Thomas Tuchel confirms the 11 players who will join England late in squad ‘split’
Thomas Tuchel explains ‘tough’ Alexander-Arnold decision: ‘I know what Trent can offer us’
Thomas Tuchel vows to be ‘very careful’ with Jude Bellingham after lengthy injury layoff
Tuchel feels ‘parental responsibility’ for Dowman and offers Lewis-Skelly example
Thomas Tuchel keeps England’s World Cup door open for teenager Max Dowman
Bournemouth v Man United LIVE: Latest score and updates from Premier League
