- 9 months ago
Tuchel and Newcastle's Dan Burn on Isak move and Andorra world cup qualifier
05/09/2025
SGP, Burton, UK
uefa25
05/09/2025
SGP, Burton, UK
uefa25
Category
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SportsTranscript
00:00Morning everyone and welcome to St George's Park for this media conference to preview tomorrow's
00:04World Cup qualifier against Andorra at Villa Park. Joined by Thomas Tuchel, will be followed
00:09afterwards by Dan Byrne. Is there a bit of housekeeping? Let's keep it to two questions
00:13per person initially and if we do have time we'll certainly come back to you for any follow-ups.
00:18Rob, when you're ready.
00:19Let Thomas have a drink first.
00:21I don't know if you're choking on his first drink.
00:24Good to see you. Thomas, we're actually in the World Cup season now.
00:28Three camps back to back in September, October, November and then you don't see the players
00:33again until March. So I want to assess where you are now. Are you where you wanted to be
00:38do you think in your progress of trying to make England World Cup wins?
00:41Didn't think so much about where I want to be. I am happy where I am at the moment. There
00:46was a lot of learning for us and for me personally in the first two camps. We had an excellent
00:52camp three until now but as you know it's never about what you did. It's always about what you
01:01do in the moment and then to go forward and progress and get better. So we have a very important
01:10training session today to be ready for the match on Saturday. But I'm happy where I am, I'm happy where the team is and we can feel it that it's a change of
01:10attitude if you finally arrive in the World Cup season.
01:17Obviously both the Lionesses and the Men's Under-21s have won back-to-back European Championships. Now the FA your bosses won't think that means any extra pressure for you.
01:22I'm not so sure of that. Do you feel that though? I mean personally do you feel that's added a bit of pressure?
01:29No, not at all. I don't know how. If it's something it's a good omen. I was so happy for Sarina and for Lee because it's a great
01:44extraordinary effort and extraordinary success with back-to-back victories. So it's possible. There's no curse on English teams. So it's a good omen and we will do our very best to follow the example.
02:07Hi Thomas. You said you wanted to create competition and make it a bit spicier with the team. Have you felt that this week?
02:14Yes, I felt it. Like I said it was an excellent camp until now. I cannot be happier with the engagement, the quality, the awareness and how the group is together. So hopefully we have another top training session later today.
02:30And hopefully we can prove the point to you and the fans can see what I see on a daily basis.
02:39And fitness-wise ahead of the game tomorrow, is everyone available?
02:44Unfortunately John Stones just left. He came with minor issues, muscular issues to camp and didn't progress as we thought and hoped he would. So he left camp this morning.
02:59Because we will not take the risk not against Andorra and also unfortunately not against Serbia. Everyone else is available. We had 21 players yesterday in training, 21 players today in training and make sure hopefully that everyone is available for tomorrow.
03:22Going back to Kerry Brown.
03:23Hello Thomas. You said the key for you is to overcome the low block and have Declan in that more forward position. How have the call-ups that you brought into this camp and the training gone to unlock that?
03:38Yes, excellent. Excellent training sessions, excellent energy on and off the pitch. The group worked very well. The awareness, the focus is absolutely there. So I am at the moment very, very positive.
03:53Like I said, it's never about in sports what you have done yesterday. It's always about what you do tomorrow to get better.
04:00And so I expect a good training session from myself but also from the boys and the players to be ready for tomorrow.
04:09We will face, I think in both matches a deep block, a deep block of five for one for sure in the first match.
04:16And it is the challenge to overcome it quicker, to overcome the line of four a bit more aggressive, a bit more fluid and play with more intensity and play with more rhythm than we did in Barcelona in the first match.
04:35That's what we are working on and so far it looks good. But like I said, we need to add another top quality training session today to be ready for tomorrow.
04:44Two different challenges in the sense of what you might face, home and then away. How do you balance the two teams for that?
04:55You obviously want to get a reaction from the last results but how much do you measure the score? Does Harry Kane start this one? Do you have to balance that?
05:04Yes, he starts this one. There is no balance. The only balance there is, like I said, the competition is on.
05:13It's World Cup season. We have a condensed period of three camps. Competition is on and that means we will start with a team that we trust and with the best team possible for this game.
05:26And then we will manage the second game. We will not do it backwards and manage theoretically more difficult away game than a home game. We will not start getting caught up in experiments like this.
05:39Everything that counts is today and tomorrow. And then we will do our assessment after the match and see who is available.
05:46The players will start anyway to play two matches a week, three matches a week after international camp.
05:53So I don't see a problem why they cannot start one week earlier and play Saturday, Tuesday.
06:00Hi Thomas. Out of the players that you have called up into the squad for this camp, who has impressed you the most in training?
06:09The group impressed me the most. The group impressed me the most, the energy and the quality and the attitude within the group.
06:16I am very happy how they welcomed the newcomers. I am very happy how the newcomers presented themselves, not only on the pitch but also off the pitch.
06:29Like I said, it is excellent, three days, four days so far and we want to keep that going but it is not the moment to speak about individual over-performers or whatever.
06:42Everyone is doing very, very good and it is an excellent atmosphere.
06:46And just on a personal level for you, how has it been working with Ruben Loftus-Cheek again?
06:52It was always a pleasure to work with him and I am very happy that I had the chance to call him up.
06:59He is a very nice guy to be around, very friendly, very polite, good sense of humour and he is full of quality.
07:07Sometimes I am not sure if he is aware how good he is and how good he can be but he fits in seamlessly because of his character and of his quality.
07:18He showed it straight away and he competes for a place in central midfield.
07:24It is good to see that he is fit and he is not injured, healthy and plays for his club.
07:33Then he is always in the mix to make an impression on an international level.
07:40Hi Thomas, good luck tomorrow.
07:43When you are out and about, if you are walking around London or wherever and England fans come up to you, what do they say to you?
07:50Do they say, why aren't you picking so-and-so for my team or are they saying, why aren't you playing with a little bit more fearlessness?
07:56I get a lot of tips, that is for sure, but always in a friendly manner.
08:02Most of them just say, bring it home Thomas and that is basically the task.
08:09No pressure.
08:10Just on Mark Gay, he had a difficult transfer deadline day, but we saw him out in training and he looked his normal professional self.
08:17Have you had to have a chat with him?
08:19Yes, of course, we had a chat with him and he looks absolutely fine.
08:23He looks very impressive on the field.
08:25He has a couple of very impressive weeks behind him on the sportive side and the performance side.
08:31He is the main driver of Crystal Palace's success.
08:36He is the captain and the leader and played very, very impressive in the end of last season and in the start of this season.
08:48And continued exactly like this in camp, so it was very impressive.
08:53He handles it with respect and with grace and with brilliant attitude.
08:58Thanks, Henry. Rob, did you want to come back?
09:04Thomas, how much have you looked back at the first game against Andorra in June and how much will you change and have you learned from that game?
09:13I'm not counting the numbers of players that we will change, but we learned a lot.
09:20I think we learned a lot from both camps.
09:22We invited a lot of players, 35 players, I think, in two camps.
09:28The June camp is always a bit of a tricky one in terms of coming from holidays and coming after a long season, being tired
09:39and then need to restart the engines after a long season.
09:44So, yeah, we take all of this into our observations.
09:49We had our learnings, so we made our decisions to make it more competitive for the next three camps.
09:58I think we made good choices so far. Everyone deserves to be in camp.
10:03The group had excellent days so far.
10:06Like I said, it's also down to me.
10:12The structure was not ideal to speed the game up.
10:16We made it a bit too easy for Andorra to find the moments to close us down,
10:23and to find the right moments to slow our game down.
10:27We tried already to give some new solutions to the players to break down the block a bit easier,
10:35to be more aggressive.
10:37But we always have to balance our expectations because Andorra is a well-drilled team.
10:44I know it sounds maybe silly, but it is like this.
10:47It's a well-drilled team and a 5-4-1. They know what they are doing.
10:51They do this since eight, ten years, I think, with the same coach.
10:54They will know everything about us because everything is available.
10:58They will be very well prepared.
11:01And so it can also feel a little bit like chewing gum to break a block down like this.
11:09But in general, we have to play with more energy.
11:12We have to play with more enthusiasm.
11:14And so far, I'm pretty sure that we will.
11:18Can I ask you as well about your midfield?
11:20Because it strikes me with Adam Wharton withdrawing.
11:23You've called up Elliot Anderson for the first time.
11:26Loftus-Cheek for the first time under your reign.
11:28Is it fair to say that you're still trying to get some answers and learn a bit about your midfield,
11:32particularly when it comes to defensive midfield, the number six role?
11:34Yeah, and this will maybe not stop in the moment.
11:38The four players compete in central midfield.
11:40Jordan, Elliot, Declan and Ruben.
11:44They are all very mobile players.
11:46There is not like, I think from characteristic, not one like pivotal classic deep number six.
11:54It's maybe John Stones, but he left this morning who fits this characteristic.
12:00But it's absolutely no problem.
12:02I think the strength of our players is to be mobile,
12:06which is in modern-day football more an advantage than a disadvantage.
12:11And we have our ideas on how we will set up.
12:15I will not give it away too early, but hopefully you can see some glimpses of it tomorrow and in Serbia.
12:21And from there we go.
12:23We have top players and we will find the right pairing.
12:27We will need to be flexible because anything can happen, someone can be injured.
12:32So it's anyway not the moment to make final decisions for the World Cup.
12:40The decisions are now made for Andorra and nothing else.
12:44Thanks for your time.
12:45Cheers.
12:46Done?
12:47Yep.
12:48Good.
12:49Thanks a lot.
12:51Thank you guys.
14:20Okay, back here, Dan Bird.
14:30Ready to get started when you're on.
14:32Dan, good to see you.
14:34Thomas Tew has had four games in charge now, two camps.
14:37You've started two of those games.
14:39And it looks like you're starting this one as well,
14:40although you wouldn't be sitting there, so congratulations on that.
14:42But you started to feel a part of it.
14:45I mean, I remember when we first spoke to you when you came in
14:47and you said, look, some people think I'm only here for this one camp.
14:51No, I want to be part of the World Cup.
14:53Are you starting to feel a part of the furniture now?
14:55Yeah, definitely.
14:56I think the first camp was, yeah, it was amazing to be there.
15:01But I feel like the more camps I go on now,
15:03I feel sort of more confident in my own ability to play at this level.
15:10I think it's sort of the unknown when you come here
15:11until you've played a game, you don't really know if you can do it.
15:14But now that I've done it and I'm sort of starting to build up the camps,
15:17what's this, camp three now, three to go.
15:19I feel like I should be here and deserve my place.
15:23Three and three to go.
15:24You're clearly thinking about the World Cup as well.
15:26But listen, I've got to ask you about your club.
15:28There's an elephant in the room here.
15:29And I'm sorry, we wouldn't normally, when you're on England duty,
15:31ask about it.
15:31But it's been such an extraordinary and difficult summer for Newcastle.
15:37That eventual protracted, painful departure of Alexander Isak.
15:42How do you feel about that?
15:43And how do you feel towards him as a former teammate
15:45and the way he behaved?
15:46I'm glad it's done.
15:47I think we wanted the transfer window to close,
15:50just to have a bit of clarity on it.
15:51But listen, I've been in football long enough to understand that
15:55for a player, the careers are short
15:58and they've got things that they want to achieve.
16:00So for me, I'm happy that it's over.
16:05Alex is a mate, so it was a tough situation because you want him to be around
16:09and help in the team, but also understand for him what he needs to do personally.
16:14So listen, I've got nothing but sort of good wishes for Alex.
16:17So no animosity towards him?
16:21No, no animosity.
16:21I think like, listen, obviously as a Newcastle fan, you know what Newcastle fans are like.
16:26We're very protective of our club and we're City and you want players to be there who want to play for Newcastle
16:34and you don't want them to sort of naively think that there's anywhere else to go apart from playing Newcastle.
16:39So I understand why our fans are frustrated.
16:42But as I said, I think I've been in the game long enough now to understand what goes on.
16:47And as I said, I wish Alex all the best apart from when we play Liverpool, obviously.
16:51Thanks, Dan, for doing that.
16:53Hi, Dan.
16:54As you said, you feel a bit more established and settled now here in the England camp
16:58and Thomas Tuchel always speaks so highly of you, qualities on the pitch and what you bring off the pitch as well.
17:03But just how does that make you feel?
17:04Has that made you settle as well?
17:05Yeah, definitely.
17:06I think, as I said, the more camps I'm taking, I'm taking a lot more confidence from it.
17:10I feel like on a personal level, I'm probably playing the best football that I've had in my career.
17:15I feel really good sort of physically and I'm in a good place mentally where I'm up for the challenge.
17:22And as I said before, my very first camp at the World Cup was something that was not even close to being on my radar.
17:28But now that we're in camp three and building towards it, I just want to sort of try and implement what the gaffer's asking of me in the team
17:38and just trying to sort of play as well as I can so I keep getting picked for these camps.
17:44With that and you counting down to the World Cup and it being at the end of this season and it feeling in touching distance,
17:51does it make you want to pull more out of yourself every time you play a game basically?
17:56Yeah, I think I try and go in with that mentality that I'm just leaving absolutely everything out there.
18:02I've always tried to, in my career, not have any regrets and think, oh, I wish I had done this or done that.
18:09So I'm just trying to do exactly what the manager has asked.
18:12And I think there was probably a lot of learning from the last time we played Andorra.
18:17Maybe tactical things that we maybe didn't get quite right or we could change a little bit.
18:23And even sort of from a mentality view, I think a lot of the lads are used to playing in these games
18:28where you're on the ball constantly and expected to dominate and I'm probably not really used to that
18:34just with the teams that I've played for in the past and the games that I'm doing.
18:38So I think it's a mentality thing whether we're playing Brazil or Argentina or Andorra.
18:43I feel like the top teams, the mentality towards that game doesn't change.
18:47So I think that's something that we can sort of take.
18:51Hi Dan, with that in mind, coming from Andorra,
18:54did the players really feel they had to prove themselves in training this week with the competition level?
19:00And did it get feisty out there?
19:02Yeah, a little bit.
19:03I think that was the sort of word that the manager used at the start of this camp was now it was like competition.
19:08Like we're not only competing to make the World Cup with two important qualifiers,
19:13but also with each other.
19:14I think there's been players in and out of different camps.
19:19So now it's really sort of competing with the players in my position to try and nail down that place.
19:24I know that there's sort of a lot of depth here now.
19:29There's like big players in my position and I just want to be the one who sort of plays all the games.
19:36It's going to be hot in America and you've got Serbia that are renowned for their set pieces.
19:41How much has he been drilling you?
19:42Because it could be an absolutely vital tool going into the World Cup, but in this vital two weeks as well.
19:49Yeah, it's huge.
19:49I think obviously at the moment we're focused as purely on Andorra.
19:52I think we'll look at Serbia more when that game's done.
19:54But from sort of what I've heard and know, I think Serbia will be intimidating atmosphere.
20:00I think now with sort of set pieces, it's become such a vital part of a game.
20:06I think everybody now pretty much has a set piece coach and it's just those little sort of percents
20:12that might make the difference between sort of winning or losing.
20:15So something that we're set piece wise looking to improve on and know that that could be the difference
20:21when it comes to tournament football between sort of winning and losing games.
20:24Thomas Gibson.
20:25Hi Dan.
20:25Obviously throughout the season, obviously you have these camps throughout the Premier League season as well.
20:31When you're working closely with Thomas and you're working closely with Eddie Howe,
20:35what are the different qualities you see in each manager?
20:39I think probably just the amount of tactical work that goes on the way.
20:45Obviously I've worked with Eddie for three and a bit years now and it's like relentless the way that he works
20:51and sort of leaving no stone left unturned.
20:58Hopefully that's the same.
21:01Yeah, so there's like when we go in, I know exactly what I'm expected to do.
21:05And if we're the nine times out of ten, if we do what we're asked to do, we tend to win the game.
21:10And it's the same with a manager.
21:11I think it's harder because we probably don't have that amount of time every single day that we get with managers at the club.
21:17But I think this has been a really good week.
21:20I think we've needed this week just to know and expect what the gaffer wants from us
21:24and hopefully try and put that into practice in the game tomorrow.
21:30Just on a personal note for you, obviously with Newcastle you're going into a Champions League season,
21:34the World Cup's around the corner.
21:36You mentioned earlier about you feel good physically, you feel good mentally.
21:40Would you say this is the most confident you've felt in your career so far?
21:43Yeah, I think so.
21:44I think I've been playing well for a long time now and I think that's built a lot of confidence in us.
21:52That's obviously been successful last season with winning the League Cup and getting in the Champions League.
21:57So I feel in a really good place and I still feel as if the older I'm getting, I'm still getting better.
22:02So I think that fills us with confidence as well.
22:06It's exciting.
22:07It's an exciting season now that I'm 33 years old and I'm getting the chance to play Champions League football again.
22:13And the possibility of maybe making it in a World Cup squad is just motivators to just want to keep pushing myself further.
22:19Dan, hi.
22:21Good luck tomorrow.
22:22A player like Elliot Anderson, what are his strengths?
22:25Yeah, Elliot's a top player.
22:29I think we were really good to lose him from Newcastle.
22:32I think, first of all, his physicality for a player of his size, the way he can keep people away from the ball and get about the pitch is a big strength.
22:41But he's always wanting the ball wherever he is.
22:44He's so calm when he gets it and I think he's got that eye for the passes that we'll probably need against Andorra, which is when we'll get those.
22:52There's not going to be loads and loads of opportunities there for maybe when teams are playing the sort of 5-4-1.
22:57But I feel he's got the eye for a pass that could unlock those sort of teams.
23:01So really, really happy for Elliot.
23:03I know he had a great Euros in the summer and he's also a great lad on top of that.
23:08Bruno Grimaris played again last night.
23:11Brazil had a very good win.
23:13When you're playing with someone like that, do you appreciate the sort of quality that England will be up against next summer?
23:19Yeah, definitely.
23:20I think that's the thing about World Cup qualifying.
23:23Sometimes you don't always play these big teams that you come up against at the tournament.
23:27So it is about having that same mentality no matter what you're doing.
23:30But listen, Bruno's a top player and Brazil are full of top players himself.
23:34And for me, yeah, it's a joy to watch when you're behind that and just knowing that if I've got the ball, he's always there wanting it and I can just give him it.
23:43So, yeah, no, happy for Bruno.
23:45I heard he had a very good game last night and really happy he scored.
23:49OK, any further questions?
23:51No.
23:52Sorry, I'm sorry at the end here.
23:58Dan, you worked with Anthony Barrett before at Wigan.
24:01What does he bring to the group?
24:03What's he working on and what's he like to work with?
24:06Yeah, it takes a lot of the coaching bars.
24:08But I know from working at Wigan just how sort of enthusiastic he is and the intensity he works at.
24:15You sort of feed off that as well.
24:16And I think he's brought that to the camp.
24:19I feel like it's been a very good camp training-wise, very, very competitive.
24:24I think you can see now that people are starting to look around at each other and see who they're competing with and wanting to play in the team.
24:32So, yeah, Barrett is a top guy as well.
24:35I think he's probably one of the best coaches in this country at the moment.
24:39And, yeah, just very happy to learn from him.
24:42And one more for Rob Dorsett and then we're done.
24:45Thanks.
24:48Dan, I just wanted to ask you one.
24:49Thomas has surprised us a little bit in the way that he talks about dividing the centre-backs up into left-footed options and right-footed options.
24:56It's very clear he wants one of each on the pitch.
24:58And he classes Mark Gay as your side, the left side, because that's where he plays for Palace.
25:03Does that work in your mind?
25:05Is that how you think about it?
25:06Do you see your direct competition as Mark Gay in this camp and not Esri Concer or John Stones as it was, perhaps?
25:12Yeah, the way that the gaffer seems to have divided up, yeah, I would say that's the way it is.
25:17I know, obviously, Mark's a top-top player, very close to the Liverpool move this summer as well.
25:22So, I feel like that just keeps pushing us.
25:24But I think it's probably from what the gaffer wants in possession and the patterns that he wants to play as we get further up the pitch,
25:32I think it probably suits that.
25:33So, yeah, I think right at this moment, that would probably be my direct competition.
25:38Thank you very much.
25:39Cheers, all.
25:41Thanks, Dan.
25:41Nice, all.
25:42Thanks very much.
25:42Thanks.
26:02Thanks.
26:02Thanks.
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