- 14 minutes ago
Tuchel previews Czechia at Wembley
05/10/2026
Tottenham Hotspur Training Ground
05/10/2026
Tottenham Hotspur Training Ground
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SportsTranscript
00:00Hi, it's good to see you.
00:01Hello.
00:02Nice to meet you.
00:04OK, good morning, everybody, and welcome to Tottenham Hotspur's training ground
00:07for this media conference to preview tomorrow's UEFA Nations League fixture
00:11against Czechia at Wembley.
00:13We're joined here by Martin, the translator.
00:15He's going to make notes throughout and then feedback translation post-presser.
00:20So thanks for that.
00:21As ever, two questions per person.
00:22If we do have time, we will come back to you.
00:24And we'll start here with Rob Dorsett.
00:27Thomas, lovely to see you.
00:30An extraordinary performance and victory out in Croatia.
00:32Yeah.
00:33Looks like it's come at a cost, though, with Alex Scott and Esri Konza
00:36both having to leave the squad.
00:37What's the story with them, please?
00:39And is everybody else 100%?
00:42It seems like.
00:43It seems like.
00:44We will get the updates now through the day and have a training session later,
00:49but it seems like everyone else is available.
00:53Well, the stories, two different stories.
00:55Esri felt discomfort when he came into camp,
00:58played with discomfort against Spain and it got a bit worse.
01:02So he stayed in camp and tried everything for the match in Czechia.
01:07That came too soon.
01:08Then he tried everything for the match in Croatia and gave green light,
01:12finished all the training sessions in between and was ready to play.
01:16Unfortunately, he got another hit on the quad and that caused a little bit of trauma and we decided to
01:30not let him play through this pain and discomfort again.
01:35So he left camp to get treatment for both his issues now, but I think nothing major, but not worth
01:42the risk-taking.
01:44And we were happy with the attitude that he showed to stay in camp and be ready for Croatia and
01:50have a good match.
01:51But unfortunately, like I said, he conceded another one, he picked up another one in the match, but from a
01:58knock, not a muscle injury or something.
01:59And with Alex, it's a bit of a strange one, I'm very sad about it.
02:06Alex trained both training sessions before the match full against Croatia, he did extra work after the training sessions.
02:14We knew that he was in treatment, but there were only green lights from himself, from the medics.
02:19When we asked him, when we were aware that there is a slight discomfort throughout the match, we asked him
02:26if he wants to come off.
02:27He said no. After the match, he said, like, yeah, OK, what's the right thing to do?
02:31But I could have played 90 minutes. I don't feel an injury.
02:37And even on the day after, here, before we did the scan, he felt that he's not injured.
02:42So it's a strange one because it does not match the objectivity of the scan and the prediction of the
02:51time that he is obviously going to miss.
02:54It doesn't match his feelings and doesn't match at all the process into the match and during the match.
03:01There was zero risk taking from our side.
03:04There was no awareness that there is any risk of something could happen like this.
03:08It's kind of a one-off, strange one.
03:12Thank you for that.
03:14It won't surprise you that we'd be...
03:15I mean, look, I know you think we talk about Jude Bellingham an awful lot, and we have even more
03:20since that performance in Croatia.
03:23Roy Keane, one of the best midfielders of his generation, said that Jude Bellingham could go on to be one
03:27of the best players of all time.
03:30What are your thoughts?
03:31Big one. I mean, that's what he's paid for. He's a pundit, and he's Roy Keane, so he's an excellent
03:38pundit.
03:38I love watching him on TV and have a lot of respect for him, but I will not enter a
03:45pundit's discussion, so if this is his opinion, we let it be.
03:49It's a beautiful one. He's not attacking our players and he needs to defend our players, so it's a big
03:58compliment and well-deserved at the moment, and it's for other people to discuss it.
04:05Hi, Thomas. I think it's now seven players who've had to pull out with various knocks from when the squad
04:10was announced.
04:11Is that the main takeaway from this break? It's just harder to manage?
04:15It's just what it is, I think. Why seven? I think Niko is out and now two, three?
04:20From the initial squad announcement.
04:22From the initial squad announcement, yeah, OK.
04:24But that is always the case now that you announce a squad, and that's why I'm never fully confident, by
04:31the way, with a Friday press conference ahead of a Saturday-Sunday.
04:35Should we not do this on a Monday so we could all save us the call-ups and the backup
04:43call-ups, so we could just wait until the match is finished?
04:47So that would make it easier for all of us, but yeah, it's just what it is.
04:54I think like from 23 or 24 players that we had in Camp 3 had now to pull out, we
05:00were very careful with them.
05:02Niko came with the issue, Esri came with light issues, so there's just one new one.
05:08I can just assure everyone that we take care of them in the best possible way,
05:13that the player welfare, player health is priority number one.
05:17But as I've said now many times, I think just in the nature of it,
05:21new training style, new training times maybe, different pitches, a lot of travel, different positions to play,
05:30different style of play, it just increases the risk of injuries.
05:36And this time last year, or speaking before the World Cup, you said September, October, November camp
05:43built up a lot of good credit with you because of the performances.
05:46Has this window with the four games and the performances you've produced on the pitch given you the same feeling?
05:53On the way, on the way, but I have to disagree with you because it's three matches only until today.
05:58And we have one more to play and we will not take a positive resume or whatever
06:04or do the debrief or the review of the camp before the camp is finished,
06:09we have one more to go and it's an important one for us.
06:13We have to show another performance, we want to show another performance,
06:17we want to show the right attitude and if we can continue in the way that it's pointing to,
06:24because the three matches were on a high level, then yeah, the players get a lot of credit in the
06:29bank for that.
06:31Kerry?
06:31Thomas, ahead of this camp, when you announced the team, you said, the squad,
06:36you said you'd have to look at the style, the identity.
06:39We saw the style of the Premier League out there, brilliant front four, brilliant support from the full backs.
06:46You've called it sort of a brand of the Premier League, that it was a player's wish, but that you
06:50wanted that security from them if they're going man on man.
06:54Was that the agreement? Go out and play Premier League brand football, but secure your teammates too?
07:00Is that what you elaborate on?
07:01That's a nice summary, trying to summarise in one question what we're trying to build in months and months and
07:08months and weeks.
07:09Maybe it's like this. It's always an agreement. No, I never coached any team to follow my ideas.
07:17When you feel it's not the strength of the players, it's not the personality of the players,
07:22it's not the style of the club or the nature of the team itself.
07:28So it always needs to be a match and we tried to implement this since we arrived.
07:37I think we always played with a high energy off the ball.
07:40We always played with a kind of very aggressive style off the ball into high press and going into ball
07:48wins.
07:49Now we added another layer. The intensity was very high while we were on the ball.
07:54We did a lot of runs, a lot of counter movements, high intensity runs and invested a lot in counter
08:04pressing when we had the ball.
08:07So it was a next step and it's always the same.
08:10The next match is the most important, not the last one.
08:13It's always the next proof of concept and the next proof of everything.
08:19So you need to be ready for the next one and not get carried away in what you did before.
08:25I found it interesting post-match you talked about in the second half, there was no arrogance and there was
08:31a lot of humbleness.
08:31I think a lot of people think England don't carry enough swagger into World Cups, into European tournaments.
08:37But is it that balance of confidence, arrogance and being humble at the right time?
08:43I like that we just kept pushing and we didn't care about the result and we just did what we
08:49did the whole first half.
08:51That made it a complete performance.
08:52That's what I meant and not to make the opponent look silly and not to change our behaviour just because
09:04we were 4-0 or 5-0 ahead.
09:05That was very, very serious and that's what I liked.
09:08I think that's also part of Premier League and it's also part of style and it's part of English culture
09:14to just leave everything on the pitch, no matter what the result is.
09:18And I think the team does that, they did it in the World Cup and we did it in this
09:23camp.
09:24We had a lot of new players in camp, so it was not a given that we can install this
09:31kind of mentality and spirit straight away.
09:35But the players deserve full, full credit, especially the ones that were with us in the World Cup,
09:41took care that we straight away find the same kind of spirit and the last match was proof of that.
09:48Thomas, Harry Kane equals the record to me, well, presuming he does.
09:55Can you just talk about his importance to you, not just as a striker but also as a leader, as
10:01a captain?
10:02I'm not sure if I have any more words because I feel like he scores all the time and he
10:06plays fantastic.
10:08He's in the shortlist for Ballon d'Or, so we spoke so often about him and then I tried to
10:14find new words which then make no sense.
10:18It's just like everything he does, he does it on the highest level and he does it consecutively.
10:27I think I told you, maybe not in a press conference, but I am very sure that this is an
10:33open training session today.
10:35I am very sure that he will be the one leading the team out on the pitch and he will
10:39be the one leading the team in the warm-up.
10:41And not do one step less or one step slower, that's just the level that he shows.
10:49In-game I think he had a fantastic game for us and he stepped up in intensity in his game
10:58and the effort in his game.
11:00Since he takes this major role for Bayern Munich, he found a new level and it's on and off the
11:07pitch highest level.
11:08It feels as if in every game that he plays he breaks a record at the moment.
11:12Yeah.
11:13I mean, he's equally won tomorrow, but is it his desire and determination and that you talked about that basically
11:19is leading the group?
11:20You know, I think all these number nines in the world, no matter in which league or in youth football,
11:30they are built a little bit different and they not only do it that their team wins, they do it,
11:38but they also do it for themselves, they do it for the records and how many can I score, how
11:42many can I assist,
11:43who is the best goalscorer in the league, whom do I have to overtake, where is the next record,
11:49that's just what drives them and it's good that it drives them.
11:53You will not find any goalscorer of this calibre who has not these individual goals set up
12:02and pushing him to the limit.
12:04So that is totally, that is just what drives him.
12:09That is also what drives him and that's just how they are built and how Harry is built.
12:14Andy?
12:15Thomas, nice to see you.
12:17Obviously, without giving too much away, are you looking to rotate your squad tomorrow night
12:21or is it all about keeping up that momentum?
12:23Because that was such an impressive performance, wasn't it?
12:25Yeah, both.
12:26Both.
12:27I think, unfortunately, we talked about this, it's the second time we play Saturday, Tuesday.
12:32If the game was on Wednesday, I think there would be no need for rotation at all.
12:38Tomorrow, my feeling is a little bit different because it's one day less
12:43and we had a flight in between, but it was an early kick-off, so it will be a mix,
12:49I guess.
12:50It will be a mix.
12:51And how keen are you to produce a similar kind of performance in front of your own fans?
12:57Because it was brilliant to do that away from home, but I guess the next step is...
13:00Yeah, it's a good point.
13:01If a similar performance means 6-0 or 8-0, I just have to tell everyone we have the wrong
13:07expectations.
13:09We should not expect the result.
13:11If we expect a similar performance in terms of humbleness, attitude, intensity on and off the ball,
13:18yeah, that's what we want, that's the standard.
13:20It can look totally different and it will look totally different because it's a totally different set-up.
13:27And Czechia, by the way, gave Spain a lot of headache, so we see a clear improvement from the first
13:32to the third match in the Czech team.
13:36They asked a lot of questions, the statistics, the result does not speak the language that we saw in improvement
13:45in their team.
13:46So, yeah, if we have the right expectations, we expect the same, but we should not over-expect now in
13:54terms of results and creating chances.
13:57And that's just, that was, it was what it was and it was very, very good.
14:03And, yeah, the things we can influence, we want to influence on the same level, but it can look different.
14:12Your explanation about Alex is perfectly plausible and understandable, etc.
14:16But on a human level, do you feel a bit bad about it in terms of Alex now goes back
14:22to Bournemouth as an injured player for a couple of months?
14:25On a human level, I feel bad that he has not the next cap tomorrow.
14:30That's how I feel bad about it.
14:31I feel just sad for him because we were in exchange all the time.
14:36And, like I told you, even when he went out, like even on the day after, he didn't feel injured.
14:40So, in my mind, he started tomorrow.
14:43So, clear conscience from that point of view in terms of Bournemouth and all the rest of it?
14:47Yeah, 100%.
14:48I would not have taken any risk, even if it was like a big opportunity for him and even we
14:53wanted him to start.
14:54If I had the slightest idea that I take a risk, I would not have taken it. We never do
14:59this.
14:59In terms of the wider view of the four games, the four-game break,
15:04I believe, unless I'm wrong, that this is set in stone now with FIFA for, I think, until 2030.
15:10This is going to be a thing.
15:12Okay.
15:13It's got to be a contribution to things like this.
15:16The fact that you're in camp for longer, the players are longer,
15:20there are going to be more of these decisions to be made.
15:22It feels to me as if the whole, although results have gone okay,
15:26that the four-game thing has not been that satisfactory.
15:28I'm sure the clubs will be viewing it that way.
15:31For sure the clubs who suffer from injuries, but this is not always the case,
15:36even in shorter windows.
15:39We need to get the numbers right before we start making a case.
15:43Is it really more, or was it the same amount of numbers in combined two little windows?
15:50I don't have the answer to that.
15:53I think the two-week window is not guilty for everything that you see,
16:01and every case is normally an individual case.
16:04So, yeah, if it is a thing, we will adapt to the thing and make the most out of it,
16:10like always.
16:11You sat here a fortnight ago, whenever it was, saying pretty confidently that you didn't like it,
16:17you didn't like the idea, you didn't like the idea of the...
16:19Now we're at the end of it. Have you changed your view?
16:22I think that... No, I didn't like the start of it after a long tournament to have, again, a long
16:29window.
16:29I think that was quite demanding on a level how to organise the travelling to be abroad
16:39and to be in camp for so long after a long, long tournament.
16:44There are also positives to it, I think, like what we see now in the performance against Croatia,
16:50having three matches together and hopefully see it tomorrow again.
16:53And we see it when we analyse Czechia, you see that the team is together for a longer period of
16:58time,
16:59more consecutive training sessions, more meetings about the same subjects,
17:03more of the same language.
17:05So you see, of course, improvements and you see the automatisms clicking in.
17:12This is clearly a positive and I think until now we made it a very, very good camp,
17:18so no complaints from that.
17:19If you ask me if I would have liked three camps to give even more players also the chance to
17:24impress
17:25in between the camps and then come and get a nomination,
17:29I would have liked three camps more, but it is just what it is.
17:34And like I said, we made the absolute most of it until today, it's not finished.
17:40But so far it's a very positive camp.
17:42Can I have it to Henry Winter?
17:44We've got quite a few stacked up, so if you can keep it to one question per person ideally, that
17:47would be great.
17:49Hi Thomas, good luck tomorrow.
17:52In your experience, what makes a great player?
17:55Is it individual contribution?
17:56Is it trophies?
17:57Is it longevity?
17:59Yeah, all of that.
18:01All of that in a mixed attitude.
18:03How good a teammate is he?
18:06How does he make his teammates around him better, more comfortable and then better?
18:11So all these things contribute and is he available?
18:14Is he decisive?
18:19Hi Thomas, just going back to Alex.
18:22There's been some suggestion this morning that Bournemouth are unhappy that he played against Croatia.
18:27Can I just check what your communication with the club's been since Saturday
18:32and if you do sense any unhappiness?
18:34We're in contact, we meaning not me, but the medical and physical department is always in contact with all the
18:42players who are with us.
18:44So we're sharing information, this is a totally open process.
18:49I can 100% understand that Bournemouth is not happy and sad because they lose a key player,
18:56but I can just say from the moment when we took the decision to let him play,
19:03there was absolutely no risk whatsoever apparent to me or to our physical staff that we have a risk of
19:13an injury.
19:14He finished both training sessions.
19:15He did individual work after the training session.
19:20Yeah, it's a one-off.
19:22Thanks, Kit.
19:22To James, Holly.
19:24Hi Thomas, just following on from that.
19:25Has this been maybe the hardest camp for you to manage the relations with the clubs about how you use
19:31the players?
19:33No, because I'm not involved in that.
19:35I'm not involved in these discussions.
19:37I'm not involved in discussions with clubs, how to use them.
19:41I think the players are for two and a half weeks our players.
19:46And as much as we trust the clubs to put the players' health first, I think the clubs have to
19:53trust and trust us that we put the players' health first.
19:57And you can see it in our team selections and that will never change, but we are not on the
20:03phone to clubs asking for advice
20:05because then it would be an empty camp by now.
20:09It's four matches for us and this is the most important thing for these two and a half weeks.
20:14These four matches matter more than anything else.
20:17It's an honour, it's a pride, it's to play for your country.
20:22And this is where the focus is.
20:24So the players are top professional, for the players it means very, very much.
20:29You can see it in the way we play and in the way the group behaves.
20:33And this is the spirit that we want to have.
20:36Players are happy to stay and make themselves available.
20:39Players are desperate to come into camp.
20:41This is exactly what we want.
20:43This is the only way.
20:44It's the only way forward.
20:54Hello, Jonas Bartosz from Czech Media.
20:58I would like to ask you about the Czech team.
21:00You have spoken a little bit about our team.
21:04But which skills do you see there or some weaknesses in the opposite side?
21:10And if you see there some Spanish style after Santidenia came to the team?
21:16Yeah, we see a lot of Spanish style.
21:18I will not openly talk about any weaknesses.
21:22We always try to find gaps if we analyse opponents
21:26and we always try to find advantages for us.
21:31But I think there's a lot of development within your squad.
21:35I feel them getting stronger and stronger, especially in their own half,
21:39in the deep build-up involving the goalkeeper,
21:41using players as wall players and escaping high pressure
21:47and going then into a fast attack.
21:49We see clear patterns of play, very flexible, very fluid.
21:57It's quite demanding to take the ball off of them.
21:59You could even see it when they were playing with ten men against us
22:03and we dropped a little bit the intensity,
22:05we dropped a little bit the hunger towards the end of the game.
22:09The second half, when we were 2-0 up, suddenly it was very difficult for us
22:13to catch the ball in the opponent's half
22:15and they could bring the game into our half.
22:18So this is, I think, the main development at the moment
22:22and it is clearly a Spanish handwriting to it in the formation
22:26and in the style of play.
22:28And that's what we are up for and I think we have to prepare the players
22:32to not look at the table and to not look at the results.
22:38But we will show them evidence, of course, how much effort
22:43and how much team effort and coordinated press it takes to win the ball high.
22:51They will not just give it to us.
22:53Hi Thomas, Tyo from BCOMS.
22:56You've spoken previously in the past about the importance of maintaining perspective
23:00and not allowing football to become someone's entire identity.
23:04What responsibility do you feel like you have as it relates to just not winning football matches
23:10but helping players, especially the young players who come into the camp,
23:13grow as individuals and what does that look like?
23:16Yeah, I think it's a valid point because we sometimes, all of us,
23:22just we think we nominate young players and there are a lot of young players.
23:26Alex is one of them, Rio is one of them, Miles is still a very young player
23:30and sure I forgot some young ones and they are new or relatively new to our camp.
23:37And then sometimes you just think, OK, the coach saw some matches,
23:40he nominates a player and then the player comes, puts a shirt on
23:44and then he plays for England, but that's not how it works.
23:48And that's why I praised before the players who were with us at the World Cup
23:54because once you come into camp now and I think this is what we built
23:58and what the team stands for, also as an identity,
24:03you come into an excellent dressing room and you come into a brilliant squad
24:09with amazing leaders and clear values, how to interact with each other,
24:15how to make players who are new feel comfortable and be the best version of themselves.
24:21Because that is very, very important and I think that is what you see
24:25and what people feel in our performances.
24:29And you can always improve, you can always improve football-wise,
24:32but the energy that you feel since last September, consecutive what we built on,
24:41this is exactly what it is and for that, to have that,
24:45players need to take care of the values and the standards of the pitch,
24:49need to make sure that the young and new players feel comfortable
24:54and understand the rules, how this works here,
24:59and at the same time feel comfortable enough to express themselves
25:02and to take risks on the field and feel comfortable
25:05because without feeling comfortable you will never have a top performance.
25:09And that's why it's at the moment, I think, possible that players just come in,
25:13Lewis Hall started the first time for us before I forget him
25:16and have performances like it seems like seamlessly they fit in.
25:22And this is the work that the team does off the pitch
25:25and they took care about that and they make him feel comfortable.
25:29That's sometimes overseen in all the performance-driven environment.
25:34Can we finish with Jacob and then Jack?
25:36Hi Thomas, Gerald Kwanza had another very good game on Saturday
25:41and got a very good assist, but do you need to have another look at Trent
25:45if he is to gain a better understanding of the game model you're trying to put in place?
25:51I think I have a clear picture of Trent, but if he starts tomorrow I will not answer the question
25:57because we have one more training session to go, but he had a good match, he had a good assist.
26:02Gerald had also a very good match and maybe the game model suits him a little bit better,
26:11but it's then on us to use Trent in the best possible way.
26:15He has a big chance to start tomorrow and to play tomorrow, but it's one more training session to go.
26:21And we will take the decision later in the evening or maybe for some players in the morning tomorrow,
26:29but I think we do it today in the evening. Trent has a good chance to play.
26:34Last question.
26:36Hi Thomas, you said earlier that the team has added another layer in terms of its intensity with the ball.
26:43Was that your focus, your priority in the evolution of the team after the World Cup?
26:49I'm not sure if it was the focus. We had some slight twists in the tactical set-up to use
26:59the players.
27:00A little bit different after we saw them now in a tournament and under stress and we had the experiences
27:07together.
27:08Just trying to implement ideas, simplify the game because we don't have a lot of time together and play into
27:14our strengths.
27:16So once the team was available, once we knew what the team was, we started to build on what we
27:25already built.
27:26I can only repeat myself, I think it was not necessary to start new, it was not necessary for dramatic
27:33changes,
27:33but for slight twists and identify the key areas where we want to get a little bit better.
27:42And we have to get a little bit better in order to improve the process, in order to improve the
27:47team.
27:50We demand it, but it's always the level, how the players bought into that in training sessions and meetings
27:56and then how they translated it and transferred it onto the pitch was very, very good until today.
28:03So we have two more games, two more days to go, one more game to play and I hope we
28:09can finish on that kind of level.
28:11Thank you very much, we'll have Trevi Cialo be with you shortly.