You cannot fault Thomas Tuchel when it comes to honesty. This is a coach who said on national radio that his mother finds star player Jude Bellingham “repulsive”, who told England fans at Wembley off for being “silent” in a friendly against Wales and said Bukayo Saka’s goal tally for the Three Lions, the highest of any Arsenal player in history, was not good enough.
So when Tuchel was asked what he thought about Harry Maguire following the centre-back’s first appearance for England in 18 months, he was unsurprisingly blunt. Sir Gareth Southgate always leapt to Maguire’s defence whenever he faced criticism on international duty, while every Manchester United coach, even the forthright Ruben Amorim, has sung Maguire’s praises, typically outlining his professionalism and his experience.
There was a lot to like about Maguire’s performance against Uruguay on Friday, such as his confident dribbling, his accurate punts into attack and his two last-ditch blocks in added time to prevent the South Americans snatching a winner. But Tuchel, of course, decided to give the whole picture.
Speaking to journalists after the game, the England boss highlighted Maguire’s well-known qualities. “Harry is very good on the ball, very calm, strong in the air and in the weapon for set-pieces,” he said. Then came the inevitable caveat.
“I haven’t changed my mind, but I see other players I like to start for us, I see other players ahead with a different profile,” he said. “I see Ezri Konsa ahead, I see Marc Guehi ahead. It’s no secret. I see Trevoh Chalobah on the level of mobility was slightly ahead of him. Also John Stones, but he had injuries so (Maguire) needed to come in camp. I needed to meet him in person to see how he acts within the group.”
It was not exactly a ringing endorsement. But Tuchel is wrong to talk down one of the modern era’s great renaissance players, who would be a real asset to his squad at the World Cup.
