Qudus SalihuThomas Tuchel has immediately altered a key Gareth Southgate principle at St George’s Park on his first day with the England squad.
The German boss will take charge of the Three Lions for the first time on Friday, when England take on Albania at Wembley in a World Cup qualifier.
International duty started on Monday at St James’ Park when each member of Tuchel’s 26-man squad reported to St George’s Park at midday.
They included Newcastle pair Dan Burn and Tino Livramento – who had been celebrating their side’s Carabao Cup final victory over Liverpool the day prior.That kickstarted a changed plan to the one that Southgate used each time he ran international camps from the elite training facilities.
The Daily Mirror report that, while the former England boss would run training sessions in the morning, Tuchel is now running sessions in the afternoon instead.
One of the main reasons for doing this, it is claimed, is to better replicate match conditions on Friday and Tuesday, when England face Albania and Latvia in 7:45pm kick-offs.
Tuchel will instead use the morning period to have one-to-one meetings with players and ‘have get-togethers with the whole squad’.
It is noted that the German has ‘flipped the schedule’ rather than making significant alterations, which will help to provide some continuity from the old regime into the new one.
Tuchel has made several coaching appointments ahead of the first training camp, with his former Chelsea coach Anthony Barry joining the England setup as assistant manager.
Brentford head of coaching Justin Cochrane has also joined the coaching staff, while former Chelsea goalkeeper Henrique Hilario has been appointed as goalkeeping coach.
Some of Southgate’s entourage have remained in their roles, but England players will largely get to work with new faces over the course of their international camps at St George’s Park.
Qudus Salihu