England manager Thomas Tuchel announced his latest squad and held a press conference to answer questions from the media. During the conference, he discussed the returns of players like Trent Alexander-Arnold and Cole Palmer to the England squad, and also responded to questions about his feelings after the World Cup, upcoming squad competition, and the Nations League campaign. This article is the first part of the press conference.

Thomas, this is Kaveh Solhekol from Sky Sports News.

I know.

First, both Trent Alexander-Arnold and Cole Palmer are back in your squad. What have they done to earn that?

Straight to the names then.

What have they done to win back your confidence?

Both have started the season well. They didn't make mistakes before; we simply chose other players at that time. Now this is a new competition. There are more injuries in some positions, fewer in others.

Cole has been able to get playing time as he was before, and now his statistics have returned. He's been providing assists again and scoring match-winning goals, so that's why he's in the squad.

I think he has something to prove, and so does Trent. Trent never left our consideration, and he was never a player we wouldn't consider calling up. Now is his opportunity. He can come to the training camp and show his best. This season, he's started well playing two different positions at Real Madrid, and when he comes to us, he'll train as a right-back.

Still on Trent. It feels like you haven't fully trusted him as England's right-back.

No.

So what does he need to do in the coming weeks to prove to you that he deserves to be England's right-back?

Perform. It's as simple as that. It's competition. I understand why you're asking this question, because he wasn't with us at the World Cup. We trusted other players during the World Cup, and I stand by that decision.

Now it's his time to fight for his place. He's always said he's willing to compete, and he's always said, especially for England, that he's willing to fight for his place. So now it's up to him to prove it. We welcome him at the training camp. This camp is long, and I'm confident he will perform.

Hello, Thomas. As Kaveh just said, we've called back Trent, Palmer, and Lewis Hall. I'm sure there are other players too. Does this prove that with you, no door is completely closed, and the door is always open?

Yes, 100%. The door is always open. First, you have to open that door with your performances. At the same time, equally important is your behaviour and your commitment to the team spirit, because we've built something very special.

Before this latest squad announcement, I expected more continuity from the World Cup squad. But then many players from the World Cup squad couldn't participate in this training camp. I've just written down the names, including Reece James, Burn, Dean Henderson, John Stones, Jordan Henderson, and Jed Spence, who are all unavailable due to injury.

So this isn't complete continuity from the World Cup squad. We need new players to step up, because the players I just mentioned are very important to us in building this friendship, building team spirit, and maintaining the mentality that took us far at the World Cup.

We won't bargain, back down, or compromise on this. So other players need to step up.

Essentially, that's how I see this training camp. Other players need to step up, and they will get plenty of playing time. If possible, my current idea is not to make too many changes to the lineup in one match.

Of course, we'll manage it sensibly too. If it doesn't make sense for some players to play too much, we won't overload them. Back to your question, the door is always open. You always have a chance to impress us, and you always have a chance to fight for your place.

Can I quickly ask about a player who came very close to selection but ultimately didn't make the squad? Someone like Josh King. I know Ben White is also injured.

Yes, Ben White withdrew due to injury. He's had a fantastic start to the season at Arsenal and has returned to his best form. Especially on that flank, he's playing very well alongside Saka. If we could have two players like that on the same flank, that would be very valuable to us. But unfortunately, he couldn't play at the World Cup, and he can't participate in this training camp either.

For Ben, this is becoming a bit of a situation. Every time there's a crucial moment, or when we're calling up players, he's always unavailable.

You mentioned Josh King well, because before the World Cup, during our training camp in the US, we had three young players training with us: Alex Scott, Leo Goussart, and Josh. All three were excellent members of the group.

It's not just because they're good people and very reliable, but also because they all have outstanding character. They also showed their ability and courage on the pitch, and their curiosity about the game, which is excellent. Especially Josh, he's had a fantastic start to the season at Fulham.

He really was very, very close to being selected. But ultimately, I felt I needed to keep the squad lean and give sufficient confidence to the players who really came to the training camp. For example, in the number 10 position where Josh plays, we have Palmer and Bellingham, so we need to give them that trust. So Josh will go to the U21s this time, but he was very close to selection and is always on our radar.

Thomas, this is Kelly Brown from beIN Sports. England finished the World Cup with their best result in 60 years, but you've also spoken about the pain and wounds left after losing to Argentina in the semi-final. Now you'll face the current world champions—what could be a better start? What do you want to show to England fans in this match?

I think this is a fantastic start to the Nations League campaign. Overall, in the last 18 months, we've achieved some remarkable and very positive results. Our qualifying performance was perfect, followed by two friendlies, and then eight World Cup matches.

That means we played a total of 10 matches in the US, winning eight, drawing one, and unfortunately losing one. That loss was very painful for us, and it still stings. But a cycle of 10 matches like that is what we want to replicate. Now our goal is to make a run in the Nations League.

If we can reach the semi-finals, then we'll play 10 more matches. The Nations League has at least six matches, but we're hoping it could be 10, and to create that cycle again. In fact, I even feel that we've already started the next journey, the next cycle, and the next phase with the match against France.

Because after we lost to Argentina, in a sense we were eliminated from the World Cup, but not completely, because there was still the third-place match to play. And the way we performed in that match, the way we won, and the opponent we beat—France was probably the strongest team in the world at that time, arguably with the strongest squad—that was a very difficult and very impressive victory. I think that win set the direction for everything that followed.

Now the next match is against Spain, who are also the current world champions. We feel the gap between the two sides is getting smaller, and we feel that we are very close to them. We want to prove that. Tickets are sold out, and it will be a very exciting match. Our motivation couldn't be stronger, because we're facing world champions.

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