Ahead of England's fourth UEFA Nations League A match against the Czech Republic at home, England manager Thomas Tuchel attended a press conference to answer media questions. This is the third part of the press conference.

Reporter: Hello Thomas, pleased to meet you. Without giving away too many tactical secrets, are you planning to make wholesale changes to the starting lineup tonight, or will you stick with the original squad to maintain the incredible momentum from the last match?

Thomas Tuchel: We have to balance both aspects. As we've discussed, this isn't the first time we've faced a demanding fixture schedule—playing Saturday and then Tuesday again. If we had an extra day off and the match were Wednesday, I don't think we'd need to rotate at all. But tonight's situation is quite delicate. We have less preparation time overall, and we have a flight to take midway through. Fortunately, the last match was a quick one, so I expect to take a balanced approach tonight with minor adjustments and a blend of regular starters.

Reporter: How eager are you to produce another impressive performance like last time in front of the home fans? I'm not talking about another 7-0, but rather showing that same dominance in front of the Wembley crowd. While a big away win is excellent, replicating that level at Wembley is clearly an important test ahead.

Thomas Tuchel: That's a very important point. If everyone interprets "the same level of performance" as scoring 6-0 or 8-0, I need to cool those expectations down. That expectation is completely unrealistic. We can't predetermine the result of a match. But if our expectation is to maintain humility, fighting spirit, and intensity in both attack and defense, then yes—this is the strict requirement we have for the team. This is the tactical foundation for England.

The match itself will likely look quite different, and of course it will, because the opponent's tactical system is different. That said, the Czech Republic has caused problems for Spain in the past, and the analysis shows a clear qualitative leap from their first to their third match. They present sharp technical and tactical challenges on the pitch, and looking only at statistics and final scores doesn't fairly reflect the impressive development of this Czech team. So as long as our expectations are realistic, we'll never lower our demands for intensity, but we must avoid getting carried away with unrealistic fantasies about landslide victories or endless scoring opportunities. The last match is done. That victory was excellent, and in the technical areas we can control, we want to maintain the same high standard at Wembley, even if the nature of the match may be entirely different.

Reporter: You're a very rational and rigorous person in explaining Alex Scott's situation, but from a purely human perspective, seeing Alex return to Bournemouth with an injury that could sideline him for months—do you feel any personal guilt?

Thomas Tuchel: From a purely human perspective, what hurts me is that he's lost the opportunity to play for England tonight. That's my greatest regret for him. I feel sorry for him personally because we communicated closely throughout training. As I told you, even after he was substituted off and before he came here for a scan the next day, he didn't feel any pain from the injury. In my overall tactical plan, tonight's match was originally supposed to be the stage where he'd start.

Reporter: So from that perspective, toward Bournemouth and everyone involved, you have a clear conscience, yes?

Thomas Tuchel: Yes, 100%. I will take no risks whatsoever. Even though it's an important opportunity for him and we wanted him to start, the moment I sense even the slightest risk of injury, I won't jeopardize a player's body. We as a coaching staff never do anything driven by such motivations.

Reporter: From a broader perspective, the format of four international matches in one window—as far as I understand—is likely to remain and continue until 2030 unless FIFA changes its policy. Longer training camps, players staying with their national teams longer, and the inevitable decisions about trading off injury risk will only increase. In my view, despite the team's good performance, this four-match marathon overall still feels unsatisfactory. I believe the big European clubs share concerns about this format too.

Thomas Tuchel: For clubs dealing with injury problems, the resistance is understandable, but this is not a universal rule, and injuries are unavoidable even in shorter windows. Before we rush to conclusions and label this format, we need to present neutral and robust data first. Are injury rates actually increasing significantly, or are they simply the accumulated injuries from two separate, shorter periods? I don't have clear big data to support that right now. I don't think all unexpected incidents and bad luck on the pitch can be easily and crudely blamed on these two weeks of intense competition. Each injury is inherently an independent event, individual, and highly coincidental. If this format becomes inevitable in the future, we can only adapt to it and maximize our preparation efficiency within the existing rules, as we always have.

Reporter: Two weeks ago, when you sat here and met with the media, you clearly stated that you disagreed with this fixture schedule. Now, as the entire window is coming to an end, has your opinion changed?

Thomas Tuchel: No. My initial reservation was about having such a long international window immediately following the demands of a major tournament. After a major tournament ends and players feel both physically and mentally exhausted, having to manage international flights and spend extended time in a closed training camp is asking too much in terms of logistics and player psychology. However, it can't be denied that this format also has its advantages. Look at our impressive performance against Croatia as an example. It's because the entire team could train together continuously for three matches, allowing for an extended continuous tactical period in the training camp. We had more targeted tactical meetings under the same tactical philosophy and achieved a higher level of understanding using the same technical and tactical language. You can genuinely see an overall qualitative shift in the entire team—see the smooth, automatic execution of tactics, which is undoubtedly hugely beneficial.

So far, I believe we've had a high-quality and valuable training camp, and at this point alone, I have no complaints. If you asked me whether I'd prefer to split the fixture schedule into three shorter training camps to give backup players opportunities to showcase themselves and earn selection chances at each stage, I would absolutely choose three shorter camps. But that's the reality, and we have to follow the rules. As I said, at this point we've made maximum use of this format. The curtain hasn't fully closed yet, but so far it's been an inspiring and highly successful training camp.

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