'I thought maybe Reece was in the England water polo team!' - Thomas Tuchel unhappy with Reece James' England call-up
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ByEurosport
Updated 01/10/2021 at 14:48 GMT
“When I saw it, I thought maybe Reece was in the England water polo team!” Tuchel said at his press conference on Friday. “Reece is training in the pool right now. I understood he was selected for the football team. This will not happen. My understanding is he will not go. It can only be a misunderstanding, nothing else.”
Reece James
Image credit: Getty Images
Thomas Tuchel has expressed his surprise that Reece James was named in the England squad, with the Chelsea boss jokingly saying he thought it was to play water polo as his injured defender is restricted to work in the swimming pool.
England boss Gareth Southgate named James in his squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers with Andorra and Hungary.
The news came as a surprise to Tuchel, who has confirmed the defender will not be released as James is currently nursing an ankle injury he picked up against Manchester City last weekend and will not be involved against Southampton on Saturday.
“When I saw it, I thought maybe Reece was in the England water polo team!” Tuchel said at his press conference on Friday.
“Reece is training in the pool right now.
“I understood he was selected for the football team. This will not happen. My understanding is he will not go. It can only be a misunderstanding, nothing else.
"I am very bad at answering calls anyway so no-one could reach me to get angry. The club is in touch, but these things can happen."
Mason Mount has been given a clean bill of health and will return to a Chelsea squad looking to bounce back from defeats to Manchester City and Juventus.
“Mason is in the squad, Mason is back,” Tuchel said. “It was not a long injury, and we are happy he is back. It’s obviously a given he is nominated in the England squad and he will give everything.
“We want to have Mason on the pitch and we know the energy he gives.”
Romelu Lukaku has gone four games on the spin without a goal, and Tuchel feels it is a case of the squad learning to play with the Belgium star.
“I think that football right now is about connections,” Tuchel said.
“Romelu I feel has a strong connection with Mason Mount and Mateo Kovacic. They look for each other and have an understanding, everybody else maybe lacks it a bit so they need to learn and understand and adapt, create better of course.”
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