{"id":870873,"date":"2026-10-04T21:30:23","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T21:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/870873\/"},"modified":"2026-10-04T21:30:23","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T21:30:23","slug":"tuchel-says-alex-scotts-emergence-gives-england-and-rice-high-level-competition-england","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/870873\/","title":{"rendered":"Tuchel says Alex Scott\u2019s emergence gives England \u2013 and Rice \u2013 \u2018high level\u2019 competition | England"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thomas Tuchel warned that there is competition for Declan Rice\u2019s place in England\u2019s midfield after Alex Scott marked his first international start with an outstanding display during the 7-0 away win against Croatia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rice, who struggled with neural pain in his upper hamstring during the World Cup, withdrew from the camp because of load management and the vice-captain\u2019s absence at the start of the side\u2019s Nations League<\/a> campaign has allowed Tuchel to broaden his options alongside Elliot Anderson in midfield.<\/p>\n

England\u2019s head coach has added youth to the squad and enjoyed the competition between Myles Lewis-Skelly and Scott during the past fortnight. Lewis-Skelly did well after starting the 3-2 defeat by Spain<\/a> and the 2-0 win against Czechia<\/a> but the Arsenal midfielder was outshone by Scott, who partnered Anderson in Croatia and delivered a performance full of energy, speed and quality on and off the ball.<\/p>\n

It was Scott\u2019s second cap \u2013 he also impressed after coming on against Czechia in Prague \u2013 and the 23-year-old\u2019s excellence was one of many positives on an important night for Tuchel. The manager can feel a new England<\/a> emerging after the pain of their World Cup defeat by Argentina. The squad has been refreshed and it was interesting that Tuchel used a question about Jordan Pickford\u2019s spot as the No 1 goalkeeper last Friday to suggest, unprompted, that Rice does not necessarily have a guaranteed place in the team.<\/p>\n

The bigger picture is that Rice, who has helped England reach two major finals, remains part of Tuchel\u2019s best XI. However, Tuchel delivered another pointed response when asked if the Arsenal midfielder will feel his place is under threat after seeing Scott\u2019s performance in Rijeka.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, and he does, we need performances like this,\u201d the German said. \u201cThis is just the nature of it. We will not survive on two central midfielders. The more the better \u2013 and it\u2019s always about the guys who are in camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cDeclan knows about his importance, and he\u2019s one of the very best midfielders in Europe. Nothing will change that. But it\u2019s exactly what we need. We need more, more, more, more variety. We need more, more, more options. Then it\u2019s always about the guys who are in camp. Alex was in the highest level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anderson and Scott dominated against the experienced pairing of Luka Modric and Mateo Kovacic. The England youngsters built on playing together when Lee Carsley\u2019s under-21 side won the European Championship last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess it helps,\u201d Tuchel said. \u201cNot only as players but even in their character. They\u2019re a good mix and match. Alex had a fantastic match, and we need to be strong in the middle of the pitch. I\u2019m very happy with the level that Alex trained at.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas Tuchel said Alex Scott\u2019s commanding performance in Croatia was \u2018exactly what England needs\u2019. Photograph: Bradley Collyer\/PA<\/p>\n

Scott explained his partnership with Anderson. \u201cWe work really well together,\u201d he said. \u201cWe saw that last year at the Euros and we\u2019ve been speaking about it ever since, playing this midfield together.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love playing with Elliot. He makes life so easy for me. He\u2019s one of the best midfielders in the world. We bounce off each other very well. We like getting on the ball, aggressive off the ball, we suit each other. Playing next to him is great and I know he enjoys it as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is easy to see why Bournemouth were determined not to lose Scott last summer. Arsenal asked about the former Bristol City player\u2019s availability, Manchester United were interested and Chelsea had multiple bids rejected.<\/p>\n

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Tuchel sees Scott as one of the best midfielders in England. That assessment adds to the sense that not taking him to the World Cup was a mistake. England lacked cover for Anderson and Rice, who made 69 appearances for club and country last season. Tuchel gave no minutes to Kobbie Mainoo and lost Jordan Henderson when the 36-year-old broke a wrist<\/a> during the celebrations after the last-16 win against Mexico.<\/p>\n

But Scott, who may well have ended Henderson\u2019s hopes of a recall, refused to sulk. He used his World Cup disappointment as motivation and has started the season well.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt gave me more hunger but there\u2019s so many top players for this country,\u201d Scott said. \u201cThere was no bad feelings about not going to the World Cup. I went to the prep camp, I wanted to learn as much as I can and it helped me coming into this camp.\u201d<\/p>\n

England\u2019s triumph in Croatia<\/a> keeps them in second place in their Nations League group, three points behind Spain and well placed to reach the quarter-finals in March. They close this extended international break at home against Czechia Harry Kane will expect to equal Peter Shilton\u2019s record of 125 caps and is playing brilliantly with Jude Bellingham.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were good in the World Cup,\u201d Tuchel said. \u201cThey get better and better. They love playing with each other. They understand each other better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tuchel could rotate against Czechia and has found out more about his squad. The Manchester City full-back Rico Lewis has been added to the senior squad for the Czechia game. \u201cThe level, the attitude, from the bench is good. Morgan Gibbs-White had a fantastic training week. Morgan Rogers got a goal. Eberechi Eze is good and is pushing. We need that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thomas Tuchel warned that there is competition for Declan Rice\u2019s place in England\u2019s midfield after Alex Scott marked…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":870874,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[403,99],"class_list":["post-870873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=870873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870873\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/870874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=870873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=870873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=870873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}