Thomas Tuchel’s pre-game comments have offered little encouragement that Jarrad Branthwaite will get his England opportunity this month.
Branthwaite is back in the England squad for consecutive camps, as the Everton defender looks to add to his three senior caps. England face Croatia in the UEFA Nations League this evening, with the 24-year-old competing for a place at centre-back.
England are without first-choice pairing Ezri Konsa and Marc Guehi for the clash with Croatia, forcing Tuchel into experimentation. However, the German has suggested Dan Burn is the likeliest partner for Jarell Quansah in central defence. Discussing his options at a pre-match press conference, Tuchel said it will take time for Branthwaite to adjust to the ‘very different style of play’ between club and country.
“It’s not our favourite situation because of course we would have liked Marc and Ezri, they were key players for us. We need a partner for Jarell, basically. And then Jarell needs to step up on his level,” the England manager said.
“I wanted to build this strong core in the central defence with the both of them and this partnership. And improve it, even.
“We’re forced now to find a new solution and as always if you have such crucial partnerships on the pitch, like central defenders, it’s not easy for them to straight away connect with each other and then connect with the idea of football and then connect with a new goalkeeper behind them.
“We need to be fair and need to put it in perspective once they do it because it will be a new pair. Jarrad Branthwaite is doing very well but it’s a very different style of play for him from Everton towards us.
“You can see that Dan Burn is straight away a big voice in training and is more used to the style with Newcastle from the last two seasons with Eddie where they followed in a high press and to man-man.
“And of course he was with us at the World Cup so he is used a bit more to our style of play. On the right side we will have Jarrell Quansah and James.
“It’s very likely that Jarell plays because he played against Czechia in this position. It’s his favourite position anyway and we have good competition on the right full-back side.”
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