Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: England, Football, Thomas Tuchel, Newcastle United, Premier League
Luke Davies
Topics: England, Football, Thomas Tuchel, Newcastle United, Premier League
An England international was pulled up by a Three Lions coach after what he said during a recent press conference.
Last time out, Thomas Tuchel’s England fell to a shock 3-1 defeat against Senegal at the City Ground in Nottingham.
Tuchel, 51, is not one to mess about and has been brutally honest about some of his Three Lions players since taking charge in October 2024.
At times, the German has appeared to call out players such as Phil Foden and Marcus Rashford after the pair failed to impress during the March international break.
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"I have spoken to both of them,” Tuchel said at the time but was also keen to make clear that he appreciated their efforts.
Then in May, Tuchel questioned Trent Alexander-Arnold's defensive ability.
But it was another Three Lions star who was pulled up on what he said by another member of Tuchel’s backroom staff.
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Newcastle United defender Dan Burn recalled the incident during this week’s episode of The High Performance Podcast.
“You get that little bit of impostor syndrome [when you get called up for England],” Burn said.
“These lads have played so many caps, played all levels of age groups, and this is like my first time. I’m 32 years old, and it was Myles’ [Lewis-Skelly] first time and he was like 18.”
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He added: “I remember saying in my press conference that I’m really happy that the manager took a chance on us and hope to repay him. And he [a coach] was like, ‘Why did you say that?’ and I was like, ‘Well, it’s just like what you say,’ and he was like, ‘There’s no chance, it’s not like we’re picking a 17-year-old lad who’s not played a game, we know exactly what we’re getting from you… it isn’t a chance’.”
Burn then made his England debut in a 2-0 win against Albania at Wembley on March 21.
Just five days earlier, Burn scored during Newcastle’s 2-1 Carabao Cup final victory against Liverpool, and he referenced how this helped him cope with nerves during the build-up to his debut appearance for his country.
“Obviously, I’d just played the biggest game of my life three days earlier, for me personally as a Newcastle supporter, this [England debut] wasn’t any bigger than that [Carabao Cup final],” the defender explained.
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“So, like coming up to the game, I wasn’t nervous before… when he told us in the morning that I was playing, it wasn’t like I was bricking it.”