Thomas Tuchel has never been one for sentimental nonsense on the training ground. The German is a cold eyed architect of defensive rigour and transiti...
Thomas Tuchel has never been one for sentimental nonsense on the training ground. The German is a cold eyed architect of defensive rigour and transitional explosions, the sort of manager who will chew a player out for a misplaced pass in a behind closed doors friendly. Yet here he is, standing in front of the press at St George's Park, talking about wrapping Bukayo Saka in cotton wool. Make no mistake, this is not weakness. This is calculated asset management.GoalZaza understands that Tuchel is taking a softly softly approach with the Arsenal winger, managing his minutes with a delicate blend of caution and long term planning. Saka has been the heartbeat of Arsenal's resurgence this season, running at full backs, drifting inside, taking hits and getting straight back up. But a World Cup winter changes everything. The margins are razor thin. One heavy tackle in a Premier League fixture against a mid table clogger could derail an entire national campaign before it even begins. Tuchel knows that better than anyone.The England head coach has seen it all before. He has watched players burn out before major tournaments because their club managers ran them into the ground. He has seen the lights go out in a player's legs after forty five games of relentless football. So when he says Saka is being handled with a little bit of care, he is really saying something else entirely. He is saying that Qatar 2022 is the only thing that matters from now until December. Everything else, every league match, every cup tie, every sprint down the wing, is simply preparation for that moment.Can England really afford to wrap their most dangerous wide man in bubble wrap A few months ago the answer would have been no. Without Saka, this England side loses a dimension. They lose that directness, that fearlessness, that ability to turn a low block into a panic attack. But Tuchel is not daft. He sees the squad depth. He sees Phil Foden, Raheem Sterling, and the emerging wildcard in Jarrod Bowen. He is not gambling with Saka's legs. He is protecting his trump card for the knockout rounds.Is this a risk Of course it is. Football is a funny old game and form is a fleeting companion. But Tuchel is playing the long game. He is betting that a slightly rusty Saka in November will be far more dangerous than a broken down Saka watching the quarter finals from a hospital bed. And for a nation that has bottled it from the spot more times than we care to remember, a little bit of care might just be the smartest thing anyone has done all season.
