Manchester City the guilty verdict has been a “big issue in the field” according to England boss Thomas Tuchel ahead of Saturday’s Nations League match with Croatia.
The Premier League announced on Tuesday what had been reported last week; that an independent commission found the club had systematically broken financial rules with “bogus” contracts designed to inflate income and cut costs.
The scale of the fraud, which is reported to have amounted to more than £900m, was staggering and a range of sanctions are now on the table. The City Council has continued to deny any crime and filed an appeal on Friday after declaring the verdict “unsafe”.
The story has dominated the news agenda this week and Tuchel admitted it had also been discussed among Three Lions players, including Manchester City duo Elliot Anderson and Marc Guehi.
“We’ve had a bit of a break between games and it’s an important issue,” Tuchel said. “Everybody’s talking about it, so no other voice is needed. I’m glad I’m not that voice. Nobody needs my half-knowledge on the subject.
“Of course the players talk about it. The players in town talk about it. We talk to them, but only briefly. They’re ready to go tomorrow. But of course, it’s a big topic on the field.”
Tuchel would consider picking City players for England if they are relegated
One possible penalty for City is relegation from the Premier League and Tuchel said he would consider picking players from outside the top flight if it came to that.
He added: “There is always a possibility. I would always try to pick the best team for the pitch, the occasion, the tournament. I will never rule it out because they are not playing in their country’s top flight. We have to look at it on a case-by-case basis.”
Saturday’s game will be played behind closed doors, except for local schoolchildren and a limited number of England fans, due to repeated offenses by Croatian supporters.
And Tuchel was wary of his players switching off due to a lack of atmosphere at Rijeka’s HNK Stadium.
“First of all, I’m happy for the kids who will be in tomorrow’s game, who will have the opportunity to come and watch the game and the players who are closing,” said the former PSG and Chelsea coach. “I’m glad that our 100 or 200 fans have a chance to be here. It means a lot to us. The most loyal fans have a chance to see the game.”
“Being behind closed doors is never nice. It’s a strange atmosphere. Everyone would love the atmosphere in the stadium – a home football crowd that would be very, very different. That’s a part we have to take into account. We can’t switch off and be on holiday. It might look a bit like pre-season, but it’s not. It’s a crucial game in the Nations League.”
England boss Tuchel is wary of dangerous Croatia
England bounced back from defeat to Spain last Saturday with a routine 2-0 win against a Czech side that played three quarters of the game with 10 men on Tuesday.
Croatia also beat the Czech Republic before suffering a 4-1 loss to world champions Spain.
“We expect a difficult game tomorrow against a great soccer nation and a proud country, a team full of quality,” Tuchel said. “A mixture of young and experienced players with a young manager. Everyone will be ready to give everything for the new manager.
“It looks like a cup game, maybe a cup semi-final. I’m a big fan of Croatia’s players. They have a lot of quality technically and great competitors. It’s a promising game.”
Tuchel admitted he wasn’t sure what system manager Slaven Bilic would use.
“We don’t know what’s coming,” he said. “The coach before was very fluid and changed between four and five. With Bilic for the past two games, he has gone with a four. But we never know. It could be a surprise.”
“It’s a bit difficult because we don’t have experience with Bilic as Croatia coach, but sometimes it makes it easier because you don’t prepare for every scenario you see. You only have two games.
“Hopefully we can implement our style. Croatia can hurt any team and it’s important to break the rhythm and basically that’s the task for tomorrow.”
