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England manager Thomas Tuchel stated that the condition of the pitch for the upcoming friendly against New Zealand will not influence his player selection for the World Cup. While pictures of the Tampa stadium's newly laid grass raised some concerns, Tuchel expressed confidence it will be fine and plans to use the match to evaluate his squad. He highlighted Harry Kane's excellent form and discussed managing his minutes, also noting that players still have a chance to secure a starting spot for the tournament opener against Croatia.
England head coach Thomas Tuchel says reports about the state of the pitch for his team's friendly against New Zealand will not influence which players are involved.
He said the playing surface for the match at the Raymond James Stadium, home of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was a 'plug and play' pitch laid just a week ago. Several pitches for World Cup matches are being played in stadiums that usually have artificial surfaces but which have been relaid with grass.
Travelling ground staff from the Football Association were reported to be liaising with the venue over the pitch which appeared in pictures to be slightly disjointed in parts. England have no injury concerns and despite the start of the World Cup being so close, Tuchel said the condition of the pitch "will not affect my team selection". He said that he has "heard" it "will be OK".
"I saw a photo from a journalist which made me a little bit worried and concerned, but let's decide when we are there," Tuchel told a news conference on Friday. "If there are any issues, we can always react to it. The plan is to play 45 minutes with two complete teams, to expose everyone to the same amount of minutes.
Then we can continue for the next three days with the same load of training. That is the plan and at the moment we are sticking to it.
" England are in Florida for a pre-World Cup camp in West Palm Beach and will play New Zealand on Saturday (21:00 BST). The game is the first of two warm-ups, with the other being against Costa Rica on 10 June (21:00 BST), before the World Cup officially starts on 11 June.
England trained with 27 players on Friday in a session which did not include Arsenal players Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke, Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka as they were involved in the Champions League final on 30 May. Premier League players Josh King, Rio Ngumoha, Ethan Nwaneri, Alex Scott and Jason Steele have been training with Tuchel's squad to boost numbers. Tuchel said that England captain Harry Kane looks to be in superb condition.
Kane scored 61 goals in 51 games for Bayern Munich in their season and Tuchel does not think the 32-year-old striker's ability to lead the line for the Three Lions will be affected by the intense heat in the United States.
"The most important thing is the shape Harry is in. He's in top shape, he is ready to go. He was the leading player who set the intensity in training today, on a defensive training day," Tuchel said.
"We don't have to be worried about him at all, even if it's hot and humid. He's shown the whole week he is ready, determined. He was so influential in Bayern's campaign, he scored three in the cup final.
" Tuchel's other out-and-out striking options are Ollie Watkins and Ivan Toney, and the German boss suggested he will consider how best to manage Kane in the two friendly fixtures. "But if the matches are close, do we really do this? Do we take our main goalscorer, our captain off? Maybe not.
Harry is a key player, there is no doubt. Of course, we take care of them but we also want them on the pitch.
" England, who will move from Florida to their tournament training base in Kansas City, Missouri, open their Group L campaign against Croatia on 17 June in Dallas, Texas. They then face Ghana on 23 June in Massachusetts and take on Panama on 27 June at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Tuchel was in relaxed mood as he addressed the media before England's first World Cup warm-up versus New Zealand.
He couldn't hide his concern regarding the state of the pitch in Tampa ahead of the friendly and admitted he was "worried" after seeing shots of the turf. But perhaps most intriguing was his revelation that players still have the opportunity to break into the starting XI for the opening World Cup game versus Croatia.
He intimated he has "14-15" players in mind to start the game but will use the matches versus New Zealand and Costa Rica to decide his first tournament team. Tuchel says he will play two separate teams in each half and it does appear that players have an opportunity to break into the team to face the Croats. And there was perhaps good news for Elliot Anderson, too.
If a deal can be agreed with Nottingham Forest, he will be clear to complete a move to Manchester City after Tuchel confirmed that squad members will have permission to finalise transfers provided it doesn't significantly affect their preparations
England National Team Thomas Tuchel World Cup 2025 Harry Kane New Zealand Friendly Pitch Conditions Team Selection Warm-Up Matches Croatia Opener
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