{"id":1389,"date":"2026-03-20T17:48:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T17:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/?p=1389"},"modified":"2026-03-20T17:48:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T17:48:11","slug":"what-thomas-tuchel-has-now-done-to-protect-declan-rice-and-bukayo-saka-ahead-of-march-international-break-read-arsenal-f-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/?p=1389","title":{"rendered":"What Thomas Tuchel has now done to protect Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka ahead of March international break &#8211; Read Arsenal F.C."},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>After Arsenal\u2019s Carabao Cup clash with Manchester City on Sunday afternoon, Mikel Arteta\u2019s squad will disperse, heading off to play for their respective nations for the final time before this summer\u2019s World Cup.<\/p>\n<p>The Gunners will be hoping to claim their first piece of silverware since 2020 when they face City at Wembley. That said, Arteta will hope the League Cup is merely the first of multiple major honours won by his team this term, with the possibility of an unprecedented quadruple still on the cards. <\/p>\n<p>Such a historic feat is unlikely, but not impossible. Their chances of pulling off this remarkable achievement will no doubt be predicated on the fitness of key players, including the likes of Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka.<\/p>\n<p>Arteta will have been delighted to hear that England manager Thomas Tuchel has taken steps to ensure that the two aforementioned players are protected from injury over the upcoming international break.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<p>\n          <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Dowman is in the SPOTLIGHT! | Tuchel\u2019s England squad announcement\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/giX20AZmmnE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n        <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Thomas Tuchel reveals March international break plans for Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka <\/h2>\n<p>Tuchel named his penultimate England squad ahead of the World Cup on Friday morning. Included in this huge 35-man roster were four Arsenal players: Rice, Saka, Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze.<\/p>\n<p>While Madueke and Eze will travel straight to St. George\u2019s Park on Monday morning, the night after the Gunners\u2019 Carabao Cup final, Saka and Rice won\u2019t join up with the Three Lions\u2019 squad until Friday or Saturday, Tuchel has confirmed.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Thomas Tuchel has confirmed Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice are among 11 players who will join up to the England squad late. <\/p>\n<p>They will join up on Friday and Saturday and it looks like they will only play once in the March international break vs Japan.<\/p>\n<p>They\u2019re getting a rest. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/afc?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#afc<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Sam Blitz (@SamBIitz) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SamBIitz\/status\/2034951151649464360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 20, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The German told the media upon his squad announcement that eleven players named in his 35-man ensemble won\u2019t take part in England training until later in the week. The World Cup favourites play two friendlies at Wembley over the international break, with Uruguay travelling to north-west London on Friday, 27th and Japan on Tuesday, 31st.<\/p>\n<p>Rice and Saka, alongside the likes of Morgan Rogers, Anthony Gordon and Harry Kane, won\u2019t feature in the game against Uruguay, although they could make an appearance against Japan. This measure was clearly implemented by Tuchel with these players\u2019 physical well-being in mind.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Thomas Tuchel says the following players will not link up with England until after the first game v Uruguay:<\/p>\n<p>Dean Henderson<br \/>Burn<br \/>Guehi<br \/>So<br \/>O&#8217;Reilly<br \/>Anderson<br \/>Rice<br \/>Rogers<br \/>Gordon<br \/>Kane<br \/>Of <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/talkSPORT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@talkSPORT<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Alex Crook &#x26bd;&#xfe0f;&#x1f399; (@alex_crook) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/alex_crook\/status\/2034949842892366100?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 20, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>So often, international coaches have fielded players who play almost every minute for their clubs in meaningless friendlies, and this has led to burnout. Tuchel, having overseen crucial domestic run-ins at several clubs, has taken the sensible option to provide some of these players with a much-needed rest.<\/p>\n<p>This should aid Arsenal in their quadruple pursuit, with at least two of their most important stars granted a few days off in the midst of a gruelling and congested fixture schedule.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Myles Lewis-Skelly earns first England under-21 call-up<\/h2>\n<p>One man who wasn\u2019t named in Tuchel\u2019s squad was left-back Myles Lewis-Skelly. The teenager enjoyed a meteoric rise to stardom during the 2024\/25 season, which ultimately accelerated his path through the England ranks.<\/p>\n<p>Skipping the under-21 level, Lewis-Skelly was called up to the senior side for the first time last March and was then named in each of Tuchel\u2019s following three squads. However, after being relegated to the third-choice left-back option this season under Arteta, he has dropped out of the German manager\u2019s England plans.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, he\u2019s earned his first call-up to the Three Lions\u2019 under-21s squad. He\u2019ll join Ethan Nwaneri in Lee Carsley\u2019s squad, with the young England side set to play Andorra and Moldova in qualifiers for the under-21 Euros, which takes place next summer.<\/p>\n<p>Having hardly featured for Arsenal of late, this will be a good opportunity for Lewis-Skelly to get some minutes into his legs ahead of the run-in.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After Arsenal\u2019s Carabao Cup clash with Manchester City on Sunday afternoon, Mikel Arteta\u2019s squad will<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1390,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1389\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}