Thomas Tuchel has promised that England’s players will “take care” of Eberechi Eze after the Arsenal forward’s penalty shoot-out heartbreak in the Champions League final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain. Eze missed his spot kick in the shoot-out, and it took Mikel Arteta to console him after the devastating loss.
Arsenal’s four England internationals — Eze, Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke and Declan Rice — have been given extra time off to recover both mentally and physically following their season. The Gunners won their first league title in 22 years and pushed PSG close in the final, but Eze’s miss may linger. Tuchel, however, insisted the group will ensure there is no hangover.
“Tuchel promises to lift Eze after penalty miss as Arsenal quartet given extra time before joining England camp.”
“Of course it’s painful for Ebs,” Tuchel said. “But of course I will take care of it, the group will take care of him and I think the extra week they had will help a lot. I’m very happy that they got the title in England. I think that took a lot of weight off their shoulders and they were aware they did what they could and they were very close in the final. I don’t think I will need to lift them. They’ve absolutely had a great season.”
Tuchel reminded the Arsenal contingent that they matched the best club side in Europe. “I have lost some finals in a penalty shoot-out and it’s the closest way to lose,” he added. “But a penalty means you did everything right, it couldn’t be closer. But it also means you were absolutely on the same level with maybe the best team in the world at the moment.”
The quartet are flying into West Palm Beach, where England are training at the Palm Beach Gardens Tennis and Pickleball Centre. They are not expected to feature in England’s first friendly against New Zealand, which takes place 220 miles away in Tampa. Instead, they will rejoin the squad after that game, with Tuchel having arranged for them to rewatch videos of team meetings held this week.
Rice, who has played an exhausting amount of football, spent his week off with Hollywood pal James Corden. Saka had the premiere of a new documentary about him in New York, which Eze attended while others took a break. England’s first friendly saw them labour to a 1-0 win over New Zealand, with Harry Kane on target in sweltering conditions. Tuchel handed 22 players a run out but will welcome his Arsenal stars into camp next week, hoping their recent success and the support of the group will lift them after the pain of the final.