Thomas Tuchel’s first away game as England manager faces being moved to completely different country over stadium issue
THOMAS TUCHEL could be heading to BARCELONA – for his first away game as England manager.
England will play away to Andorra in a World Cup qualifier on June 7.
It will be the first time for Tuchel to play at a venue outside of Wembley, as England face Latvia on Monday night after beating Albania 2-0 on Friday.
The Andorran Football Federation are considering switching the game to Espanyol’s 40,000-capacity RCDE Stadium, which means many more England fans would be able to travel.
Andorra were hoping England would open their new stadium in the town of Encamp but it is unlikely to be ready.
The last time England played in Andorra was under Gareth Southgate in October 2021 and the match was staged at the Estadi Nacional in the capital, Andorra la Vella, but the ground only holds 3,000.
So the Andorrans are considering going to Espanyol’s stadium to make more money and are in talks with the Spanish giants although a deal has yet to be agreed.
England played Andorra in Barcelona in both 2007 and 2008, with both games at the Olympic Stadium.
For now, Tuchel is focused on making it two wins in two qualifiers on Monday.
And he’s still on a high from launching his reign, albeit with a modest performance against Albania.
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The German said: “It still feels great. I love the group of players.
“Now we’ll try to squeeze the best out of them.”
But Tuchel has already shown he is willing to give frank verdicts on individual displays.
He admitted wingers Marcus Rashford and Phil Foden “were not as impactful as they normally can be”.
The ex-Chelsea boss added: “I’m not too sure why we struggled to bring the ball to them quicker and to bring the ball in more open positions to them.
“I think we lacked a little bit runs off the ball. So it was a bit too much passing and not enough dribbling.”
But Tuchel was gushing about Jude Bellingham, who was England’s creator in chief.
He said: “He is always ready to give everything.
“Jude is and will be a key player for us. And he is happy to take the responsibility.
“He’s always able to make the difference so we need to find the structure to make the most of it.”