Alex Scott faces up to eight weeks on the sidelines at Bournemouth. The 23-year-old midfielder had a thigh problem flagged by Monday’s scan after England’s 7-0 Nations League win over Croatia on Saturday, is expected to be sidelined for six to eight weeks, and withdrew from the England squad on Monday along with Arsenal defender Ezri Konsa.
That left Thomas Tuchel to face reporters with his team sheet eight names short and the Premier League’s biggest clubs questioning how he had handled their players.
The England head coach was not in a conciliatory mood. Asked whether his conscience was clear, Tuchel answered “Yes, 100 per cent”, adding that “there was zero risk-taking from our side, no awareness that there’s any risk.”
He conceded one point only.
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“I can 100 percent understand that Bournemouth is unhappy and sad because they lose a key player,” Tuchel said, before pivoting to a wider defense.
“I can just assure everyone that we take care of them in the best possible way, that player welfare and player health is priority number one.”
What happened to Alex Scott
Scott’s withdrawal is the flashpoint. The Bournemouth midfielder made his first senior start against Croatia on Saturday, playing 70 minutes alongside Elliot Anderson in central midfield in the 7-0 rout.
By Monday the scans had delivered their verdict: a quadriceps injury expected to keep him out for around six to eight weeks, ruling him out of Bournemouth fixtures against Chelsea, Sunderland, Manchester United, Leeds and Ipswich, plus Europa League ties with Sturm Graz, AC Milan and Sparta Prague.
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Scott himself had not asked to come off. Tuchel said the midfielder had “slight discomfort” during the match but did not want to be substituted and felt no injury afterwards or the next day when he underwent the scan.
“There were only green lights from himself, from the medics,” the England manager said.
Konsa and seven others gone
Konsa was the second high-profile withdrawal on Monday. The Arsenal defender had arrived at camp two weeks earlier already managing discomfort, and then picked up a fresh knock to the quad.
“He got another hit on the quad, that caused a little bit of light trauma,” Tuchel said.
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They were the headline names on a longer list. Manchester City left back Nico O’Reilly had already left camp injured, while Tino Livramento, Kobbie Mainoo, Cole Palmer, Marcus Rashford and Declan Rice had pulled out of international duty after the last round of Premier League matches, taking the total of withdrawals during this international window to eight.
‘Our players for two and a half weeks’
Behind the medical specifics sat a familiar club-versus-country argument, and Tuchel barely tried to hide it.
“I think the players are for two and a half weeks our players,” he said, pointing to “new training style, new training times maybe, different pitches, a lot of travel” as factors clubs do not always weigh when a player goes back injured.
Bournemouth were reported to be unhappy with the eight-week prognosis, with the club’s first European campaign starting this month. Konsa also returns to an Arsenal side chasing the title after Liverpool’s championship last season.
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Tuchel’s answer is essentially a timekeeper’s one. The international calendar hands England the players, in his telling, for just over two weeks, and treating any injury inside that window as proof of mishandling is a claim he refuses to accept.
England meet Czech Republic on Tuesday at Wembley in the final match of this Nations League window. Scott will watch from the south coast; Konsa from north London.
