SOCCER: England's Tuchel calls rotation demands 'madness'

England's players and the clubs they play for should not be allowed to pick and choose which games they feature in during the international break, manager Thomas Tuchel said.

England will play four Nations League matches during the extended international window. Tuchel's side lost to World Cup champions Spain on Saturday in the first of those games.

They next visit the Czech Republic on Tuesday and Croatia on Saturday, before playing the Czechs again at home on October 6, with the packed schedule leading to calls for some players who had short summer breaks due to the World Cup to be rested.

Asked if any club managers had reached out to him, Tuchel told reporters: "I don't take calls from Premier League managers. I never called any national team coach (when he was in club football).

"I cannot manage (the minutes of) the players. It's just impossible. Why would I do this and start giving the players the impression that it's OK to take a step back or share a half or to rest one match? I would never. It's madness.

"We want to win the next match... An ideal scenario would be to go again and go again and go again. With six or seven players minimum that start again – to put the responsibility on them and for them to feel the trust."

Tuchel said his team would go all out against the Czech Republic in Tuesday's match at the Fortuna Arena in Prague, adding: "We need to be proactive.

"There is no room for managing (the players) or an economic style. It's how the team want to play, how we want to play, so let's go."

-Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru/Reuters