Marc Guehi admits he must work “a lot harder” to assert himself as a key member of England's defence under Thomas Tuchel.
Guehi had established himself as a first-choice centre-back for the Three Lions over the past year, starting every game bar one he was suspended for during England’s journey to the Euro 2024 final last summer and then four of their six Nations League games in the autumn.
The Crystal Palace defender was expected to start Tuchel’s first match in charge against Albania on Friday night, but the new manager instead opted for a defensive partnership of Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa and debutant Dan Burn of Newcastle.
Guehi did start alongside Konsa on Monday night, against admittedly weaker opposition, as England ran out 3-0 winners against Latvia at Wembley.
The 24-year-old pledged to use his snub against Albania as “motivation” to show Tuchel how important a player he can be.
“It’s part of football,” he said of being left on the bench against Albania. “Obviously disappointed, but we’ve got a lot of good centre-backs. Dan has been doing extremely well at Newcastle, Ezri has been playing well. Levi [Colwill] obviously didn’t get on.
“It just means I need to work a lot harder to make sure the manager sees me in his plans. Not pressure, just motivation.
“[It’s] a job well done, with three points and a clean sheet [against Latvia]. It’s difficult, these games. I know they seem easy on the eye, but it’s good for us to build upon and hopefully improve game by game.”
Asked how he felt he fared alongside Konsa, Guehi said: “Yeah, good. I’ve got a good relationship with him — good communication — and I’ve played with him before.”
Guehi praised Tuchel’s intensity and insisted there is lots to learn under the new regime.
“He [Tuchel] is almost one of the players, one of the lads when he’s amongst us. But when it’s time to work, it’s time to work and he’s very intense.
“You’re always learning with him, which is really good.”
