Tuchel: Rice is england's vice-captain; Bellingham still needs to compete for a starting spot

According to The Guardian, England coach Thomas Tuchel has named Declan Rice as the team's vice-captain. Regarding Jude Bellingham wearing the captain's armband in the second half of the 1-0 victory over New Zealand, Tuchel stated that the public should not over-interpret it.

When asked if he had already decided on the vice-captain, Tuchel said: "I would say Rice is my vice-captain. I was just thinking if this counts as an official appointment. But I remember Harry wasn't at that training camp, and we talked about it. Was it the match against Wales? Was Harry absent? We started Watkins in that game, and I remember Rice wore the captain's armband then. That's when I told him about the idea."

England is currently acclimating to the hot weather in Florida, and the match against New Zealand was essentially a training game. Tuchel fielded two different lineups in the first and second halves, with Kane scoring the winning goal at the end of the first half before being substituted. Bellingham came on as a substitute at halftime, but when discussing the 22-year-old wearing the captain's armband after Kane left the field, Tuchel smiled and reminded reporters not to over-interpret it.

Speaking about Bellingham wearing the captain's armband after Kane left the field, Tuchel smiled and said: "Because he was the player with the most appearances for England on the field at that time, you can check."

Tuchel declined to reveal whether Bellingham was part of the team's leadership group. England will travel to Orlando to face Costa Rica in their final warm-up match before the World Cup begins, and then they will play their first Group L match against Croatia on June 17. Tuchel stated that he would use different players against Costa Rica, with some players playing for more than an hour, but he was not yet sure if he would field his preferred World Cup starting lineup directly.

A key question is whether Tuchel believes Bellingham will start as a No. 10. Morgan Rogers has performed well during England's qualifiers and has earned himself an advantage. The Aston Villa attacker played the first half against New Zealand. Bellingham made an impressive appearance as a substitute, but Tuchel emphasized that the Real Madrid player still needs to compete for a spot.

When asked if Bellingham needs to compete for a starting spot, Tuchel said: "Of course, he needs to compete. He is one of the starting candidates, and he knows that himself. But we have 14 to 15 players in our team who are capable of starting. There are also different groups within the team, such as special groups and leadership groups. There are also some players who will play a role in the later stages of the game, they need to bring the right energy to the team, and also set standards in general, accept their roles, and remain competitive. These roles can change at any time. But in my mind, we have 14 to 15 players who are truly capable of starting, and Jude is one of them."

Arsenal players arrived at England's pre-match base in West Palm Beach last Saturday, but Tuchel is not yet sure if Rice, Eze, Madueke, and Saka will play against Costa Rica.

When asked if the Arsenal players would play against Costa Rica, Tuchel said: "Let's see how they are after they return to the team. We still have 3 days of training, and then we'll decide. We'll also arrange a closed game to reasonably distribute everyone's playing time. If one person plays 70 minutes against Costa Rica and another only plays 20 minutes, that's clearly not enough. Some players might only play 20 to 30 minutes and will continue to play the next day."

Against New Zealand, another complicating factor was the less-than-ideal pitch conditions. Speaking about England's adaptation to the heat in Florida, Kane said: "We came here, first and foremost, to adapt to the heat. I think the team has handled it quite well. The pitch was indeed not ideal, so we also had to adapt, because similar situations might be encountered in official matches. We like to play faster and pick up the pace, but that pitch doesn't always allow you to do that. The pitch was a bit sticky and a bit dry. But this is only the first week, and this match is also a step in our preparation process."

Speaking about the impact of the high temperatures, Kane said: "Water breaks definitely help. A lot of people are talking about the heat here, but I don't think it's as exaggerated as people say. After the first game, some teammates and I felt pretty good. We've been training in this weather, and it's not that bad. It's easy for everyone to think it will be very difficult because it's not the environment we're used to. But we are all athletes, professional players, and we have played in hot weather before."