Quansah embraces right-back rivalry with Alexander-Arnold as Tuchel's trust grows

Jarell Quansah has opened up on his rivalry with Trent Alexander-Arnold for England’s right-back berth, insisting the two defenders offer Tuchel very different options — and that the competition is pushing him to grow.

The Bayer Leverkusen centre-back has started three of England’s opening four Nations League fixtures, twice being preferred to Alexander-Arnold at right-back for the home defeat by Spain and the win in Croatia. Despite being sent off on only his fourth international start during a World Cup knockout fixture, Quansah has clearly retained Tuchel’s confidence rather than lost it.

“I feel like I can bring a lot of power down the side and Trent is so good at picking teams off from right-back with his passing,” Quansah said. “We’re very different. Different games and different teams require different players. I’ve played with him so long, it was nice to be back out there with him — he’s an outstanding player.”

For the Wembley win over the Czech Republic, Tuchel moved Quansah into central defence, where the 22-year-old lined up alongside his former Liverpool team-mate. It is a position Quansah makes no secret of preferring.

“I feel like it’s probably my favourite position to play, to be honest,” he admitted. “I love playing there, I’ve played there since I was probably 10 or 11 years old. So it was nice to be back there. It was something different as well with England. It was nice to be able to do it at Wembley.”

Beyond his own positional preferences, Quansah was effusive about the collective shift in England’s approach under Tuchel, describing a squad determined to dominate rather than contain.

“I feel like we’ve put together a few performances where we’ve fully gone for games and not tried to sit back — that’s what we wanted to do in this camp,” he said. “As soon as we score a goal, it’s not easing off, it’s going again, going again, and trying to get the next goal. Everyone’s working for each other. If someone gets outplayed, the next person’s into a tackle — that’s the way we want to be.”

England host Croatia at Wembley before travelling to Madrid for their final Group A3 Nations League match next month, with a place in the quarterfinals already all but secured. Quansah suggested the squad is treating the competition with full seriousness as a meaningful step on the road to the 2026 World Cup.