Thomas Tuchel insists his refusal to select Cole Palmer in his England squad is nothing personal but says he will always prioritise players who show that playing for the Three Lions “matters”.
Palmer was the headline omission from the group named this morning for the Nations League games with Croatia and Spain and has seemingly paid the price for withdrawing from the last camp with a minor injury.
Tuchel repeated his claim that the Chelsea playmaker “misses too many opportunities to impress” and he will remain on the sidelines for now.
The German said: “I guess everyone is desperate to play for England and Cole is no exception. We are speaking now about a player that is not in camp. It counts when you are in camp and I just said last time that he misses too many opportunities to impress. It was a long camp, it was two and a half weeks and the players and the boys who were in camp built something extraordinary.
“That’s why the credit goes to them, the trust is for them. If you are in camp, this is your chance to impress.
“So it’s not personal and of course we will never assume that Cole is not in the mindset to come and desperate to play for his country, but the competition is on and the players who were in camp did an amazing job and kept their place.”
Tuchel made squad unity a major priority in his World Cup selection – with Palmer excluded – and has remained faithful to that idea.
He added: ”It is always about the ones who are in camp, who don’t withdraw, come to camp and show that it matters.
“I think that [message] is naturally coming through. That was always the message very, very early that is matters if you are in camp.
“The last camp was an excellent one and the trust and belief is in the players who were there.”
England squad in new phase, says Tuchel
England’s World Cup challenge ended at the semi-final stage with question marks around certain inclusions, most notably Dan Burn and Jordan Henderson, who appeared to be included on the basis of their character rather than ability.
But Tuchel says the squad is now entering a new phase.
“I think we did it naturally,” he said. “We were a little bit forced. I was a bit concerned before the last camp because we missed Dean Henderson, John Stones, Dan Burn, Jordan Henderson, Reece James – players who were really responsible for the attitude and the energy at the World Cup and played a huge part in the standards throughout the camp.
“I was a bit worried that we missed so many of them but the group found a new way. They found new leadership, a new way to engage with each other. We built another camp with a good atmosphere, new voices to set the standards.
“Now we have more choices and I had to give Dan Burn, Jordan Henderson, Dean Henderson difficult phone calls. I am very aware of what they did for us and they built a very strong foundation on which these players now are benefitting from.
“Naturally, we went forward. But we always want to go forward and embrace change as something positive. It does not mean the door is closed for these kinds of players. But we decided to give this group kind of a second push.”
Bellingham and King earn England chance
The chief beneficiaries of the change were Jobe Bellingham and Josh King, who both received their first call-ups.
Bellingham joins brother Jude in the squad after a strong start to the season with Borussia Dortmund.
“It’s an incredible achievement for the brothers and the family to be both nominated for the national team, which is an incredible story in itself,” said Tuchel. “I was very happy to give him the call-up and I saw his excitement straight away in his smile. He is a very open and calm personality so it was a very nice phone call, of course, because it was very good news.
“He is one of five players for the central midfield. He is a more defensive player than his brother Jude. Good on the ball, good physique, very physical player who can keep possession. Now it is up to him to impress.”
On Fulham midfielder King, he added: “He is just a fantastic character. He gives us a bit of flexibility.
“We decided to nominate 22 outfield players for flexibility in training and he is the extra player in training, if you will.
“He is an exciting player, a versatile player. In pre-season he helped us in training as a full back but we will not do that again.”
Croatia visit Wembley next Thursday before England head to Madrid the following Sunday. Tuchel’s men sit in second place in Group C and know that if they avoid defeat against Croatia then that will be enough to secure their quarter-final place. To finish top of the group, England would need to win both games and ensure they have a higher goal difference than Spain.
England squad in full
Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford (Everton), Jason Steele (Brighton & Hove Albion), James Trafford (Leeds United)
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Real Madrid), Jarrad Branthwaite (Everton), Marc Guéhi (Manchester City), Lewis Hall (Newcastle United), Ezri Konsa (Arsenal), Jarell Quansah (Bayer Leverkusen), Djed Spence (Inter Milan), Ben White (Arsenal)
Midfielders: Elliot Anderson (Manchester City), Jobe Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), James Garner (Everton), Josh King (Fulham), Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal), Declan Rice (Arsenal)
Forwards: Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Leeds United), Eberechi Eze (Arsenal), Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest), Anthony Gordon (Barcelona), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Rio Ngumoha (Liverpool), Morgan Rogers (Chelsea)
You Should Also Read
