Thomas Tuchel has kept faith with the players who performed so well during the September international break for England’s next two games against Wales and Latvia. Even at the cost of not finding places in the squad for the more famous players — Jude Bellingham, Jack Grealish, Phil Foden — who were not in the squad last time, telling them that there are “no guarantees” about coming back in.
The dominant themes of this England squad selection, announced at Wembley on Friday morning, are loyalty and continuity.
In England’s last game, the 5-0 win away at Serbia, they produced their best performance for years, dominating the game and cutting open the opposition with almost every attack. And they did this with a fairly inexperienced England side — including players like Morgan Rogers, Noni Madueke, Elliot Anderson, Tino Livramento, Ezri Konsa and Anthony Gordon — who are not among the most famous names that Tuchel has to pick from.
But Tuchel was so impressed with that camp — and that 5-0 win in particular — that he has shown total faith in the boys of Belgrade. The one change from the squad he picked for the last camp was forced on him, with Noni Madueke out with a knee injury, to be replaced by his Arsenal team-mate Bukayo Saka. Tino Livramento, who played at left-back at the Marakana, is also out but has not been directly replaced.
Tuchel did not want to make any changes to a squad that had performed so well last time. Especially given that the mood and team ethic was so impressive over the course of the September camp.
“The teamwork and team spirit was on the highest level so far,” Tuchel explained in his press conference at Wembley on Friday. “That is why we decided to invite the same group into this camp. To make more stable what we started to build in the last camp.”
This means that most of the big-name players who were not selected in September (with the exception of Saka) are not back in this time. Even though Foden’s form for Manchester City has improved, Jack Grealish is shining for Everton, and Jude Bellingham has returned to action for Real Madrid following an injury.
Tuchel made very clear that the door is not closed for those players, and that they can play their way back into the group. But his focus was to stick with those who performed so well last time. “Are there players out who deserve to be with us? Yes, for sure. Is there a way back into the team through performance? 100 per cent, for sure. But at the moment, we think this is the best and most straightforward decision. Like I said last camp, the competition is on to be in the squad. That still stands.”
Thomas Tuchel and Jude Bellingham in the 3-1 defeat to Senegal in June (Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)
While Foden and Grealish have been in and out of England camps in recent months, the most eye-catching omission is Bellingham, who was voted England men’s player of the year for 2024-25 just two days ago. He has just returned after shoulder surgery, making four appearances for Real Madrid in late September: three as a substitute, and starting Madrid’s 5-2 defeat to Atletico Madrid in La Liga. Tuchel pointed to that lack of consistent game time, and said that he had spoken on the phone with Bellingham about his decision.
“I understand the focus on Jude, he’s a very special player, and for a special player, there can always be special rules,” Tuchel said. “For this camp, we stick with our straightforward decision to invite the same team. He deserves always to be in the camp. There is an extra layer on top of it, the situation that he has not gathered fully rhythm yet at Real Madrid. He is back in the team, he hasn’t finished one full match and only started one match. He is at the moment in the period where he gets rhythm, gets back to full strength. That is the extra layer to this decision.”
Tuchel also insisted that there is no personal issue with Bellingham, just as there is “no problem” between him and Foden or him and Grealish. “Phil is back to influencing games, deciding games for Manchester City,” he said. “Jack is very close to being the best version of himself. He’s a very special player and very special character.”
There is still time for Jack Grealish to force his way back into the England squad (David Rogers/Getty Images)
The challenge for these players is that the clock is ticking loudly before next summer’s World Cup. After this camp, England’s next one is November, where they complete their qualification round with games against Serbia and Albania. Then there will be two games in March, expected to both be friendlies, assuming they have sealed qualification. That means two more camps before the World Cup itself.
The pressure is on for those players to perform so well in the next month that Tuchel cannot ignore them. He explained again today that there are “no guarantees” for big names to get back into his squad. Especially when the players have set a high standard already. He does not want to build a team that is reliant on any one big name.
“What are we doing if a player like Jude is injured before the World Cup?” Tuchel asked. “Do we then cancel? Do we not travel? This is a team sport. We have to find solutions. This is more about the last camp and what we started to build, than about the dependence on individual players.”
(Top photo: Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
