England star Jude Bellingham has been left out of Thomas Tuchel’s latest squad, with Morgan Rodgers and others performing well for the Three Lions in his absence.
Manager Thomas Tuchel has said he will hold talks with Jude Bellingham and warned that all players need to be “buy-in” to his World Cup plans. Despite excluding Bellingham from camp, Tuchel insists he is a big and important player, with England qualifying for America next summer.
Real Madrid star Bellingham, 22, was sidelined as he recovers from shoulder surgery but also faces a big battle to get into the squad for next month’s qualifiers against Serbia and Albania. Three Lions manager Tuchel made it clear that no individual is greater than the team and reiterated his determination to continue protecting the players who have qualified.
Asked if he would speak to Bellingham before announcing the team’s name next month, Tuchel said: “I think so. Why not? Of course he’s an important player, a big player. He’s an important player. He’s a great player.”
“I’m going to talk to a lot of the players. I’m going to talk to the players who were not in camp and get messages from me because the players who are here now are rewarded and feel rewarded. And now we also need to stay in touch with the other players.”
“No one did anything wrong. It’s not a punishment or anything. And when you text them and talk to them, you feel like everyone is eager to come back. And this is how it should be. And I have more faith in the players than I have here.”
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“We always talk about the same names, but we’ve got Conor Gallagher, we’ve got Trevor Chalobah, we’ve got Cole Palmer injured, so we’ve got a lot of players who deserve to be with them and who are hungry and determined to be with us. That’s the way it should be.”
“But we are confident that if we invite them, they will agree. Otherwise, we would not invite them. Why would we invite them? This is non-negotiable.”
Tuchel promoted Morgan Rodgers ahead of Bellingham following his performances last month, and he was also part of the team that won against Wales and Latvia. The German manager insisted that unity and team spirit are essential ahead of next summer, and captain Harry Kane reiterated this in his dressing room speech after the game in Latvia.
Mr Tuchel added: “Prince Harry just gave a speech in the green room and he wants everyone to arrive with the same hunger and to continue to build on what we have now, not to bet on it and not to take anything for granted.”
“Today is a special day and the next camp is coming soon so there is not much chance of building anything.
“But the situation is what it is right now, and maybe there is an opportunity to invite more players or share minutes, but ultimately whatever we decide, we don’t want to give up the idea of having a competition to keep things going.”
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