LONDON (AP) – Manager Thomas Tuchel said Wednesday that Jude Bellingham may have to wait to return to the England squad and there is no need to rush to change the system to accommodate the Real Madrid star’s return.
Since Bellingham last played for England: Lost to Senegal 1-3 Morgan Rodgers took on the number 10 role in June’s friendly, helping the Reds qualify for next year’s World Cup with recent 5-0 wins over Serbia and Latvia.
Bellingham has fully recovered from shoulder surgery and is back in the team, with Tuchel viewing him as a number 10 and in a position to compete directly with Rodgers.
“They are friends so it could be a friendly,” Tuchel said at a press conference ahead of Thursday’s World Cup qualifier home game between England and Serbia. “They don’t have to be enemies, they don’t have to hate each other. They respect each other, they’re friends and they’re still fighting for the same position.
“Could they play together? Yes, but with a different structure and maybe now is not the time to change our structure.”
Tuchel said the match against Bellingham was due to the fact that he and Phil Foden, another attacking midfielder who has regained his place in the squad, have not taken part in a full training session so far this week. That will happen after Wednesday.
England became the first European country to qualify for the World Cup last month, taking pressure off Tuchel and his team ahead of their final group stage matches against Serbia and Albania.
The German coach said he is not thinking about next year’s tournament yet.
“So many things can happen,” he said. “Nobody wants injuries to happen, but injuries can happen and players could be out or down and other players can come back up, so I’m very open for the next few months.
“So now I don’t feel any pressure, I don’t feel any urge for the World Cup.”
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