ALEX SCOTT got an accidental tap on his broken jaw the last time he met Thomas Tuchel.
Now he is hoping for a tap on the shoulder from the England boss so he can emulate close pal Elliot Anderson.
Bournemouth star Scott and Nottingham Forest man Anderson, both 22, were the heartbeat of the midfield as the Young Lions successfully defended their Under-21 Euro crown this summer.
Scott had to play the tournament wearing a mask to protect a fractured jaw he suffered when catching an elbow from Aston Villa’s Tyrone Mings in May.
Three Lions chief Tuchel flew to Slovakia to watch the final, which saw Scott and Co beat Germany 3-2 in extra-time.
And German Tuchel went into the dressing room afterwards to give Lee Carsley’s winning side a pat on the back.
But Scott recalled: “He accidentally gave my jaw a little tap, celebrating! We laughed that off. It wasn’t painful, to be fair.
“He had forgotten about it being broken, looked quite shocked at it and apologised! But that was good of him to come in.
“He came in and said a few words, made a few jokes here and there.
“You want to impress the England manager because that’s the aim for any young player growing up in this country, to play for the senior team.
“That’s what I’m striving to do. It’s down to me to perform and keep impressing. And then, hopefully, I’ll get my chance.”
Anderson seized his opportunity with both hands earlier this month, being named Man of the Match in his first two games for the senior side in the World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Serbia.
It has provided the perfect inspiration for Scott, who has been in sparkling form as the driving force in Andoni Iraola’s Cherries team this term.
Scott was aware of Anderson from when they were both in Bristol in 2022 — he was at City while the Forest star was on loan from Newcastle at Rovers.
But it was only at this summer’s U21 Euros when they got to know each other and are now in constant contact.
Scott explained: “In Bristol, we were getting compared, with the Rovers fans saying he was better and the City fans saying I was better.
“I’d never met him until we were both called up to England and we just hit it off straight away.
“We’ve got the same sort of banter, we like the same things and both love football.
“We didn’t know we would be the midfield two at the Euros because there were so many other midfielders but we started the first game and it just built from there and we loved it.
“We had a coffee club going out there, played darts and games around the place.
“I can’t think of many players I’ve enjoyed playing with more than Elliot. I’ve been speaking to him most weeks since the Euros and I was praying for him to be in the senior squad when he got in.
“I know how good he is and now he’s showing the whole world.
“I’m proper proud of him and happy I’ve got him as a mate and someone to look to. It shows the pathway is there.”
Tuchel will be keeping a keen eye on Scott too given his stellar displays so far this season, with his jaw now fully healed.
Dubbed the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, Scott has developed into Iraola’s all-action No 8.
By his own admission, it took Scott some time to adapt to the Spaniard’s ultra-intense pressing style when he joined from the Robins in August 2023.
Yet his performance in the 2-1 win over Brighton a fortnight ago summed up how far he has come as he made more tackles than anyone in the game, was second for passing accuracy as well as pressures — and scored the opener to boot.
Bournemouth, who visit Leeds today, sold most of their defence to some of the biggest clubs in Europe this summer and yet Iraola has them in fourth. Scott regularly goes for coffee with Antoine Semenyo, Ryan Christie and Marcus Tavernier and revealed the tight-knit nature of the squad is a key factor in their success.
The midfielder, who models part of his game on Barcelona’s Pedri, added: “There’s a little coffee shop right by where a lot of us are based.
“Most days after training we’ll go, different people will come.
“We’ll go for coffee together and then a few of the lads will be on PS5 playing together.
“They are some of my best friends, not just in football but in life now.
“We have so much trust with each other off the pitch. That definitely goes on to the pitch as well. We trust each other to make the right decisions.”
Scott and 25-year-old Semenyo have a particularly close bond due to their unconventional route to the top and the fact they were team-mates at Bristol City. Midfielder Scott was released by Southampton at 14, after years of flying over from Guernsey for training and played on the island until 16.
Semenyo cut his teeth with non-league loans before his career took off to the point where this summer, many were surprised to see him sign a new contract rather than seal a big-money move.
Scott added: “While I was away at the Euros we were texting all the time.
“I was asking him what’s going on because it was all up in the air.
“He kept it quiet and then it just came out that he was signing a new deal. I was extremely happy for him and his family.
“He’s a perfect modern-day Premier League footballer. He’s getting his flowers at the minute. I couldn’t be prouder of him.”
Scott will be getting plenty of flowers of his own if he keeps up his jaw-dropping form — which surely will not have escaped Tuchel’s notice.
Read the full article here