THOMAS TUCHEL has just delivered a big b******s call which could define his spell as England manager.
Managers repeatedly claim at press conferences that no player is safe from the drop but they generally do not mean it.
Gareth Southgate made some bold decisions in his eight years as England manager, such as ending Wayne Rooney’s international career.
But Tuchel has now proved he does not care about reputations by axing a generational talent who saved England from elimination at Euro 2024.
Jude Bellingham shouted “Who else?” after his overhead kick brought England level against Slovakia in the last 16.
Now, we are wondering who else Tuchel could give the boot in his next squad. What we do know is that no-one is safe and the same will apply at next year’s World Cup.
Phil Foden and Jack Grealish were also left out yesterday for the squad which faces Wales in a friendly next Thursday followed by a World Cup qualifier in Latvia.
Only on Wednesday, Bellingham was named as England player of the year for last season after a vote by fans.
Even though he has only just returned from a shoulder operation, even though he has played just four times and made one start for Real, it is still a surprise that he has not been included, despite Tuchel insisting he wanted to keep the same squad from the impressive 5-0 win in Serbia last month.
The German says there is no problem between himself. Of course we will see Bellingham in an England shirt again. But it would be naive to suggest that all is well between player and manager.
Despite an apology from Tuchel, Bellingham would have been livid by the coach’s remark during a talkSPORT interview that some of his behaviour on the pitch was “despicable”.
This has not helped Bellingham’s image and he is clearly a stroppy individual on the pitch. Apart from two-minute post-match interviews, Bellingham does not speak to the media at length.
He has won 43 caps and unlike every other established international, he has yet to speak at a pre-match press conference so the public do not really get an insight into his character.
Behind the scenes, Bellingham is a bright, polite and impressive individual.
It is his father, Mark, a former journeyman non-League player, who does appear to have an overpowering influence on his son and he does need to take a step back. Bellingham is 22, not 12,
Tuchel, whose team could qualify for the World Cup in Latvia if results go their way, revealed it was not just Bellingham, Foden and Grealish who he called over his squad selection.
He also rang Adam Wharton, Trevoh Chalobah and Curtis Jones. Asked whether he spoke to Kyle Walker, who has 96 caps, Tuchel replied with a curt “no”. So, that’s the end of Walker, then.
Tuchel stressed that he would have lost credibility had he made a number of changes to the squad which did so well in Belgrade.
He said: “Belgrade was just on a new level. Maybe it was a coincidence. Maybe it was the mixture of the group. Who knows? It was my team’s best camp, it was my team’s best performance. It was the best result, a big result.
“The behaviour on the bench, the support from the bench, support from training, the competition, the togetherness, enabled the 11 to play like they played. I strongly believe that. And it’s not against Phil, it’s not against Jack, it’s not against Jude.
“It is for the guys who were in camp and who performed at this kind of level. Why would I change this? I didn’t want to leave anyone out who was in the last camp. What would be my explanation to leave them out and also be authentic in my words?
“After the Serbia match I went into the dressing room and I told them what I have just told you. Imagine I then leave four players out, and say, ‘Now I take A,B,C and D, and not you’ — what would you think as a player?
“They would say: ‘Didn’t you tell me that was exactly how you wanted it, and now I’m out?’ Would you not think that? For credibility, as a coach, you need to walk the talk.”
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