Thomas Tuchel will hold talks with Jude Bellingham before reintegrating him into the England squad and says there are “non-negotiable” standards that any player outside his present set-up will have to embrace to force their way in.
The head coach signalled he is ready to give the Real Madrid midfielder and other stars such as Cole Palmer the opportunity to make themselves part of his World Cup plans, despite their absences from the group of 24 players which travelled to Latvia this week to secure qualification for next summer’s finals.
However, while Tuchel is likely to name a different squad for next month’s final qualifiers, against Serbia and Albania, he does not want to change “too much” about the group he has created over his past four games, during which England have put together their most impressive run of performances for several years.
Tuchel also namechecked Palmer, Gallagher and Chalobah as players who could be given a shot in the November international break
GETTY
Revealing the discussions he is planning with Bellingham, Tuchel said: “He’s an important player, he’s a big player, I will speak to a lot of players, also to the guys who will get texts from me who were not in camp. Especially them, because the guys who are now here, they have the reward and they feel the reward and it’s now necessary I stay in touch with the other guys.
“No one [omitted from this month’s squad] has done anything wrong, it’s not a punishment or whatever, and I feel when I text them or speak to them everyone is eager to come back. This is how it has to be and I have trust in more than [just] the players who are here.”
Referencing Bellingham, 22, he added: “We always speak about the same names, but we have Conor Gallagher, we have Trevoh Chalobah, we have Cole Palmer injured, and a lot of other guys out there who deserve to be with us and are hungry and determined to be with us, and it has to be like that.”
Bellingham, pictured in training for Real this week, will be told he must buy into England’s “good citizen” approach
GETTY
Tuchel praised the collective spirit and levels of commitment that England demonstrated in Riga to thrash Latvia 5-0 on Tuesday and secure a place at next year’s finals with a perfect record of played six, won six and no goals conceded.
He revealed his captain, Harry Kane, had made a dressing-room speech at the end of the match telling players to “arrive with the same hunger” when they next report for duty, despite the final two qualifiers, at Wembley on November 13 and in Albania three days later, being dead rubbers.
Tuchel believes certain principles around work rate and “good citizen” behaviour in camp have now been “100 per cent” established, meaning those outside the group know what they must demonstrate to gain admission. “If we invite them, we are sure they will buy in, or we will not invite them,” Tuchel added. “Why would we? This is, how do you say, a non-negotiable.”
Kane demanded his team-mates “arrive with the same hunger” for their remaining qualifiers as he and Tuchel continue to drive high professional standards
GETTY
He added that the November games offer him a chance to “invite more players” and “share some minutes” around, but that he wanted to “keep [the competition for places] going” and will change “not too much” when he names his next squad.
“[Inclusion] has to be deserved first of all, and it needs to make sense, but I need to get my head around it. On Monday we’ll have a review of the camp and then ask also my assistant coaches, who are more experienced in World Cup qualifiers than me.”
The latter was a reference to his No2, Anthony Barry, who was Belgium assistant manager at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Intriguingly, Tuchel has already formed an idea of who England’s main competition will be at next summer’s finals and will begin doing detailed analysis soon.
“Listen, I have my favourites, and we will start analysing the favourites very early, because we think they will qualify,” he said.
“There’s a huge amount of support in the FA, there’s a huge amount of quality [staff] within the FA, everyone is on that, there’s a machine running behind it, and of course we will analyse right now Brazil, Argentina, Spain, France, Portugal.”
After a stuttering start to his reign, the German feels England are on course to arrive at the tournament in North America as potential World Cup winners.
Glory next summer “is a possibility,” he said, adding: “I cannot promise that we will win it but I feel we will get there with a strong team and a strong cohesion and the right spirit. It’s building, and you can see it on the pitch, and this is the basis for all of it.”
After the turning point of last month’s 5-0 victory in Serbia, Tuchel spoke of his love of World Cup finals, describing himself, as a young teenager in Krombach, near Frankfurt, poring over magazines commemorating tournaments. Speaking before flying back from Latvia, he revealed the extent of his excitement at booking a place in the finals.
“It’s a special feeling, it’s a special day, you don’t qualify every day for a World Cup. It’s all our childhood dream to be part of that, and I cannot be more proud to arrive as an England coach,” he said.
Asked whether competing at a World Cup finals topped winning the Champions League with Chelsea [in 2021], he said: “You need to ask me after the tournament. But I feel the excitement now, it is just different, and I was a bit more nervous than normal today, because I really wanted it, to get over the line.
“It’s such a good feeling around the last two camps, it’s just nice to have the proof. The excitement will build. It’s the biggest tournament in the world.”