A England begins its journey to the 2026 World Cup on the afternoon of this Wednesday (17) against Croatiaat AT&T Stadium, in Dallas, United States. The team debuts in the tournament without some stars chosen by coach Thomas Tuchel and under great pressure from the fans.
Tuchel surprised English fans on the day of the World Cup call-up when he announced the list of those he would not take.
The coach left out names that were considered certain and even football stars. Among them are Chelsea’s Cole Palmer, Manchester City’s Phil Foden and Real Madrid’s Trent Alexander-Arnold. In addition to the trio, defender Harry Maguire was also left out, being dismissed via video call, according to him.
The call-up list generated great repercussions around the world. But, worse than that, was the pressure that arose over the coach’s choices. On social media, fans said: “No Arnold, no Palmer, no Foden? I smell elimination in the round of 32.”
Now, England arrives at the World Cup under pressure from the fans and faces an executioner in its debut. Croatia was responsible for eliminating the English in the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup.
“What did they do for us?”, explained Tuchel
At the time, the German coach stated that the choices involve tactical issues and involvement with the English team.
“It’s a mix. What did they do for us? Does someone bring a different profile to the position? And then you monitor and observe their performance, and never discount what you do for your club. In March, we opened the doors and gave everyone an opportunity. The decisions were difficult, but someone had to make them,” said the coach.
Asked about how he communicated with each athlete, the coach said he preferred to call all of them. In these calls he explained the reasons, but he did not fail to feel the emotion of the players who will not play in the World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
“Tough phone calls. I respect them all. As players, as personalities. They were all at the training camp and were excellent. Reducing that was difficult, sometimes painfully difficult. Even on the phone calls I felt the emotion. I called every player who was at the training camp with us at least once. Many of them deserved to be with us,” he said.
Thomas Tuchel also highlighted that, to assemble the English squad that will compete in the World Cup, he needed to make tactical choices.
He understands that he had many players with the same characteristics at his disposal, which would make it difficult to assemble the squad and the versatility of England’s style of play.
Furthermore, he believes that young people like Madueke, Eze and Mainoo add “new blood” to the English team in the world’s main football competition.
“In November, we felt that we had a fresh air, younger players who played with enthusiasm, a good mix of young people and veterans, which brought out the best in the players. We want to recreate that spirit, so we rely a lot on the group that was with us in these three training periods. For some, it was a question of positioning, of not bringing five number 10 players and making them play out of position”, explained Tuchel.
