Thomas Tuchel has explained the thinking behind his changes for the latest England camp.
Ahead of two World Cup qualifiers against Serbia and Albania, the manager chose to drop Myles Lewis-Skelly as one of his defensive options, calling up Nico O’Reilly as a left back. Alex Scott has got his first senior call-up to join forces with fellow England youth international Adam Wharton, while Nick Pope got the nod instead of James Trafford as one of the team’s three goalkeepers.
Tuchel has stabilised his squad selection, but he only has a few more months until the World Cup, for which England have already qualified, so chances to observe different options are becoming fewer.
“Myles was a very good team-mate and played for us in the last camp in the World Cup qualifier in Riga. So was Ruben Loftus-Cheek, so was Morgan Gibbs-White and James Trafford. But I said last time, there is a component to it that it's about competition and performance and the door is always open for guys who perform on a regular and high level.
“Myles, Ruben and Morgan got outperformed by Nico O'Reilly, Alex Scott, Nick Pope and Jude Bellingham in their positions.
“Myles simply needs more starts, more minutes. Now came a time when Nico O'Reilly had so many starts in that position, so he is slightly ahead for this camp.
"Alex deserves to be with us. I first closely saw him in the Euros with the under-21s, where he did excellent together with Elliot Anderson in central midfield and played a huge part in the title win.
"Since then, he stepped really up and is a regular starter for Bournemouth, who are overperforming constantly in the league. He came a long way and he performed his way into this nomination - he will come as a number eight and hopefully he can prove us right, and show us his talent and personality."
“Nick plays a fantastic season for Newcastle. He’s in shape and he’s contributing, he plays Champions League football on a regular basis.
“This was the camp now for us to reward him for that, to acknowledge him and show him our respect and appreciation for what he does for Newcastle and have the chance to get to know him. We see him live, we see him on TV but we want to meet the person, see and feel what he can bring to the team.”
“This is now the third time that we call [Adam] and hopefully he will not pick up any injury or illness. They still have two matches, so hopefully he stays fit.
“The talent is obvious and he will be alongside Elliot Anderson and Jordan Henderson in defensive midfield and hopefully try to impress us. I think it’s the right thing to do, it’s the right call-up to reward him. Hopefully three times is the lucky number for him.”
