Thomas Tuchel has opened the door for Max Dowman to gatecrash the England World Cup squad, saying the Arsenal prodigy’s youth ought not to be a barrier. The England manager did not include the 16-year-old in a 35-man selection for the Wembley friendlies against Uruguay next Friday and Japan four days after.
Tuchel has gone for the oversized group to manage the minutes of the players at a taxing and pivotal stage of the season. He will have 24 of them – including four goalkeepers – for the Uruguay game before he substitutes in 11 more senior options for Japan, asking a host of the original squad to drop out. He said there would be no more than 23 outfield players for the second game.
The headline selection items were the recalls for Harry Maguire and Kobbie Mainoo. Tuchel has also brought back Lewis Hall, Fikayo Tomori, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Dominic Solanke – and given a first call-up to James Garner. Tino Livramento is back.
The eye-catching omissions were those of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Morgan Gibbs-White and Ollie Watkins, each of whom have to fear for their World Cup places. There was no room for a recall for Luke Shaw.
Dowman, who is yet to take his GCSEs, is a hot topic after his recent performances for Arsenal – especially the thrilling moment when he became the Premier League’s youngest scorer with his box-to-box run to seal the 2-0 win against Everton last Saturday.
Tuchel made the point that Dowman ought to focus on playing as much as possible for Arsenal between now and the end of the season. He also acknowledged the sensitivity of discussing a player who is so young and putting pressure on him. But he made it clear he wanted to keep his options open regarding him.
“We always have the chance to call him up for the World Cup,” Tuchel said. “There is no need to call him up now to increase the pressure but we have all the options. Why wouldn’t I keep the door open? I keep the door open for anyone with any age.
Quick Guide
England squad of two halves
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24-man squad v Uruguay on 27 March:
Goalkeepers Jordan Pickford (Everton), James Trafford (Man City), Aaron Ramsdale (Newcastle), Jason Steele (Brighton).
Defenders Lewis Hall, Tino Livramento (both Newcastle), Harry Maguire (Man Utd), Jarell Quansah (B Leverkusen), Djed Spence (Spurs), John Stones (Man City), Fikayo Tomori (Milan).
Midfielders Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid, training only for Uruguay match), James Garner (Everton), Jordan Henderson (Brentford), Kobbie Mainoo (Man Utd), Adam Wharton (C Palace).
Forwards Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Leeds), Eberechi Eze (Arsenal), Phil Foden (Man City), Noni Madueke (Arsenal), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Marcus Rashford (Barcelona), Dominic Solanke (Spurs).
11 players who join v Japan on 31 March:
Goalkeeper Dean Henderson (C Palace).
Defenders Dan Burn (Newcastle), Marc Guéhi (C Palace), Ezri Konsa (A Villa), Nico O’Reilly (Man City).
Midfielders Elliot Anderson (Nottm Forest), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa).
Forwards Anthony Gordon (Newcastle), Harry Kane (B Munich), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
“It’s very young and there are arguments that it’s too young but why open all these arguments now? Let him fight for his minutes. At the moment he’s not a regular starter. You could argue you should be maybe a starter at your club to be considered.
“Of course it’s impressive what he’s doing. It’s impressive the feedback I get from players and people who know him. We [will] have a look at it and we take the last decision when we build the [World Cup] squad in May.”
It was put to Tuchel that Lamine Yamal had helped Spain to beat England in the Euro 2024 final just one day after his 17th birthday and it was becoming a younger player’s game.
“It is,” Tuchel said. “But there’s also the risk to compare it to Lamine Yamal, to compare it to, I don’t know … Messi and so on. Has Lamine Yamal played more minutes for his club before he played for his country? I would say so. This is exactly the danger and the risk of all of that; it becomes a crazy hype that does in the end not help.”
Tuchel named the 11 players that would come into the squad after the Uruguay game. They are Dean Henderson, Marc Guéhi, Ezri Konsa, Dan Burn, Nico O’Reilly, Elliot Anderson, Declan Rice, Morgan Rogers, Anthony Gordon, Bukayo Saka and Harry Kane. All appear nailed-on World Cup selections. Tuchel did not want to say who would drop out but he did say Cole Palmer and Phil Foden would remain with the group.
Jude Bellingham, who has not played for Real Madrid since 1 February because of a hamstring injury, will be managed carefully. He will train with the squad next week but will not play against Uruguay. “The best case scenario is that he gets some minutes against Japan.” Tuchel said.
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