Thomas Tuchel says England have already shown they can win without Jude Bellingham – if he picks Morgan Rogers at No 10.
In what is the biggest selection call facing the Three Lions boss ahead of next week’s World Cup opener against Croatia, it feels like Rogers remains in possession of the starting jersey on the back of his excellent contribution in qualifying.
Tuchel has attempted to play down the rivalry, but said: ‘We have a lot of proof we can win football matches without Jude and that’s the more important headline. Jude is in amazing form but we have to stop talking about individuals.
‘Jude will not win this World Cup alone. It’s simply impossible. No-one will win this World Cup alone. We win it as a team. What will we do if Jude has an injury tomorrow? I will not play this game (over who starts). You (the media) can play this game. Of course I understand the fascination. I have the same fascination. I see these players every day on the training pitches.
‘(But) we have big players and some of them will be on the bench. Some of them will be on at the end. Some of them we will need in extra-time. Some will take a decisive penalty. Some will start and we will do this as a team, otherwise we have no chance.
‘They need to understand that not all of them will start all of the time and at the same time. They can still be upset with my decision, angry and not aligned with my decision, but they have to accept it and then push their team-mates, because we are not in club football, we are in a tournament of hopefully nine matches, so everything is more important than the individual minutes you get. This is what they do at the moment.’
Jude Bellingham (left) and Morgan Rogers are battling it out to be England’s World Cup No 10
Thomas Tuchel (left) says England have proof they can win without Bellingham but remains tight-lipped if Rogers will start over the midfielder when the World Cup begins
Tuchel, whose side face Costa Rica in their final warm-up match in Orlando on Wednesday, added: ‘Jude and Morgan are in general, very, very close with each other. They are fighting for this spot. This is a big decision because both players who are competing, or all three players who are competing (Eberechi Eze) are on the highest level. There is also a chance that Jude plays in another position. He can play in the No 8 for sure, and Morgan can play on the wings. We will not go through the tournament with 10 players.’
Tuchel has revealed that Bukayo Saka is still struggling from the lingering effects of an achilles injury picked up in March. The Arsenal winger started the Champions League final but was taken off before extra-time and has completed just one 90 minutes since his injury.
‘Bukayo is still getting there, playing through discomfort at the end of the season, but obviously managing it and playing at a high level, but still not on his 100 per cent,’ explained Tuchel. ‘Some things are missing, consecutive training. Arsenal took very good care of him and we will do the same. So, step by step, he is at the moment not able to do every training session through the week and then play.
‘Yesterday, he was not with us. Today he was and did the full training session. He is available for tomorrow, but he needs management to be fully 100 per cent, which he is not. I didn’t say Bukayo was not ready to start, as he started for Arsenal all the matches, but I think it is very unlikely Bukayo starts and finishes all the matches from now on.’
Meanwhile, Harry Kane has sent a cheeky post on X to the England Cricket account in light of the Ben Stokes affair.
‘Always ready if needed,’ said the England captain, with a picture of him batting and bowling during training in Florida this week.
