England manager Thomas Tuchel says he will not play Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden in the same England team.
Only a year after England stand-in coach Lee Carsley fielded the trio and indeed Cole Palmer in a game against Greece at Wembley, Tuchel has stressed that the development of his team has now moved on to the point where there is no guarantee they will all be on the plane to next summer’s World Cup.
Bellingham and Foden are back in the England squad for Thursday’s qualifier at home to Serbia and the one in Albania that follows on Sunday. Both were left out of the October meet-up.
But Tuchel has a structure in mind ahead of next summer’s World Cup and it doesn’t involve playing players out of position just to get them in the team.
‘At the moment, if we keep the structure, they cannot play,’ said Tuchel to talkSPORT.
‘They can but not in the structure, not for the balance that we developed and not for structure that comes also with wingers who are specialists in their positions. We play at the moment with a six, eight, a 10 and a nine.
Thomas Tuchel says he will not play Kane (left), Foden (right) and Belllingham (second right) in the same England team
‘Especially in the number 10 position if you think about Phil who could play there, if you think about Jude, you think about Morgan Rogers, who played fantastic for us in this position.
‘You have Cole Palmer, you have Morgan Gibbs-White, so there’s a lot, a lot of players, and there’s the chance that we will not take everyone.
‘This is not because we don’t like it, not because they don’t individually deserve it, but because we will always do what’s best for the team. We will always do what’s best for winning.
‘We will always do what’s best for balance and we will try to keep the clarity, even if means that we have to take tough decisions.
‘We take tough decisions in any camp, and this will not change when we go to a tournament.’
Tuchel’s statement would appear to be bad news for Foden in particular. The former Chelsea manager said last week that he sees the Manchester City star as a central player, rather than a winger. This means he is effectively behind Bellingham and Rogers for the number ten spot behind Kane.
Tuchel has previously floated the idea of Foden as a false nine but that is only likely to happen in certain game situations.
‘If you’re a unique player, you can play both positions, Tuchel added.
Tuchel insists he will make decisions that give England the best chance of winning games
The England boss admitted he faces ‘tough decisions’ when it comes to selection next summer
‘I think he can play the nine, he can play the 10. It gives him, first of all, an advantage to compete for both positions.
‘For Man City, he plays almost like an eight-ten, so maybe during the next months we consider him as an eight.
‘But, like again, I see a very, very low percentage that we take five number 10s in the number 10 position into a tournament. I don’t see how this will help us.’
Villa star Rogers has risen to prominence in recent weeks and months and if the World Cup started tomorrow the number ten shirt would be his.
‘At the moment the competition is between Jude and Morgan,’ said Tuchel.
‘They’re friends, so this can also be a friendly competition. Don’t have to be enemies and you don’t have to hate each other.
‘They are respectful, they are friends with each other, and they fight at the moment for the same position.
‘Can they play together? Yes, but in a different structure than maybe, and at the moment is not the moment to change our structure.’
