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'Embrace the chaos' - What we learnt from Tuchel's England picks

Sky Sports Football ·
'Embrace the chaos' - What we learnt from Tuchel's England picks

Cole Palmer, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Morgan Gibbs-White, Kobbie Mainoo and Phil Foden feature among our England squad talking points after Thomas Tuchel made eight changes from the group he took to the World Cup for the upcoming Nations League games

Cole Palmer's form at the start of this season for Chelsea has been irresistible. Four goals and two assists in six games, and his link-up play with England team-mate Morgan Rogers and Joao Pedro has been sensational to watch.

"Cole has his numbers back," said Thomas Tuchel at his press conference. "Assists, decisive goals. I think he has a point to prove."

The England boss really had no choice but to recall him after leaving Palmer out of his World Cup squad.

The omission may have ultimately helped Palmer, who was hit by injury and looked a shadow of himself last season following the previous summer's Club World Cup. Rested, refreshed and back towards his best.

Could even a below-par Palmer have helped England in North America? There will be many that will argue his case.

But the question now is how and where does Tuchel use Palmer going forwards?

Jude Bellingham locked down the No 10 role at the World Cup. The Real Madrid ace was one of the tournament's stars. Meanwhile, Bukayo Saka is back fit and firing for Arsenal on the right. Anthony Gordon is excelling at Barcelona on the left wing after impressing there for England in the summer.

Rogers, too, has been a key figure for Tuchel. Finding a way to get the two Chelsea attackers together on the pitch will be an exciting challenge for the England boss, who has an abundance of attacking options. Peter Smith

Kobbie Mainoo's inclusion comes after he was the only outfield player not to play a single minute during England's World Cup campaign. This time, Tuchel promises it will be different for the Manchester United midfielder, who has started the season strongly.

"I expect him to be on the pitch and it's my duty to get him on the pitch," said the England boss. "That was totally on me. He didn't put a foot wrong during the World Cup.

"He was class in behaviour on the training pitch. There was big competition; we played Reece (James) in central midfield also. Elliot Anderson is amazing for us; Declan Rice is a very unique player.

"We trusted them more than we trusted Kobbie. It was difficult for him. It was on me."

The competition for places in England's midfield remains fierce. But clearly Mainoo is a part of Tuchel's plans and there are no hard feelings. The nature of the camp, spanning three weeks and including four fixtures, should allow him chances to prove his worth. Nick Wright

Read the full article on Sky Sports Football ›

5News aggregated this summary from the outlet’s public feed. The full article, with all the context, is on www.skysports.com — the content belongs to Sky Sports Football.

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