Thomas Tuchel has all but admitted that Bukayo Saka would not have been called up by England this month if Noni Madueke had been fit.
Saka missed out on last month’s squad for World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Serbia due to a hamstring injury.
Tuchel felt the September break was England’s best camp under him, with a 2-0 win over the Andorrans followed up by an impressive 5-0 win in Belgrade that appeared to signal lift-off for his tenure.
Saka’s Arsenal team-mate Madueke was one of the wingers who received game time in those matches in his absence, assisting the opening goal against Andorra and netting his first international goal in Serbia.
The squad Tuchel selected on Friday morning for this month’s matches against Wales and Latvia saw Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden left out. The only changes from last month’s group were that injured Tino Livramento and Madueke were left out.
Tuchel explained that Saka, the only entrant to the group not involved in September, was the replacement for Madueke, who is out with a knee injury sustained in Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Manchester City.
Asked whether he would have left Saka out, despite his return to fitness, if Madueke had been available again, Tuchel admitted: “There’s a huge chance [I wouldn’t have selected Saka], yeah. Very likely, but you will never know now.”
The England head coach was then pressed on whether Saka would, in that scenario, have understood his reasoning for leaving him out.
“He would have had no other choice,” a defiant Tuchel replied.
The 52-year-old went on to add: “I didn’t want to leave anyone out who was in the last camp.
“It was a learning [last month]. Nothing was wrong. It just moved to a new level. It was maybe a coincidence, the mix of the group. Who knows? I don't know.
He would have had no other choice
“I just know what I felt and what I saw and witnessed at the match. It was the best camp, the best performance of the team, the best result. It was a big result — very good — and we try and build on that.”
Tuchel explained the decision not to recall Bellingham, Foden, or a rejuvenated Jack Grealish was not personal.
He contiued: “They all behaved good [when we had them]. Phil behaved excellently in camp. Jude behaved excellently in camp. There is no problem with it.
“But in the moment when we had the best camp, they were not there. It's just coincidence. It's bad luck. It’s a hard decision but it’s one that has been made for guys that were there. And they have to make sure now it becomes more stable because it was only one camp.”
