Thomas Tuchel has kept faith with the England squad that beat Andorra and excelled in Serbia last month and found no place for Jude Bellingham or Phil Foden in his camp for the friendly at home to Wales and the World Cup qualifier in Latvia.
Foden was pushing for a recall after rediscovering his form at Manchester City and Bellingham has returned for Real Madrid after shoulder surgery, but the head coach has decided not to pick two of the country’s biggest attacking talents. Bellingham has started only once for his club.
Tuchel has found space for Bukayo Saka, who is back to fitness and has been restored in place of his injured Arsenal teammate Noni Madueke. Jack Grealish has not been handed a recall.
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), James Trafford (Manchester City)
Defenders: Dan Burn (Newcastle United), Marc Guéhi (Crystal Palace), Reece James (Chelsea), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal), Jarell Quansah (Bayer Leverkusen), Djed Spence (Tottenham Hotspur), John Stones (Manchester City)
Midfielders: Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest), Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest), Jordan Henderson (Brentford), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Milan), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa)
Forwards: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United), Eberechi Eze (Arsenal), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Marcus Rashford (Barcelona, loan from Manchester United), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)
Tuchel loved the energy in last month’s squad and appears to want to maintain the vibe. Tino Livramento, who started at left-back in the 5-0 win in Belgrade, has dropped out with a knee injury. Tuchel has not called up a direct replacement for the Newcastle player but has picked John Stones, who had to pull out last month. Tuchel has talked about the Manchester City defender’s importance for England and has suggested using him in midfield.
There is no place for Adam Wharton, who was called up last month but withdrew injured and was replaced by Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Tuchel said “team spirit is the key factor in the end” as he explained his decision to stick with last month’s squad, which he believes was the best of his reign for togetherness and teamwork. He said there was no problem in his relationship with Bellingham, Foden or Grealish and that Bellingham had made clear, during a “straightforward” phone call, his desire to be called up.
“He’s a very special player and for special players there can always be special rules but for this camp we decided to stick with our straightforward decision to invite the same team,” Tuchel said. “He deserves always to be in camp. I think there is on top of it the situation that he has not gathered full rhythm yet. He is back in the team but he hasn’t finished one full match.”
Tuchel said England were stronger with Bellingham, whom he described as one of the best players in the world, and that Foden, Grealish and Wharton were also worthy of places but said: “This is more about last camp and what we started to build.” He was clear there was a way back in for them all via club performances but that no one would be picked on reputation.
Myles Lewis-Skelly was, Tuchel said, the biggest beneficiary of his selection, the Arsenal full-back having not started a Premier League game this season. A similar picture could lead to his omission for November’s camp, he said. “To just be a good citizen in camp will not be enough to stay the whole year,” the German said, adding that Lewis-Skelly would “have to perform at club level on a regular basis”.
