England squad: Jude Bellingham won’t get star treatment under Thomas Tuchel

Performance over reputation

Thomas Tuchel’s decision to omit Jude Bellingham from his latest England squad underscores his commitment to merit-based selection and performance over reputation. The 22-year-old Real Madrid midfielder, fresh from shoulder surgery, has started only one game since his return.

Squad depth and future planning

Bellingham, who asked "who else?" after his stoppage-time overhead kick against Slovakia at Euro 2024, made three substitute appearances but did not convince Tuchel to include him for upcoming friendlies and World Cup qualifiers. The coach stressed the need to prepare a squad not dependent on any single star. "Are we a better team with Jude? Yes," he said. "But what happens if he’s injured before the World Cup?"

Rewards for form

Tuchel’s selection for the 5-0 win in Serbia showed he values current form and squad spirit. New call-ups like Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson and Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers impressed, while Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka returned from injury to fill Noni Madueke’s spot.

Squad announcement

• Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), James Trafford (Manchester City)
• Defenders: Dan Burn (Newcastle United), Marc Guehi (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 (AC 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’s exclusion of Bellingham underlines his goal to build a resilient England squad where form outweighs status.

This topic was reported by BBC Sport.

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