Tuchel defends Bellingham snub to silence Roy Keane as two England stars set for World Cup starts
Thomas Tuchel’s “team” silenced Roy Keane and defended his audacious choice, thus Jude Bellingham and other teammates will have to fight to rejoin this England squad.
This England team under Thomas Tuchel started up exactly where they left off on Thursday at Wembley, defeating Wales in an incredible first 20 minutes.
Last month’s trip to Belgrade was their coming-out party. In the 5-0 victory over Serbia, England’s stand-ins took advantage of injuries to key players by putting on their greatest performance to date under Tuchel.
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This allowed the head coach to send a message to a number of important players by selecting a daring squad for this month’s break.
Before kickoff against Wales, Tuchel emphasised that “it was always the message since the new season was on” that every minute on the pitch matters.
He has emphasised that developing a “team” should take precedence over “collecting talented individuals.” While ignoring Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden, and Jack Grealish, the England manager demonstrated his devotion to the players who performed so well for him during the previous international break.
If Noni Madueke had not been hurt, Bukayo Saka would also have been left out. It goes without saying that his rejection of Bellingham, who was healthy again, generated headlines and was a heated issue until kickoff.
Prior to the game, Ian Wright stated that Tuchel’s decision to not select Bellingham “didn’t make sense,” while Roy Keane asserted that Tuchel had “created more problems.”
However, after England took the lead against Wales after three minutes, Bellingham was forgotten. By skilfully catching a stray ball in the penalty area and laying it back to Morgan Rogers, who stroked it past Karl Darlow to score it 1-0, Marc Guehi demonstrated that he is more than just a dominant centre-back.
Wales’s poor defence played a part in this first goal, as did England’s second goal, which was illegal from the visitors’ point of view and came eight minutes later.
The second had been coming as England dominated the first half against a Welsh team chasing shadows.
Rogers’ cross was the result of patient play after a corner, and Guehi knocked it on for his second assist. Ollie Watkins then had time to take a touch before converting. By the 20th minute, it was 3-0, and this goal was the best of all of them.
England’s precise passing gave Wales the runaround once more, and they were in on goal after Anthony Gordon, who played a great game, positively skipped past his man to break away.
The hosts moved it neatly around the edge before Saka did the rest, slipping in on his left foot and shooting home with a now-famous finish to the back post. Wales tried to stay strong as they were confined within their penalty area.
England played football of the highest calibre, outperforming Wales in every way with superior quality, intensity, movement, and passing to destroy them and win the match before the first half was even halfway through.
Gordon was maybe the Three Lions’ best player, although they were all excellent to a man. It is always refreshing to watch the Newcastle star, who is always on the offensive and blends in well with Tuchel’s England.
On the left, he also made a stunning combination with Spurs full-back Djed Spence, and you could assume that they had been teammates for years prior to this game.
Marcus Rashford is obviously a favourite of Tuchel’s, but Gordon and Spence will currently be benched from England’s starting lineup at the World Cup next year.
Rogers also did himself no harm since he was back to his best tonight. After the interval, he hit the bar from a well-worked corner, but he was unlucky not to collect a brace.
Gordon’s precise low cross to Watkins was inexplicably blazed over from a yard out, and additional attempts were made in the final minutes, giving England the opportunity and right to score at least five goals over Wales.
England allowed Wales to take a little off the gas as a series of substitutions affected their rhythm, which allowed them to establish a stronger foothold in the second half.
When called upon, Jordan Pickford was quick to make a few good stops, and in a resoundingly impressive 3-0 victory, his clean sheet was never in question.
With his controversial calls on Bellingham and his teammates fully justified by a second consecutive outstanding England performance, in which Rogers, Gordon, Spence, Watkins, and Elliot Anderson demonstrated the immense depth of quality, Tuchel could be forgiven for feeling a little smug after the final whistle.
By the time the World Cup comes around next year, Bellingham and Kane will probably be back in the starting lineup, but England’s remarkable comeback shows that Tuchel was correct to choose the “team” rather than “collecting talented individuals.”
Because the players now front of them have done nothing wrong, Bellingham, Kane, Foden, and Grealish will need to demonstrate an ambition to push their way into Tuchel’s World Cup XI on merit, regardless of how brilliant they are.
