England Manager Tuchel Affirms No Issue with Bellingham, Phil Foden, or Jack Grealish
Thomas Tuchel stated that he has "no problem" with Jack Grealish after these players were omitted the England squad for upcoming fixtures against Wales and Latvia.
Bellingham did not earn a recall despite recovering from a shoulder injury, whereas Foden and Grealish also miss out despite displaying a return to form with their clubs.
Tuchel revealed that Bellingham wanted to be part of the squad, having spoken with him via telephone.
"Bellingham is a special player, and for special players there can often be special rules," Tuchel remarked about the Real Madrid star, who's made just one start since returning to fitness.
"However we opted to maintain the straightforward decision of calling up the identical squad.
"Bellingham always deserves to be here. There is the factor that he has not fully found his full rhythm again at his club - he has not finished a full game.
"The player expressed a desire to be selected. We had a phone call."
The England boss made an effort to highlight his good rapport with Bellingham following Tuchel apologized to him earlier this year for calling his on-pitch behavior as "disgusting" in a live interview.
The German explained that he uttered those terms "unintentionally" and promised to be more careful going forward.
Inquired if he had a problem with the player, Tuchel said: "No. There is also no problem with Phil Foden or Grealish.
"Foden is returning to influencing and deciding games for his club. Jack is very close to returning to the best version of himself.
"There exists no personal issue."
Saka replacing the injured Madueke is the only change to last month's team, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Jarell Quansah retaining their places after joining as last-minute call-ups last month due to fitness concerns.
The Three Lions play the Welsh team in a non-competitive match at Wembley on Thursday before a qualifying match in the Latvian capital on 14 October.
If the team win in the away fixture, they will need a up to two points from their remaining two matches - against Serbia and Albania in November - to earn a place in next summer's World Cup in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
Strong Performance By the Manager
The Three Lions produced their finest performance by some distance under Tuchel's leadership when they defeated the Serbian team five-nil away in Belgrade in their previous match.
Tuchel stated that performance made it an easy decision to keep mostly the identical group, though "there are no certainties" for any player regarding being picked.
"Our previous gathering was only a few weeks ago and the cohesion and spirit was at its peak. That is the reason we chose to invite the identical players to this session," he commented.
"Foden is in a very good moment. Wharton merits to be with us. Curtis Jones and Chalobah are earning playing time with their teams.
"There are players who deserve to be here. Cole Palmer is unfit and is a special player. It will always be like this.
"Is our team a stronger side with Bellingham? Absolutely. But I mentioned before, what do we do if he is injured before the World Cup? Do we just cancel?"
The Manager's Press Conference Gets Noticed
Thomas Tuchel once more delivered a box office press briefing.
He, a expert of handling his interactions with the press, began with an initial remarks to set out his thinking for his decisions.
Bellingham is ready to play and wanted to join to camp, but the coach explained he did not want to alter the squad significantly after a statement 5-0 victory over their opponents - where the manager noted unity was at an all-time high.
However with him not selecting the star, and his repeated remarks about togetherness, it is difficult to avoid connect the two - although he said multiple times how he is "special" and that there is "no issue" between Tuchel and one of the national team's key talents.
Tuchel has consistently made it evident that he wanted to make the national team feel like a club team and, by retaining the identical selection after a big victory, he has achieved that. But the questions will arise once more in the next camp if England win well in these next two matches.