Thomas Tuchel suddenly spoilt for choice as England thrash Serbia
Thomas Tuchel challenged England’s players to build on their five-star display in Serbia after an impressive September camp increased competition for a World Cup spot.
Tuesday’s emphatic 5-0 win in Belgrade put the Euro 2024 runners-up on the cusp of qualification for next summer’s finals, having gone seven points clear of second-placed Albania with three matches to go.
England are among the favourites for World Cup glory and finally showed what they were capable of under Tuchel, who is using his limited time with the group as best he can to give them a shot at silverware next summer.
There are only three camps until he makes his World Cup selection and the German coach was delighted with his players’ efforts in September, from training and the positive group environment to beating Andorra 2-0 in Birmingham and thrashing Serbia in Belgrade.
But as impressed as he was, there are plenty vying for spot in Tuchel’s set-up.
Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Cole Palmer, John Stones and Adam Wharton were among those absent through injury, while Trent Alexander-Arnold, Phil Foden, Harry Maguire and Jack Grealish were overlooked.
“The message is first of all to us and to this group, what this group did,” said England boss Tuchel. “I told you that I learned that this is international football.
“You can have your ideas whom you want to nominate but then comes the last weekend and players are out and players are injured, and players feel something and then you have to make hard decisions on some positions. So, it is also me to take these decisions.
“They proved the point in camp every day and they made it visible with this result and this performance to our fans and that’s what counts. This is the message and now we try to build on that.”