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'Not picking players on form' - England boss Thomas Tuchel slammed by BBC pundit
@Source: mirror.co.uk
Chris Sutton has taken aim at Thomas Tuchel after the new England manager named his maiden squad on Friday.
BBC pundit Sutton, who won a single cap in 1997, was left perplexed by the inclusion of veteran Jordan Henderson at the expense of in-form Atletico Madrid star Conor Gallagher.
And the former Blackburn Rovers striker reckons Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite and a number of Nottingham Forest players, including Callum Hudson-Odoi and Morgan Gibbs-White, should feel “hard done by” not to have been included.
Discussing Henderson before segueing into the main omissions, Sutton said: “He made his choice to go to Saudi and I thought that would be the end of him in the England jersey. And the biggest thing is Conor Gallagher, what is he thinking?
"Tuchel isn't picking players on form. Another one we can talk about is Jarrad Branthwaite. How is he not in the squad? I do not get that one.
"I don't know whether Thomas Tuchel would have watched him play this season. But on merit he deserves to be in and then we're having a bit of a debate over whether Dan Burn should be in.
“And a couple of the Forest players as well. Hudson-Odoi, Gibbs-White. They're going to feel pretty hard done by.”
Another significant name left out of the squad was Manchester City maverick Jack Grealish and Tuchel said yesterday that it was “not ideal” that he has recently been on the front pages more than the back because of boozy nights out.
Tuchel said: “I love Jack. As a headline, I love Jack. I love everything about him. I love his personality, I love his quality.
“The guy has courage, he can take the heat, he’s not afraid of the Bernabeu whistles when he’s on the ball, it does not affect him and if it affects him only in the best way. So is he a player that should be available and can have an impact in our squad? Yes, 100 per cent.
“But lately, he simply has no rhythm and he himself and I agree 100 per cent with this, he said ‘listen Thomas, I’m not a start-stop player. It is so hard for me to influence a match from the bench and then be on the bench again, and then two weeks later I start again.’
“The more he plays the better he gets and then he becomes a proper machine. And he has, of course, a character to him that he can be the glue also in the team. It’s very easy for youngsters and for experienced players to be attached to him and to be close to him.
“But this comes also with responsibility off the pitch and, of course, it’s not ideal that he’s in the newspapers and out there in public. But it was a sporting choice and in his position Anthony Gordon is just more rhythm, more minutes.”
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