Thomas Tuchel insists Jack Grealish is still very much part of his England plans going forward, but he has warned him about how his behaviour off the pitch might be perceived, and says he has a responsibility to appear more “calm”.
The Manchester City man was left out of Tuchel’s first 26-man squad, having only made three substitute appearances this calendar year in the Premier League.
Nevertheless, Tuchel revealed the two have had honest discussions about his current poor form, and the new England boss is glowing in his admiration for the winger.
“I love Jack,” Tuchel said.
“I love everything about him – his personality, I love his quality, the guy has courage, he can take the heat, he is not affected if the Bernabeu whistles him.
Jack Grealish celebrates scoring against Finland
“So is he a player who can be available and have an impact in our squad? Yes – 100 per cent. But lately he simply has no rhythm, and he knows that himself. I think Jack gets better and better the more minutes he plays. He has the character to be the glue in a team, it is easy for youngsters to attach to him.”
The England manager was asked directly about newspaper reports which showed Grealish socialising in a pub in East Manchester a week ago. Pep Guardiola said he was relaxed about the images, and only judges his players on how they perform in training and on the pitch. Tuchel largely agrees.
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“Of course, it’s not ideal if he is in the newspapers and out there in public, but it is maybe not just his fault,” Tuchel said.
“Everyone out there has a phone in his pocket, these guys are famous, this can happen. It’s not ideal, we want to have him more calm, but this is not the reason for not picking him.”
Tuchel also revealed he plans to travel to Saudi Arabia in the coming weeks to meet Ivan Toney and watch him play in the flesh, and that the striker is still very much in his thoughts for future England squads.
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It was also confirmed that Ollie Watkins has only been omitted from Tuchel’s first squad because he has a niggling knee injury. But the manager says that there is real competition for places for the role of Harry Kane’s striking understudy, and Watkins, Toney and Dominic Solanke are all in the frame.
“It will, I think, be important to go to see Ivan in the coming weeks, to watch a game live, maybe watch training live, to get a better feeling for him. He is on the list.”
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Tuchel says that in Watkins’ absence it came down to a straight choice between Solanke and Toney for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia.
“It was a purely sporting decision for Dominic in the end. It was nothing to do with Saudi Arabia, or if we don’t trust the league there. I had just much more evidence and observation live of the matches from Dominic so straight away I made that choice.
“With Watkins we had a decision to make because of inflammation on the patella tendon that just disturbs him too much, so it makes no sense to call him up.”
