Thomas Tuchel has also held detailed phone calls with dozens of players ahead of whittling them down for next Friday’s announcement ahead of the World Cup qualifiers with Albania and Latvia
Thomas Tuchel has drawn up a 55 man “long list” ahead of naming his first England squad.
Tuchel has also held detailed phone calls with dozens of players ahead of whittling them down for next Friday’s announcement ahead of the World Cup qualifiers with Albania and Latvia.
Three Lions boss Tuchel has got Arsenal youngster Myles Lewis-Skelly on his radar and has also spoken to England outcast Ben White and scoured the country looking at potential call-ups.
Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham also insisted that Tuchel has been living in London and been based at St George’s Park. Tuchel is believed to have spent more time at the FA training headquarter than former boss Gareth Southgate.
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Bullingham said: “I think Thomas realised early on that you don’t build those connections in the six days you get together, so he’s put a lot of effort into that.
“I think he’s got 55 on this long list and makes sure that he’s got a strong connection with them, that they know that he’s seen them. It’s not only the players in England, it’s players playing abroad as well, and I think that that will only stand in a good stead in the long run.”
Bullingham also welcomed former Chelsea boss Tuchel ringing players to establish connections while he has also been out to see Harry Kane, Kyle Walker and Jude Bellingham overseas and looked to set up meetings with all of them.
“I think Gareth was very, very connected and very smart culturally as well. I think Thomas is the same,” said Bullingham who even hinted that Tuchel could stay longer than his 18 month contract but is just reluctant to commit.
“I think he always said: ‘I might be here for 10 years, but I’ll only ever sign up in two-year cycles’ effectively. And the reason for that is he just wants his sole focus to be on the next tournament and and be really single-minded with the players on that, but it’s very early to judge, but I can say that he’s made a brilliant impact already, so we’re very happy with him.
“There’s probably seven or eight countries, aren’t there, that are going into next year with the ambition to win the World Cup. We’re no different.
“I think when we go into the tournament, that’s what we should always be aiming for, and we’ll do everything we can to try and create the right environment and sport structures to enable them to do that. So yeah, it’s really important to us.”
Meanwhile, Bullingham revealed that former Manchester United striker Mason Greenwood, 23, now in prolific form for Marseille, has formally applied to switch allegiances to represent Jamaica.
Greenwood has one England senior cap but was allowed to leave Old Trafford and dropped by England after being charged with attempted rape, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and controlling and coercive behaviour. Greenwood denied the charges, which were subsequently dropped. Bullingham added: “He’s asked to switch. That’s happened formally.”
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