Thomas Tuchel explains what he expects from Jude Bellingham for England call | OneFootball

Thomas Tuchel will speak to dropped stars like Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden ahead of the November international break, as he confirmed his selection policy was “not a punishment” but that anyone called up will have to buy into “non-negotiable standards”.

The England manager was visibly thrilled after securing World Cup qualification with a 5-0 win away to Latvia and admitted he now has to decide on whether to use the remaining qualifiers at home to Serbia and away to Albania in the same way or allow some experimentation.

Tuchel did insist he wants to maintain the competitive edge to selection in this campaign and “keep the thing going”, as he asserted England will go to the World Cup “in the right spirit”.

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Thomas Tuchel has confirmed that his selection policy is not a punishment for any player (PA Wire)

Constant talk of squad chemistry – Tuchel said there’s “such a good feeling around the last two camps” – has only amplified the noise around Bellingham’s omission.

The manager has already spoken about how Bellingham can “intimidate” teammates but nevertheless claimed there is a chance for everyone to come back in, and confirmed he will speak to the Real Madrid star before the next camp.

“Of course, he’s an important player, he’s a big player,” Tuchel explained. “I will speak to a lot of players, also to the guys who were not in camp –they will get texts from me – especially them because these guys who are here, they have feel the reward. Now it’s also necessary that I stay in touch with the other guys.

“No one has done anything wrong, it’s not a punishment or whatever, and I feel when I text them or I speak to them everyone is eager to come back. This is how it has to be and I have trust in more players than just those here.

“We always speak about the same names but we have Conor Gallagher, we have Trevoh Chalobah, we have Cole Palmer injured and a lot of other guys out there who deserve to be with us. They are hungry and determined to be with us and it has to be like that.”

Tuchel did add, however, that there are certain standards he expects from any player he calls up.

“If we invite them, we are sure they will buy in or we will not invite them,” declared the Three Lions boss. “This is, how do you say, a non-negotiable.”

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Jude Bellingham’s omission from the England squad caused some controversy (AFP via Getty Images)

Tuchel admitted he was a bit more nervous than usual on the day of the Latvia game because he “really wanted to get it over the line”, but is now all the more assured that England will produce their best level at the World Cup.

“We will get there,” explained the German. “I cannot promise that we will win it but I feel that we will get there with a strong team, and a strong cohesion and the right spirit. It’s building, you can see it on the pitch and this is the basis for all of it.”

When asked about the best international teams right now, and his those who will be favourites, Tuchel didn’t actually name his own homeland – Germany.

“We will start analysing the favourites very early, of course, because we think they will qualify. That’s normal,” he added. “There’s a huge amount of support in the FA, everybody is on that, there’s a machine running behind it. Of course we will analyse right now Brazil, Argentina, Spain, France, Portugal…”