England boss Thomas Tuchel wants ‘more spicy’ competition among squad hopefuls | OneFootball

England boss Thomas Tuchel says leaving the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold out of his squad is making the competition “more spicy” and insists the door is not shut on any player ahead of the World Cup.

The Real Madrid right-back was one of a number of big-name omissions from Tuchel’s 24-man group for next month’s World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Serbia, along with Jack Grealish, Phil Foden, Kyle Walker and Harry Maguire.

Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson and Tottenham full-back Djed Spence were given maiden call-ups, with Adam Wharton selected by Tuchel for the first time and Tino Livramento returning from Under-21s duty.

The German is thriving on the fierce competition for places in his squad and says he will continue to make his selections with freedom right up until next summer’s World Cup.

“The competition is on, to even be in the squad,” Tuchel said. “I want to make the competition a little bit more spicy.

“I made my freedom with myself because I do not know how this season plays out. It’s just the very beginning. It will be a very long season.

“Some of the players will just continue to rise and there will be players who maybe struggle. Who knows?

“So I made my freedom to make my decisions from camp to camp and I just don’t have the expectation that in November, I will know who will come with us in May.

“We will have another camp in March and in between March and May there will be a lot of decisive matches involving English teams hopefully in club football.

“Of course I know some players that I trust and that I want to do good for us and for their clubs, but we have to be open to any development in any direction.”

Alexander-Arnold’s omission is the most eye-catching, with Tuchel saying the new Madrid signing is currently behind Reece James and Livramento in the pecking order, while also hinting Arsenal’s Ben White would have come back into the fold had he not been injured.

“It is a competitive decision. First and foremost,” he added. “I spoke to Trent. Also was a difficult phone call but I wanted him to hear it from me. Which he appreciated and he was very clear that he’s desperate and keen to come back and play for England.”

Tuchel’s press conference at the Hilton hotel in Wembley was focused more on the players who did not make the squad.

Walker, who returned to the Premier League with a summer move to Burnley, is in the same position as Alexander-Arnold in being down the pecking order.

Grealish and Foden find themselves behind Eberechi Eze, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Gordon in Tuchel’s plans while Curtis Jones has missed out to Anderson.

Maguire was overlooked by Tuchel for a third time but was given hope of being on the plane to the United States next summer.

“Harry Maguire is not done. At the moment I think the guys that we choose in Harry’s position are slightly ahead of him,” Tuchel, who revealed United team-mate Luke Shaw was close to a call-up, said.

“I think Harry carries sporting weapons that can be very, very valid in tournament football, can be very valid for us, so he will always be in our mix and in the competition for camp, but also for the World Cup.”