Thomas Tuchel sends World Cup warning to missing England stars | OneFootball

Tuchel ready to take 'brave decisions' on big names after Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka and Cole Palmer sit out win in Serbia

Thomas Tuchel has warned his England squad he is ready to be "brave" and drop established stars.

Jude Bellingham, Cole Palmer, Phil Foden were all absent due to fitness issues and Morgan Rogers grabbed his chance by catching the eye in the No10 role.

Bukayo Saka was also missing through injury.

There is less than a year to go until Tuchel leads England into the World Cup and when asked if he was prepared to drop big names to find a more balanced starting line-up, the German was clear.

"I am always brave, you know that," Tuchel said.

Tuchel’s England delivered a statement display as they thrashed Serbia 5-1 on Tuesday

AFP via Getty Images

"But I don’t talk now about hypothetical names that can be left out. Let’s see who’s fit and available. I think we took some brave decisions already. We nominated a squad of only 21 to keep the competition going.

"The competition is on. If you are in camp, you are in your best behaviour, your best shape, best form and you make the best of it. It’s a privilege to be in camp and then fight for your place.

"If you can help everyone to be better and to grow and this is what we did."

Tuchel also praised the attitude of his England players in Belgrade, in contrast to some of his previous observations.

In June, the England boss said Bellingham could be "over-aggressive" and "intimidate" his team-mates, and that his on-field behaviour at times could be "repulsive".

Tuchel has since apologised for that description but his satisfaction at the positivity from the England players towards each other against Serbia was striking.

"What pleased me the most about the performance was the team-work," Tuchel said.

"The effort we put in to help each other out, the intensity. We never stopped running. There was no attitude after a mistake, there was no frustration, there was no waving, there was no eyeballing, there were no bad words.

"It was just a team ready to work and put 90 minutes effort in. We didn't concede a shot on target. We didn't allow any big chances.

"We need to do the little things right. I felt that the team was ready and I am just very happy that they proved it."