Thomas Tuchel pays big compliment to Arsenal & won't rule out Max Dowman going to the World Cup | OneFootball

England manager Thomas Tuchel has hinted that he’s keeping Arsenal wonderkid Max Dowman as an option in mind for this summer’s World Cup in North America.

Speaking at a press conference today as he announced his latest England squad, Tuchel quite clearly left the door open for Dowman to join up with the Three Lions later on this summer.

The German tactician was also full of praise for Arsenal for the way they’ve handled the 16-year-old’s development so far, explaining that it’s clear he’s in a good environment where he can stay grounded and keep on learning from the best.

Thomas Tuchel on Max Dowman

Speaking about a number of players who didn’t make his latest England squad, Tuchel made it clear he sees no reason to rush into selecting Dowman.

Still, the England manager definitely didn’t rule it out as something he could do when it comes to naming his final World Cup squad ahead of the tournament later this year.

“Well, he put himself in the spotlight no? With this amazing goal against Everton, and a crucial goal.”

“I think he is, at the moment, complete, and obviously a fantastic talent and an outstanding talent with this age. There cannot be a doubt about it.

“Everyone who tells me about Max praises him and is full of compliments about him. The reality at the moment is also that he competes for minutes – he’s not a regular starter for Arsenal.

“I think he’s in a fantastic environment, I think he’s in the best environment possible; in a competitive club, in a stable club, in a club where team work is the number one rule, this is how they play, this is how they function.

“So he learns from the very best, in the very best environment. And with these young guys, yeah, of course we know all these players and we see them as you do as well.

“At the moment I think he’s in a good place to fight for his position, fight for his minutes at Arsenal.

“We always have the chance to call him, maybe, up for the World Cup.

“The thing with young players is to keep their momentum, maybe, going and keep their excitement, and they have a level of fearlessness with them. So no need to call him up now and increase the pressure and increase all the noise that comes with it. But yeah, we have all options.”

Max Dowman making a name for himself

Dowman scored a memorable late goal for Arsenal in their 2-0 win over Everton, with the teenager coming off the bench in that match and almost single-handedly changing the game.

It’s not often you see a player so young playing with so much quality and intelligence, but Dowman looked very much at home at Premier League level.

The Englishman first fired in a dangerous cross that led to Arsenal’s opening goal for Viktor Gyokeres, before then running almost the length of the pitch to grab the second.

Even if he was faced with an open goal, Dowman showed tremendous skill to get himself into that position to punish Everton on the counter-attack.

In total, Dowman has played seven first-team games for Mikel Arteta’s side this season, and it’s easy to imagine he’ll get more minutes between now and May.

That could put him firmly in contention for a World Cup spot, and what a story that would be!