Thomas Tuchel 'surprised' by Harry Maguire response to shock England World Cup snub | OneFootball

Manchester United defender said he was “shocked and gutted” by surprise omission, with several members of his family also speaking out

Thomas Tuchel has admitted his “surprise” at Harry Maguire’s strong public reaction to being left out of England’s World Cup squad.

Along with the likes of Cole Palmer and Phil Foden, the Manchester United defender was among the most high-profile omissions from Thomas Tuchel’s 26-man travelling group for this summer’s tournament in North America that was officially announced on Friday morning.

Maguire’s absence was already widely known after becoming the first piece of squad-related news to break ahead of time across the media on Thursday evening, with the player speaking to talkSPORT and also taking to social media to confirm that omission and publicly express his disappointment.

Maguire’s mother, siblings and wife have also since strongly and publicly criticised Tuchel’s decision to leave out the 66-cap centre-back, who is one of England’s most experienced campaigners with three major tournaments under his belt.

The 33-year-old returned to the squad for the first time in 18 months for March friendlies against Japan and Uruguay, though Tuchel was clear at the time that he was his fifth-choice centre-back and he has subsequently been left behind in favour of Marc Guehi, John Stones, Ezri Konsa, Dan Burn and Jarell Quansah.

“I was a bit surprised,” Tuchel said at a post-squad announcement press conference held at Wembley on Friday when asked if he understood or was surprised by Maguire’s public statement.

Left behind: Thomas Tuchel omitted Harry Maguire from his England squad for the World Cup

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“But I respect his personality a lot, I respect his quality a lot. He had an outstanding season. I can see the reason behind the disappointment.

“Still, I was a bit surprised because we had a private conversation and he had the chance to express his feelings, which he did. And this is fair enough, because I can see all of the reasons why he could be in the squad.

“But the decision is that we stood firmly with our central defenders that carried us through September, October, November. Some of them are part of the leadership group that took ownership and set the standards high.

“It was a decision for these 26 players, even if it feels that it’s against individuals.”