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Jack Grealish sits on the bench against Nottingham Forest - PA/Mike Egerton
Thomas Tuchel has warned Jack Grealish that he must show responsibility off the pitch as well as on it – but insisted that the star’s private life is not the reason for his England omission.
Grealish has been left out of Tuchel’s first squad as England head coach for the World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia at Wembley.
Tuchel has recalled Marcus Rashford to the England squad, along with 34-year-old Jordan Henderson. He also revealed that Ben White has made himself available for selection again, but said the Arsenal defender needs to build up his fitness before being picked.
The omission of Grealish comes just over a week since the 29-year-old prompted more debate over his lifestyle by visiting a pub in Gorton and then being spotted at a social club in Wearside, where it was claimed he put £500 behind the bar.
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Grealish was recalled to the England squad under interim coach Lee Carsley - Getty Images/Carl Recine
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said he could not control the private lives of his players and Grealish was an unused substitute in City’s next game – last Saturday’s defeat by Nottingham Forest.
“He can be the glue in the team,” said Tuchel. “It’s very easy for youngsters, for experienced players to be attached to him and to be close to him. But this comes also with responsibility off the pitch and, of course, it’s not ideal that he’s in the newspapers and out there in public.
“But it’s maybe also not only his fault. You [the media] are happy to write about it, you’re happy to bring it out in public. Everyone, not only you guys, has a phone in his pocket. The guys are famous and they are public figures. I think this can happen. It’s not ideal, we want to have him more calm. No one wants to have it, but this was not the reason for not picking him. It was sporting.”
Grealish was restored to the England squad by interim manager Lee Carsley after being left out of Gareth Southgate’s squad for last summer’s European Championship.
‘The guy has courage’
He has started only six Premier League games this season, playing just 605 League minutes in total. Explaining his “sporting” reasons for not selecting Grealish, Tuchel said: “I love Jack.
“As a headline, I love Jack. I love everything about him. I love his personality, I love his quality. The guy has courage, he can take the heat, he’s not afraid of the Bernabéu whistles when he’s on the ball, it does not affect him and if it affects him only in the best way.
“So is he a player that should be available and can have an impact in our squad? Yes, 100 per cent. But lately, he simply has no rhythm and he himself, and I agree 100 per cent with this, said: ‘Listen Thomas, I’m not a start-stop player. It is so hard for me to influence a match from the bench and then be on the bench again, and then two weeks later I start again.’ I’m not judging anyone, not at all, but it’s just a characteristic of Jack, he gets better with every minute. The more he plays, the better he gets and then he becomes a proper machine.
“In his position, Anthony Gordon is just more rhythm, more minutes, more intensity and Marcus [Rashford] we discussed. So these were the two picks ahead of him.”
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Ivan Toney was overlooked despite his goalscoring feats for Al-Ahli - Getty Images/Yasser Bakhsh
Another player to miss out on Tuchel’s first squad is striker Ivan Toney, despite his goalscoring form for Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia and an injury to Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins, who would have been selected.
But Tuchel has claimed he has not closed the door on Toney and revealed that he plans to travel to Saudi Arabia to watch him
“We had an Ollie Watkins decision to make because of inflammation of the patella which disturbs him too much and makes no sense,” said Tuchel. “So we had the question of whether we pick Dominic [Solanke] or Ivan. I have just much more evidence and more observations live in the matches from Dominic, so straight away I made the choice.
Sporting decision for Solanke
“I think it will be important in the coming weeks to actually visit Toney to watch a game there live and watch maybe training live, to get more of a feeling for him. He was on the list, it was a purely sporting decision for Dominic in the end, a very close decision but a sporting decision. It had nothing to do with the fact he plays in Saudi Arabia or that we don’t trust the level of the league there.”
As reported by Telegraph Sport, Tuchel spoke to White, who made himself unavailable for England selection under Southgate. White is not in Tuchel’s first squad, but has made himself available to the German.
Asked if White had turned down a call-up, Tuchel replied: “Absolutely not, he loves to be back in the squad. But I just think it’s a bit too early now for him, given the seriousness of the injury that he had.
“So we’re on it, speaking to Ben. We’re delighted that he’s back on the bench, he had a Champions League match now in the second leg and I think now it’s just a question of getting more minutes. He has every chance to be back and he wants to be back. He’s glad to be back.”
Mikel Arteta: Ben White brave to reject England
By Sam Dean
Mikel Arteta has said that Ben White was “brave” to withdraw from England duty under Gareth Southgate, revealing that the defender felt he would let his country down if he did not step away.
White has not played for England since leaving the 2022 World Cup for personal reasons, with his ongoing absence from the international scene prompting frequent criticism of the Arsenal defender.
He is now available to play for his country again, though, following the appointment of Thomas Tuchel as the new head coach. White’s recent fitness issues mean he has not been included in Tuchel’s first squad, but he is once again in contention for a place.
Arteta, White’s manager at Arsenal, has rejected the suggestion that the defender ever turned his back on his country.
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Coach Mikel Arteta has backed Ben White’s decision not to play for England - AP/Antonio Calanni
“I can tell you because I was very involved in the moment that happened, and I know how Ben felt,” said Arteta. “That was for me very, very clear, the reason why he made that decision, how he was feeling about it and how he was struggling.
“It certainly wasn’t about that [turning his back on his country]. It was about being the opposite, just facing the situation and saying: ‘I cannot handle it now and I am not the best person to represent the country the way I feel right now.’
“I think not a lot of people would do it. What a lot of people would do is hide in that context, in that environment and let time go and not talk about it. What he did in my opinion was very brave. Not a lot of people would have done it.
“From what I understand of the reasons, it wasn’t about letting somebody down. He was just telling somebody, ‘I don’t want to let you down and this is the way I feel. I think it’s very difficult for me to give you what you need.’ So I think it was completely different.”
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