England Manager Tuchel Insists No Problem with Bellingham, Foden, or Grealish
Thomas Tuchel has declared that he has "no problem" with Jack Grealish after these players were omitted the Three Lions team for forthcoming matches against Latvia and Wales.
Bellingham did not earn a recall despite recovering from a shoulder injury, whereas the Manchester City and Everton players are also absent although displaying improved form with their respective clubs.
Tuchel mentioned that the 22-year-old desired to be included of the selection, having spoken with him via telephone.
"Bellingham is a special player, and for exceptional talents there can often be special rules," the coach said about the Real Madrid star, who has only started once since coming back to fitness.
"However we opted to maintain the straightforward choice of inviting the same group.
"Bellingham consistently merits to be here. There is also the situation that he has not quite regained his full rhythm again at his club - he has not finished a full match.
"The player wanted to be selected. We conducted a phone call."
The England boss was keen to emphasize his positive relationship with the midfielder following Tuchel said sorry to him previously for calling his conduct during a match as "repulsive" in a televised interview.
The German explained that he used the words "without meaning to" and would be more careful going forward.
Inquired if he had a problem with the player, Tuchel responded: "None. There is also no problem with Phil Foden or Jack Grealish.
"Phil is back to influencing and shaping games for Manchester City. Grealish is almost to returning to the top form of himself.
"There is no personal problem."
Bukayo Saka replacing the hurt Noni Madueke is the sole alteration to last month's team, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Quansah retaining their places after being last-minute call-ups last month due to fitness concerns.
England play Wales in a friendly at Wembley on Thursday before a World Cup qualifier in Riga on 14 October.
Should England win in Latvia, they will require a up to two more points from their remaining two matches - against Albania and Serbia in next month - to earn a place in next summer's tournament in North America.
Impressive Display Under Tuchel
The Three Lions delivered their best display significantly under the manager's guidance when they defeated Serbia 5-0 on the road in Belgrade last time out.
The coach stated that showing made it an easy decision to stick with largely the identical group, though "there exist absolutely no guarantees" for every squad member regarding selection.
"Our previous gathering was just three and a half weeks ago and the cohesion and morale was at its peak. That is the reason we decided to call up the same group to this camp," he said.
"Phil is in a very good moment. Adam Wharton merits to be with us. Curtis Jones and Chalobah are earning playing time with their teams.
"There are players who deserve to be here. Palmer is injured and is a special player. It will always be like this.
"Are we a stronger side with Bellingham? Yes. But I mentioned before, what do we do if he is unavailable before the tournament? Do we just cancel?"
Tuchel's Press Conference Gets Noticed
The England manager once more gave a box office press briefing.
He, a expert of handling his relationship with the media, started with an initial remarks to explain his thinking for his decisions.
The midfielder is ready to play and wanted to join to the squad, but the coach explained he did not want to alter the team too much after a impressive five-goal victory over their opponents - where the boss said team spirit was extremely strong.
But with him not selecting the star, and his repeated remarks about togetherness, it is difficult to avoid connect the aspects - although he said repeatedly how Bellingham is "special" and that there is "no issue" between Tuchel and one of England's star players.
The England manager has consistently made it evident that he wanted to make the national team feel like a club side and, by keeping the same squad after a statement win, he has achieved that. But the inquiries will come again in the next camp if the team win well in these next two matches.