A strange selection of players, poor tactical choices at key moments, conservative and outdated ideas, questionable substitutions, unconvincing performances… Thomas Tuchel faced plenty of criticism after the World Cup and England's semi-final elimination by Argentina, yet the German managed to survive in the England dugout. To be fair, none of the serious media outlets ever really questioned his position, but given the immense and mounting dissatisfaction (from all three sides — the fans, the FA and the manager), many believed that Tuchel himself might eventually decide to walk away. That ultimately did not happen, and a few days ago the experienced coach began a new cycle with the Three Lions.##LINKED_NEWS_69094##New squad — same old complaints. Some wounds have yet to heal, while new ones seem to be opening. The atmosphere around the national team is far from ideal, something that was already apparent at the first press conference, when the squad was announced. Tuchel issued several warnings on that occasion, which the British media even described as “threats”. Regarding Cole Palmer, the player he brought back into the squad and whose omission from the World Cup squad had drawn the most criticism, he said that this call-up would mean nothing by itself, and that Palmer had to “prove something, raise his level and justify the trust placed in him”. Less than 48 hours later, Palmer withdrew. And he was not the only one. According to English reports, the list of five players who pulled out after the squad was announced is headed by none other than Arsenal star and one of the Three Lions' most important players, Declan Rice.##LINKED_NEWS_69032##Alongside those two, Thomas Tuchel will also be without Kobbie Mainoo, Marcus Rashford and Tino Livramento during this international “window”. What is particularly interesting is that the German responded by calling up just two new players: Morgan Gibbs-White of Nottingham Forest and James Garner of Everton. None of the pundits or journalists in England wants to be overly harsh in judging the decisions of the five players for now, but between the lines of their brief explanations, you can sense that there may even be suspicions of a quiet boycott.##LINKED_NEWS_69199##“Rice played all 90 minutes in Saturday's defeat to Brighton. He has been temporarily ruled unfit for international duty. The club have yet to comment on the matter or announce that he is carrying an injury,” the Daily Mail reported. “Chelsea say Palmer has a muscle problem (he also played part of Friday's match), while Manchester United manager Michael Carrick said after last weekend's draw with Fulham that Rashford has ‘some sort of problem’. Mainoo was also assessed today after complaining of an injury”.01:30: (3.70) Central Espanol (3.30) Montevideo City (1.97)As for Tino Livramento, he is the only one who did not play for Newcastle over the weekend. In fact, he has yet to make a single start this season, so it can be said that he is the only player who is injured for sure. Whether it is a boycott, fatigue, or genuine injuries, we will find out soon enough. Tuchel has a reputation for holding grudges and can be very difficult to deal with when someone turns their back on him. It will certainly be interesting to hear what he has to say about all of this. As a reminder, England's first assignment is a clash with Spain on Saturday, followed by two matches against the Czech Republic and another against Croatia. The German is expected to address the media again on Friday.
17