Thomas Tuchel can only pick a 23-man squad for Tuesday night's trip to face Serbia in Belgrade, meaning he faced a tough choice over which player from his 24-man group to leave out
Thomas Tuchel has dropped Myles Lewis-Skelly from the England squad
Thomas Tuchel has dropped Myles Lewis-Skelly from the England squad
Thomas Tuchel has left Arsenal's Myles Lewis-Skelly out of the England squad to face Serbia on Tuesday evening.
Full-back Lewis-Skelly started Saturday's 2-0 win over Andorra at Villa Park and played for the full 90 minutes, but with Tuchel only permitted to name a 23-man squad for the trip to Belgrade, the 18-year-old has become the odd man out.
Lewis-Skelly has come off the bench twice for Arsenal so far this season in the wins over Manchester United and Leeds United, but has previously started four of Tuchel's five games in charge of the Three Lions.
Reece James, who played at right-back on Saturday, is capable of switching over to the left, while Tuchel could also call on Newcastle's Tino Livramento, Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa or Tottenham's Djed Spence, who is in the squad for the first time, for the position.
England have won all four of their World Cup qualification matches so far without conceding a goal, but have attracted criticism for their displays from fans.
Speaking after the weekend win over Andorra, who England laboured past 1-0 in Barcelona in June, Tuchel defended his side's attacking display, and instead focused on the lacklustre crowd.
“It’s a very different crowd to the Premier League and we know it,” he said. I think the energy was right, the quality was there and we should’ve scored more. After the first goal, we had ten or 15 minutes with too many ball losses.
Lewis-Skelly played for the full 90 minutes against Andorra
Lewis-Skelly played for the full 90 minutes against Andorra
“We lost a bit of focus and concentration but second half, found it again and created a lot of chances and like I said, should’ve scored more.
“I think we missed a little bit the little moments to accelerate the game. We should’ve scored maybe the second one earlier because the second goal gave us a lot of freedom and players moved more freely and a bit more confident.”
Touching on the trip to Serbia, he added: “The group played with the exact same attitude that they trained and I’m glad for the players. We will prove the point now in Belgrade.
Tuchel is confident England will be better in Belgrade
Tuchel is confident England will be better in Belgrade
“We’re going to learn a lot from next Tuesday night. We’re ready for it, we know what’s coming. It’s a difficult away game but it’s a crucial game for us because we can make a huge step into the qualification and we’re well aware of it.
“Same system, totally different quality, totally different style of play, a much more physical away game, so we will be prepared. We have Sunday and Monday to prepare, to travel and we will be ready.”
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