There was plenty of outrage when in-form Nottingham Forest star Morgan Gibbs-White was left out of Thomas Tuchel's first England squad. Indeed, sections of the English media were baffled by his omission, especially with Jordan Henderson given the nod instead.
However, with Chelsea ace Cole Palmer having to pull out due to an injury, Gibbs-White was belatedly invited to link up with the Three Lions ahead of their upcoming fixtures against Albania and Latvia.
Of course, it must have been a slightly awkward conversation between player and manager when Tuchel got in contact to inform the 25-year-old about a change in plans.
Thomas Tuchel's Call With Morgan Gibbs-White
"Are you still upset with me"
Speaking to the press after his call-up, Gibbs-White has opened up on the phone call he received from the England boss. He explained how he was "disappointed" at first and even told Tuchel that he felt he was deserving of a call-up:
"Obviously I was upset. Yeah, a little bit disappointed. But when he told me, I respected his decision. The standard of players is top-level.
"I said to him back like ‘I feel like I’ve done enough to get the call-up, considering the form level that we were in, but obviously you’re the manager, you make the decisions, and I respect that totally’. So, obviously, it was disappointing but then Sunday I got the call, so I was straight here."
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Gibbs-White went on to explain how Tuchel sent him a text later on after Palmer had dropped out. He said:
"It was about 4 or 5 o’clock. He sent me a message to say ‘Are you free to talk?’ And I think I replied within like 30 seconds. He phoned me up and said ‘Are you still upset with me, or do you want to come and join us and fancy training tomorrow?’ Obviously, there’s no question there. I said I’d obviously love to come and join and train with the boys, so, yeah, found out Sunday late afternoon and I was just smiling from ear to ear."
Gibbs-White Full of Praise for Tuchel
"He’s been incredible"
Although he was obviously annoyed with the initial rejection, Gibbs-White went on to speak in glowing terms of his new coach. He said: "To be fair, he’s been incredible. I think he’s done it with most of the players. As soon as he got the job, he’s been in contact with quite a majority of the players. He’s a really easy-going sort of guy, nice to speak to and he just says things like he’s coming to watch everyone play games and stuff.
"I feel like it was, for him, important to try and get that bond straight away with players because he’s used to club football, so he’s used to spending time every day with players. I felt like it was top from him, really good that he sort of started that relationship before even meeting us, which is really good. So, yeah, just delighted to be here now."