Leeds United striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin has a ‘real chance’ of England minutes as part of a unique split England camp named by Thomas Tuchel ahead of his final World Cup selections.
Tuchel has named a 35-man squad for the March international window, including the Leeds number 9. But the German has explained that he is to give a number of players a chance to impress in a first camp that will include the friendly against Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay, before some England regulars join up and others head back to their clubs prior to the game against Japan.
“It is our last camp, the last opportunity to impress, the last opportunity for players to compete for their ticket [to the World Cup],” said Tuchel. “And to get the best out of this camp, we decided to kind of split it in two camps, which means we invited 19 outfield players and four goalkeepers into the first part of the camp, meaning until the match against Uruguay, to give these players a real chance to impress, to give the players a real chance to compete for minutes and and for minutes against Uruguay, impress against Uruguay, and then also compete, of course, for their tickets to the World Cup. From Friday evening. Saturday morning, 11 players will join us in camp, and we will then release some players to have a group of 21, 22 outfield players, plus goalkeepers, to prepare professionally and with full focus for the Japan match.”
With Harry Kane given a break for the first camp and Uruguay game, both Calvert-Lewin and Tottenham Hotspur’s Dominic Solanke have a chance to catch Tuchel’s eye. The Three Lions boss admits he knows plenty about Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins, who has not been called up at all, but needs to learn more about Calvert-Lewin and Solanke.
“I think they're bit the same profile,” said Tuchel. “Harry Kane is not in camp in the beginning. So I want to see both. I want to know more about Dom Solanke, who was with us once. But then, as you said, long time, injured. Dominic Calvert-Lewin has a good season with Leeds and is very decisive. Both are good penalty takers, by the way. So I want to see what they're capable of. I want to see if they can fill the gap, what they can bring, what they can offer with set-pieces, of course, with their strengths and the body and the height that they bring. So I want to learn about them, and let's see. The competition is on. They will compete now for minutes against Uruguay. They have a real chance to get minutes against Uruguay. They're, of course, excited about the call up. They understand the situation, and I think that helps, like to be clear what, what the situation is in which they come and they have a real chance to get an England cap, to get minutes, and, of course, they're excited.”
Tuchel added that he had a ‘very clear picture’ of what Watkins can do. He went on to insist that no one is ‘on the plane’ just yet ahead of this final chance for players to catch his eye and state their case.
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