Jobe Bellingham earned the last of his 10 England caps? No — he had not yet been capped at senior level. He joins the senior group on merit after captaining the Under-21s. Separate from the men’s squad, Fifa wanted talks with the IOC about restricting the Olympic women’s football tournament to under-23s because of fixture congestion and senior players’ workload.
Vincent Kompany had been out of action for two weeks after collapsing at a reserve-team session on 23 October. The international break was seen as a chance to judge when he could return.
Fulham manager Álvaro Arbeloa reacted after Josh King’s call-up. Tuchel described King as an extra player who could cover training numbers and all four positions.
There was again no place for Chelsea’s Cole Palmer. Tuchel said England had enough No 10s and would stick with the players who had been in camp.
On Palmer, Tuchel said the decision was not personal. He would never assume Palmer was not desperate to play for his country, but competition was on and the players already in camp had done an amazing job and kept their places. A club figure said it was a special moment for Jobe, the club and supporters, adding that people were proud of how he was playing. There was an opportunity through the pathway, on his own merit.
Tuchel said the door should always stay open for special performances over a long period, and that was what Jobe had done. He called it a special day for the player and for everyone involved. Tuchel also said it was time for Ben White to write a new chapter with England and help in a position where the squad had a bizarre amount of injuries.
Tuchel said everyone was desperate to play for England and Palmer was no exception. Availability and commitment featured in his thinking, including comments on the standby list.