England Manager Tuchel Affirms No Issue with Bellingham, Foden, or Grealish
Thomas Tuchel asserted that he has "no issue" with Jude Bellingham after the trio did not make the England squad for upcoming fixtures against Wales and Latvia.
Bellingham has not been recalled despite recovering from a shoulder injury, whereas the Manchester City and Everton players are also absent although showing a return to form with their respective clubs.
The German manager mentioned that the 22-year-old desired to be included of the squad, having spoken with him via telephone.
"Bellingham is a special player, and for special players there can often be special rules," the coach said regarding Bellingham, who has only started once since coming back to fitness.
"However we decided to maintain the straightforward choice of calling up the same group.
"Jude always deserves to be here. There is the factor that he has not quite found his optimal form again at his club - he has not completed a full match.
"The player expressed a desire to be called up. We conducted a telephone conversation."
The England boss was keen to emphasize his positive relationship with the midfielder after Tuchel apologized to him earlier this year for calling his conduct during a match as "disgusting" in a live interview.
Tuchel explained that he uttered those terms "unintentionally" and promised to be more careful in future.
When asked if he had any issue with the player, he said: "None. There is no issue either with Phil Foden or Jack Grealish.
"Foden is back to influencing and deciding games for Manchester City. Grealish is very close to being back to the top form of himself.
"There is no personal problem."
Bukayo Saka replacing the hurt Madueke is the sole alteration to the previous team, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Jarell Quansah keeping their spots after being last-minute call-ups last month due to injury.
England face Wales in a friendly at Wembley on Thursday before a qualifying match in the Latvian capital on October 14.
Should England win in the away fixture, they will need a maximum of two points from their final two qualifiers - against Serbia and Albania in next month - to earn a place in next summer's tournament in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
Impressive Display By the Manager
The Three Lions produced their finest performance significantly under the manager's guidance when they defeated Serbia 5-0 away in the Serbian capital last time out.
The coach says that showing meant it an straightforward choice to keep largely the identical group, though "there exist absolutely no guarantees" for every squad member regarding being picked.
"The last camp was just three and a half weeks ago and the teamwork and spirit was on the highest level. That is why we chose to invite the identical players to this camp," he commented.
"Phil is in a excellent run of form. Wharton deserves to be with us. Jones and Trevoh Chalobah are getting minutes with their teams.
"There are players who deserve to be here. Palmer is injured and is a special player. It will always be the case.
"Are we a stronger side with Jude? Yes. But I mentioned before, what do we do if Jude is injured before the tournament? Do we just cancel?"
The Manager's Press Conference Draws Attention
Thomas Tuchel again gave a headline-grabbing news conference.
He, a master of managing his relationship with the press, began with an opening statement to explain his thinking for his selections.
Bellingham is ready to play and wanted to come to the squad, but the coach has said he preferred not to change the squad significantly after a statement 5-0 win over their opponents - where the manager said unity was extremely strong.
However with him not including the star, and his frequent comments about togetherness, it is hard not to connect the aspects - even though he insisted multiple times how Bellingham is "special" and that there is "no issue" between him and one of England's star players.
Tuchel has consistently made it clear that he aimed to make the national team feel like a club team and, by retaining the identical selection after a big victory, he has done that. But the questions will arise once more in the following session if the team perform strongly in these next two matches.