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Thomas Tuchel has been rocked by a host of withdrawals from his England squad, with Cole Palmer, Declan Rice, Kobbie Mainoo, Marcus Rashford and Tino Livramento all out because of injury issues. The manager has called up James Garner and Morgan Gibbs-White to boost his options for the upcoming Nations League programme.
Tuchel gave Palmer a high-profile recall last Friday for the beginning of the new two-year international cycle that he hopes will end in glory at Euro 2028. England are back in Nations League Group A and they kick off against Spain at Wembley on Saturday. They then play Czechia and Croatia away before returning to Wembley to face Czechia.
Palmer has felt a minor muscle issue and, not for the first time under Tuchel, has been forced to make himself unavailable. The Chelsea midfielder, who has started the season in fine form, has made only three appearances under Tuchel. He was left out of the World Cup squad after his formed ebbed last season and Tuchel spoke at his squad announcement of a fresh opportunity for Palmer. That will have to wait. The 24-year-old has been a virtual ever-present for Chelsea this season, contributing four goals and two assists in all competitions.
Rice’s withdrawal is not a complete surprise given his workload for a number of seasons. He needed to manage a nerve issue in a hamstring in the second-half of last season which also affected his lower back and caused the midfielder discomfort at the World Cup. He has started all of Arsenal’s Premier League matches so far this season – plus their Champions League opener against Napoli. It has been decided that a rest at this point is the wisest course of action.
Mainoo was taken off after 80 minutes of Manchester United’s game at Fulham on Sunday; a move from the manager, Michael Carrick, that led to boos from the travelling support. The midfielder was in the World Cup squad but he was the only outfield player not to get a single minute on the pitch. Tuchel has said that Mainoo’s lack of involvement was no slight on him; his ability or application levels. It was, instead, purely down to decisions that Tuchel took for technical reasons. The manager had promised to give Mainoo minutes over the coming fortnight or so.
Mainoo’s United teammate, Rashford, was substituted in the 77th minute of the Fulham game and he was seen holding the area by the front of his hip and groin as he slowly walked off. Tuchel has always championed Rashford; he called him up when he named his first squad in March of last year when the player was struggling for form. The manager wanted to show Rashford that he believed in him and he has always included the 28-year-old when he has been available.
Tuchel seemed to lose a bit of faith after Rashford played poorly against the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the last 32 of the World Cup over the summer. Thereafter, Tuchel barely used him until England’s semi-final exit against Argentina, giving him a couple of minutes as a stoppage-time substitute in that game but nothing more. He did play him for the first 45 minutes of the third place play-off against France.
Livramento was named in the World Cup squad only to suffer a calf injury in training on the eve of the tournament. The Newcastle full-back had to fly home. He underwent surgery and only returned for his club as a substitute against Bournemouth at the start of the month. He suffered a set-back in training before Newcastle’s win over Hull on Saturday and was not in the matchday squad. The 23-year-old is yet to start a game this season.
Garner comes in as a central midfield replacement for Rice and Mainoo while Gibbs-White adds to Tuchel’s options in the No 10 position in the absence of Palmer. Tuchel also has Jude Bellingham, Morgan Rogers and Eberechi Eze as No 10s. The players are due to report to St George’s Park on Tuesday.
