Thomas Tuchel bemoaned Cole Palmer’s latest “missed opportunity” to impress but insists there is no distrust over the Chelsea star and England’s other withdrawals.
The 24-year-old has made only three international appearances since the German took charge at the start of last year and, despite featuring in both March friendlies, was overlooked for a World Cup place.
Palmer was recalled for the new three-week Nations League meet-up but was among five players to pull out of the England squad before they convened at St George’s Park.
Load management has been mentioned as an explanation, but Tuchel says “discomfort and pain” is to blame for an absence that has frustrated the national team boss.
“For sure it’s a missed opportunity,” Tuchel said. “It’s another missed opportunity.
“He misses too many opportunities, and I don’t blame him for it. It’s just the fact.
“He misses way too many camps with injuries and I only want to rely on what I personally witness and what I see within my team, and for that you have to be in camp.
“If you’re not in camp, there’s a next level to impress that you cannot achieve because you only can do it when you’re actually with me on the pitch and with us on the pitch so, yeah, it is a missed opportunity.”
Declan Rice, Marcus Rashford, Kobbie Mainoo and Tino Livramento also withdrew from the squad on Monday, but Tuchel insists he trusts the players and says such absences are “not on my list of worries”.
“My focus is 100 per cent with the players who are there,” he said. “That’s what they deserve, and this is how I am wired.
“There is no threat, and there is no distrust, and there is no threat of consequences now.”
Tuchel is focused “on the guys who absolutely want to play for England” during this four-match meet-up, which kicks off with Saturday’s Nations League opener against Spain at a sold-out Wembley.
It is the sides’ first meeting since Palmer scored in the Euro 2024 final defeat to La Roja, who would have awaited in July’s World Cup final was it not for the crushing late semi-final collapse to Argentina.
Asked if the fact ball possession being part of Spain’s DNA gives them an advantage on Saturday, Tuchel said: “I think it’s an advantage in general, not only towards us, but towards everyone.
“This is how they play. I think they rely on that. This is how they train, how they are brought up, and this is how they play football. This is clearly part of them.
“But, at the moment, I think the more you analyse Spain and the more you analyse their last matches, the last competitions they played in, you have to admire how they defend.
“They added this to the work against the ball. It’s collective work and they are just masters in delaying and masters in pushing you to wide areas where they can initiate the press.
“They have world-class goalkeepers, three of them, but they’re hardly tested. It is so difficult, obviously, for every single team in the world to create chances against them.
“We want to, of course. We have a plan and we have ambition, and we want to be the ones who prove the opposite and we want to be the exception of the rule. But they are at the moment a very complete team.”
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