Thomas Tuchel has left a number of his England hopefuls with the impression that they need to move clubs to win a place in his World Cup squad.
England secured back-to-back World Cup qualifying wins against Albania and Latvia in Tuchel’s first games as head coach, with the German using a total of 18 players.
Tuchel watched and spoke to over 50 England players before naming his 26-man squad, with notable exclusions including Jack Grealish, Harry Maguire, Jarrad Branthwaite and Morgan Gibbs-White, who was later called up after Cole Palmer’s withdrawal.
Competition for places in Tuchel’s World Cup squad is going to be fierce and players have been left under no illusions that they must be playing and performing at the highest possible level to impress England’s head coach.