Gary Lineker says he was ‘surprised’ by a number of Thomas Tuchel’s selections for England’s World Cup squad, including the ‘baffling’ omission of Lewis Hall.
Newcastle United defender Hall was surprisingly overlooked by Tuchel, who last month picked the 26 players he would take to the United States as the Three Lions bid to win the World Cup.
Manchester City’s Nico O’Reilly is expected to be England’s first-choice left-back during the World Cup, while Tuchel also called up Hall’s Newcastle teammate Dan Burn and Tottenham defender Djed Spence.
Lineker found Hall’s absence ‘baffling’, however, and says he was surprised Chelsea’s Cole Palmer and Manchester United’s Harry Maguire were both overlooked.
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‘It certainly surprised me but I would say that everyone has their own view on this and pretty much everyone will differ from the England manager in one or two positions,’ Lineker said on The Rest is Football podcast.
‘All that matters really is what the England manager thinks, but there are a few things I can’t understand.
‘It won’t matter one iota if England go all the way and win the World Cup and Thomas Tuchel has said it’s not about picking the most talented players, it’s about putting a team together, and I totally get that.
‘I think there were a couple of standout ones for me. Everyone would choose a different squad and there’s only one opinion that counts but I found Lewis Hall’s omission hard to understand, I really did.
‘He’s been brilliant this season. Tuchel has talked about Djed Spence being the second-choice left-back but he’s more of a right-back and he spoke about his pace if we come up against a really quick winger.
‘But Lewis Hall was the only player I’ve really seen cope with Lamine Yamal this season. So I found that decision a little bit baffling.’
Discussing Palmer’s omission, legendary England striker Lineker added: ‘I was disappointed about Cole Palmer because Noni Madueke had an okay season but he plays second fiddle to Bukayo Saka most of the time.
‘Cole gives you something different he’s a moment player. Also, if we rewind 12 months he was the player of the tournament at the Club World Cup where this tournament is being played.
‘Yes he’s been injured a lot this season but he was out in patches and I think he showed that sharpness in Chelsea’s last few games and was coming back into form.’
Lineker also branded Maguire ‘really unlucky’ not to be going to another major tournament with England.
‘I think Harry Maguire was really unlucky,’ he said. ‘Tuchel spoke very highly of Dan Burn and said he could be a real leader in there.
‘I suspected he wouldn’t pick both of them because they’re similar players in many ways, but Maguire is really unlucky because he had the advantage of playing at major international tournaments where he’s always played well and never let England down.’
One last decision that ‘really surprised’ Lineker was Ivan Toney’s inclusion after spending the last two seasons in Saudi Arabia with Al-Ahli.
‘I was really surprised about Ivan Toney as well, that one came out of nowhere,’ said Lineker, who was the top goalscorer at the 1986 World Cup.
‘I don’t think anyone was talking about him because he’s been playing in the Saudi league for a couple of years. He’s a good player of course but I did find that slightly surprising.’
England kick-start their World Cup campaign on June 17 against Croatia, before two more group games against Ghana and Panama.
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