England boss Thomas Tuchel slammed over ‘ridiculous’ World Cup decision with Chelsea star

England boss Thomas Tuchel has been criticised over his ‘ridiculous’ decision to take Chelsea defender Reece James to the World Cup ‘with no real backup’.

Injury-prone Chelsea star James started England’s first two World Cup group games but has not been seen since due to a hamstring injury.

Any hopes of the 26-year-old returning against Mexico were dashed as James missed England’s final training session ahead of the last-16 game.

James is still yet to train fully with the squad, with the Football Association saying he is following his own individual programme away from his teammates.

That means James is a huge doubt to feature for England if they do get past co-hosts Mexico and reach the quarter-finals.

Jermaine Jenas understands why Tuchel took James to the World Cup but says it was ‘ridiculous’ not to provide any ‘real backup’ in the squad.

Djed Spence is expected to play in that position against Mexico, with Tuchel not selecting Real Madrid’s Trent Alexander-Arnold in the England squad and long-term right-back Kyle Walker retiring from international duty before the tournament.

England’s lack of options at right-back led Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice to fill in in the latter stages of the last-16 win over DR Congo.

Asked whether playing Rice in that role was an admission that Tuchel got his squad selection wrong, Jenas told 10bet: ‘I don’t think he even needed that.

‘I think taking Reece James to a major tournament with no real backup is just ridiculous.

‘I love Reece James, I think everybody loves Reece James as a footballer, but taking him on the basis of, “Well, I’ve got Djed Spence that can fill in there” – I mean…

‘I don’t care what anyone tells me, I will never, ever listen to anybody that tells me Trent Alexander-Arnold should not be at this World Cup. He is easily one of our 26 best players.

‘And when you look at our lack of creativity in these games at times, we’ve kind of been a bit one-trick-pony-ish. And Trent’s not that.

‘If teams sit in and you have somebody like Trent on the ball, you have to get to him because he’s just going to keep doing what he does from the halfway line if he has to.

‘And I don’t think he needed Declan at right-back to be the thing that stands out. I really respect Thomas Tuchel, I think he’s just laid it all on the line.

‘In his mind, he’s, “If I don’t win, I don’t care if I get sacked because that’s my objective.” He’s not an England manager that’s looking for longevity.

‘He’s coming in and going, “I’m going to do it my way, and if I get sacked after Mexico, I get sacked, but I gave it a go.” That’s what his mentality is.

‘How Trent Alexander-Arnold is out of this squad, only he knows. But he’s gambling it all on that because that’s the only reason, from my point of view, why I would really question him.’

French World Cup winner Marcel Desailly has provided a similar assessment of England’s right-back issues to Sportscasting.

‘I am a little bit surprised on the right side of the defence, and the limited options England have,’ the former Chelsea defender said.

‘Reece James… we know he’s going to get injured. You have the statistics, you know it.

‘Okay, he can play in midfield to help a little bit, so that’s an option, which is great.

‘If you put him at right back, on his day, there isn’t a better one because he’s so intelligent, but his physicality has always been a major worry. 

‘Meanwhile, Tuchel decides to leave Trent Alexander-Arnold out, a guy that has unbelievable ability with the ball. His free-kicks and deliveries are key.

‘Instead of asking Bellingham to run all over the park, England had a technical weapon in Alexander-Arnold, and he’s not even in the squad.  

‘Okay, Foden, okay, Palmer – we understand why both of those players aren’t there, and you also have options to replace them.

‘But on the right side… James cannot project himself like he did before. He has not yet recovered 100% from his injury, but he’s a guarantee for the team in terms of identifying the momentum to go forward. So it is what it is.

‘England had to put Spence, a player who is normally on the left, but also has the ability to play on the right, at right back.

‘So for me, the decision not to take Alexander-Arnold looks really strange when you see the limited options available to Tuchel in the absence of James. 

‘I think it is a decision from Tuchel to remove Alexander-Arnold because he’s a leader, and Tuchel wants to create a different dynamic in the group. We understand.

‘But for James, you knew out of the six matches you were supposed to play, when you look at the stats, you knew that he was going to be unavailable for a couple of matches because of his physical problems.’

England topped Group L with two wins and a draw before staging a late comeback to beat DR Congo in their first knockout game.

Mexico, meanwhile, who are yet to concede a goal, topped Group A with a perfect record before beating Ecuador in the round-of-32.

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