Tuchel

[Duffers]

Pending the WC performance, good!

After a shaky start, qualification was effortless, Pickford’s record sublime and a good example of how not to make mistakes. But most impressively, he stood-up to worldwide fanboy pin-up Big Balls Bellingham, dropped him, and we look miles better for it. Not saying Jude should never feature again of course, but to be encouraged to focus upon what matters most; opposed to how he’s trending, how many followers/hits he has, or standing stupidly while looking menacingly in adverts (sporting the latest overpriced Adidas boots or a bottle of Lucozade). Despite that overhead shinned effort in the last tourno (and since), he’s been largely gash for England, and fair play to TT for taking action on that; when so many previous managers simply wouldn’t have.

I hope, in Tuchel, we finally have a man who doesn’t simply revert to favourites. Let’s see how he fares in a tournament environment - some are naturals, others aren’t. We will find out soon enough.

Bellingham's undoubtedly a class player and definitely needs to be in the squad, but right now it's hard to make a case for him starting the WC over Rogers or Palmer (who's coming back with a bang).