Former Premier League striker Troy Deeney believes two players should have gotten the England nod over Marcus Rashford.
Thomas Tuchel’s first England squad announcement included some surprises, both in who he decided to include and those he opted to leave out.
Rashford’s first involvement since March 2024 is a surprise especially given he has only rediscovered his spark since moving to Aston Villa on loan in January, playing just nine games.
However, Tuchel believes those nine games are enough and if he is opting to select players based on form, then he certainly falls into that category.
Granted, there is still a power vacuum on the left-hand side of their attack with the likes of Anthony Gordon and Phil Foden both playing there in the past year, while Borussia Dortmund’s Jamie Gittens sits lying in waiting after his impressive season in Germany.
Two players who Deeney believes should have been included are Rashford’s teammate Jacob Ramsey and Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White, two players who have been impressive all season long and that’s why Deeney has spoken out on their omission.
“Obviously he’s trying to get back up to speed and it’s hard mid-season when you’re trying to catch up and everyone is in full flow,” Deeney told talkSPORT on Rashford’s loan spell. “There’s not a deep pool of number nines. Potentially that’s why Marcus has gone in there to be the second or third no.9.
“I’m not (having that), to be honest with you. I want to make this very clear; this is not about Marcus Rashford. It’s not about him. It’s about the other guys who have been working week in, week out and putting in stellar performances and then being overlooked because of the name of Marcus Rashford.
“Players like Morgan Gibbs-White or even Jacob Ramsey at Aston Villa, he’s been excellent.”
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Tuchel’s reasoning behind Rashford selection
Having been selected, Rashford took to social media to show his gratitude to Tuchel as he wrote: “Never stop believing *England flag emoji* Can’t wait to get started *praying emoji*.”
Tuchel’s reasoning behind selecting him points towards the idea of rewarding and selecting on current form and experience more than anything else. “With Marcus, he is a familiar face but a different situation,” the England boss said.
“I felt that he had a huge impact at Aston Villa, he made a huge impact from the bench mostly. The impact was impressive. The physical impact was impressive and most importantly, his workrate, his defensive ability and tracking back was impressive.
“I had the strong feeling that we should nominate him, bring him in and to push him to stay on that level to not fall back on old routines. This camp is to push him to stay on this level.”
