Thomas Tuchel Drops England Star From Squad to Face Serbia in Shock Decision

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Thomas Tuchel Drops England Star From Squad to Face Serbia in Shock Decision

Thomas Tuchel had to remove one player from his England squad for the trip to Serbia and has made a surprise decision.

England boss Thomas Tuchel has dropped a player from his squad for the trip to Serbia on Tuesday night.

The Three Lions travel to Belgrade for their fifth World Cup qualifier, following on from a 2-0 win over Andorra at Villa Park on Saturday.

Tuchel is expected to make changes for the tough test at the Rajko Mitic Stadium, which will have a reduced capacity following racist behaviour from home fans against Andorra in June.

He named a 24-man squad for the Belgrade trip but UEFA rules state that Tuchel could only select 23 players for the matchday and with everyone fully fit, has had to leave one star out.

Bayer Leverkusen's Jarrell Quansah was the unlucky one against Andorra and it's emerged on the morning of the game that the German has elected to omit Arsenal's Myles Lewis-Skelly, who has been a regular under him.

Myles Lewis-Skelly has travelled to Serbia but will not play. Image: Getty
Myles Lewis-Skelly has travelled to Serbia but will not play. Image: Getty

He played 90 minutes against Andorra at the weekend and after making a scoring debut in Tuchel's first game against Albania in March, has started in four out of five matches.

It means potential debutant Djed Spence, Tino Livramento and Reece James are the options to play at left-back.

Although he has lost his place to the impressive Riccardo Calafiori so far this season and made two substitute appearances in the league, Lewis-Skelly will therefore be fresh for Arsenal's visit of Nottingham Forest at the Emirates on Saturday.

The arrival of the versatile Piero Hincapie could make it harder for the 18-year-old to get minutes, which could impact his World Cup status despite a meteoric rise.

Former England star picks Lewis-Skelly in World Cup XI

However, former England and Spurs striker Darren Bent believes Lewis-Skelly is still a shoo-in at left-back even though he is a midfielder by trade.

“What he’s done for England in such a short space of time is, he has been incredible at left-back," Bent said on talkSPORT.

"Scored his first goal already as well, under Thomas Tuchel, so I’ve gone for Lewis-Skelly at left-back.

“In terms of going into the middle of the park and playing as well, he’s better with his feet. Naturally, I think he is a midfield player, Myles Lewis-Skelly. He certainly was in the Arsenal youth system.

“We’ve seen the way he’s progressed under Tuchel as well. For such a young kid, in an England shirt, he’s looked really, really good.

“I was there for his debut in the Champions League, he was unbelievable, unbelievable for Arsenal. I look at him and he looks like someone who isn’t going to get riled by anything.”

Featured Image Credit: Getty

Topics: Thomas Tuchel, England, FIFA World Cup