Thomas Tuchel ready to make ‘tough decisions’ to aid England’s World Cup chances

Thomas Tuchel says Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane cannot all play together in England’s current system and warned he will not dodge “tough decisions” for the World Cup.

Preparations for next summer’s tilt at glory are stepping up having secured their spot in North America with Thursday’s Wembley qualifier against Serbia and the Sunday trip to Albania to spare.

Bellingham and Foden have been recalled for November’s double-header and Tuchel continues to provide his players with clarity, both publicly and privately, about how he sees their roles in the set-up.

The England boss said the Real Madrid star returns as a number 10 and that he does not see the Manchester City man as a winger any more, rather a mix of a nine and 10 meaning he is also competing with captain Kane for a spot.

Asked if the high-profile trio can play together, the England boss told talkSPORT: “At the moment, if we keep the structure, they cannot play.

“They can but not in the structure, not for the balance that we developed and not for the structure that comes also with wingers who are like specialists in their positions. We play at the moment with a six, eight, a 10 and a nine.

“Especially in the number 10 position if you think about Phil who could play there, if you think about Jude, you think about Morgan Rogers, who played fantastic for us in this position.

“You have Cole Palmer, you have Morgan Gibbs-White, so there’s a lot, a lot of players, and there’s the chance that we will not take everyone.

“Simply to…not because we don’t like it, not because they don’t individually deserve it, but we will always do what’s best for the team, we will always do what’s best for winning.

“We will always do what’s best for balance and we will try to keep the clarity, even if means that we have to take tough decisions.

“We take tough decisions in any camp, and this will not change when we go to a tournament.”

Tuchel says that rather than giving “the best players a position to just have them on the field, it’s maybe better to put everyone in the best position and have a competition”.

Asked if being such a unique player almost puts extra pressure on a player like Foden, the England boss said: “Yes and no. If you’re a unique player, you can play both positions.

“I think he can play the nine, he can play the 10. It gives him, first of all, an advantage to compete for both positions.

“For Man City, he plays almost like an eight/10, so maybe during the next months we consider him as an eight.

“But, like again, I see a very, very low percentage that we take five number 10s in the number 10 position into a tournament. I don’t see how this will help us.”