Thomas Tuchel admits Jack Grealish must show “responsibility” off the pitch despite insisting he did not leave the Manchester City star out of his first England squad because of his behavior.
Grealish was one of the more high-profile omissions on Friday when Tuchel named his group for the FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia.
The 29-year-old has not made an English Premier League start for City in three months due to a combination of injuries and poor form.
Photo: Reuters
Grealish might not be making headlines on the field, but he continues to do so off it.
Pictures recently emerged of him apparently visiting several venues in the northeast of England where he reportedly bought drinks for locals at a social club.
Tuchel was adamant Grealish’s antics were not the reason for leaving him out, citing “sporting” issues instead.
“I love Jack. I love everything about him. I love his personality, I love his quality. The guy has courage, he can take the heat, he’s not afraid of the whistles when he’s on the ball,” Tuchel said.
“So, is he a player that should be available and can have an impact in our squad? Yes, 100 percent, but lately, he simply has no rhythm and he himself — and I agree 100 percent with this — said: ‘Listen, Thomas, I’m not a start-stop player — it is so hard for me to influence a match from the bench and then be on the bench again, and then two weeks later I start again,” he said.
“I’m not judging anyone, not at all, but it’s just a characteristic of Jack, and he has, of course, a character to him that he can be the glue also in the team. It’s very easy for youngsters to be attached to him and to be close to him, but this comes also with responsibility off the pitch,” he added.
Grealish had featured in the England squads selected by interim manager Lee Carsley after being left out of Gareth Southgate’s group for last year’s UEFA European Championship.
On Grealish’s unwanted headlines off the pitch, Tuchel said: “No one wants to have it, but this was not the reason for not picking him.”
“It was sporting and on his position, Anthony Gordon has just more rhythm, more minutes, more intensity and Marcus [Rashford] came in, so these were the two picks ahead of him,” he added.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
RSS