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.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
THRILLER: Raphinha gave Barca a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining of regular time, but Francesco Acerbi equalized the game in the second minute of added time Davide Frattesi on Tuesday fired Inter into the UEFA Champions League final with an extra-time winner that gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate. Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy. Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, Germany, where they would feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for