Job Bellingham and Josh King have been called up by England
Jobe Bellingham and Josh King are the headline names after Thomas Tuchel named both midfielders in his England squad for the Nations League games against Croatia and Spain. Borussia Dortmund’s Bellingham, 21, joins his brother Jude in the senior squad after impressing as Under-21 captain.
The rise of the king was equally rapid. The 19-year-old has been a central midfielder for Fulham this season and his two Premier League goals make him the league’s top scorer. He toured with England’s squad ahead of the summer’s World Cup and continued to attract the attention of the Under-21s.
Main events
Well, I’ll hand you over to Tom Bassam for more England reaction and more…
Some reaction from Fulham boss Alvaro Arbeloa following Josh King’s England call-up.
“Yes, I think it’s a special moment for him, for us as a club and obviously for our supporters.
“I think that Josh is the pride of our club and our fans. He came to this club when he was eight years old. Looking at him now, how he plays, how he performs, we are proud of him.
“I think it’s a big step for him and I’m really happy for him because he’s a very humble kid. You can see every day that he wants to improve, he wants to work, he wants to be a better player every day. So I think it’s a special day for him and for all of us.”
That’s plenty of time for the Bellinghams. Jude and Jobe’s dad Mark was called up by the England Veterans over 50 team last weekend.
He is a retired police sergeant with West Midlands Police and reportedly scored more than 700 goals during his long non-league career.
A few more lines from the England announcement…
Djed Spence and Declan Rice are back. Both of them could not participate in the last camp due to injuries.
Ben White returns to the squad for the first time since March after being ruled out of this summer’s World Cup.
What do we do next? Is Josh King a better player than Cole Palmer? It seems to go beyond just the ability to play. Tuchel’s press conference is set for 11am, so we’ll see how he explains what seems like a huge snub.
The full England squad; Cole Palmer was out
The other big news announced in Tuchel’s squad is that there is no place for Cole Palmer again. Other surprise releases include Noni Madueke and Kobbie Mainoo.
Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford (Everton), Jason Steele (Brighton and Hove Albion), James Trafford (Leeds United)
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Real Madrid), Jarrad Branthwaite (Everton), Mark Guéhi (Manchester City), Lewis Hall (Newcastle United), Ezri Konsa (Arsenal), Jarell Guansah (Bayer Leverkusen), Jed Spence (Inter Milan), Ben White (Arsenal)
Midfielders: Elliot Anderson (Manchester City), Job Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), James Garner (Everton), Josh King (Fulham), Miles Lewis-Skelley (Arsenal), Declan Rice (Arsenal)
Strikers: Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Leeds United), Eberechi Eze (Arsenal), Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest), Anthony Gordon (Barcelona), Harry Kane (Bayern), Rio Ngumoha (Liverpool), Morgan Rodgers (Chelsea)
Job Bellingham and Josh King have been called up by England
Jobe Bellingham and Josh King are the headline names after Thomas Tuchel named both midfielders in his England squad for the Nations League games against Croatia and Spain. Borussia Dortmund’s Bellingham, 21, joins his brother Jude in the senior squad after impressing as Under-21 captain.
The rise of the king was equally rapid. The 19-year-old has been a central midfielder for Fulham this season and his two Premier League goals make him the league’s top scorer. He traveled with the England squad ahead of the summer’s World Cup and continued to attract attention from the Under-21s.
Fifa wants to hold talks with the IOC about restricting the Olympic women’s soccer tournament to under-23s due to concerns about fixture congestion and the workload of older players. Here’s a Matt Hughes exclusive.
The death of Jesús de Miguel Alameda is still difficult to understand. Absolutely tragic.
Sid Lowe: “Football should be a safe space, a refuge, an escape. All those lines about putting your life on the line don’t have to be literal. It didn’t make any sense. The images and the result were shocking; the conflicting combination of the impossibility and believability of it all still made it hard for anyone to come to terms with it: yet it could happen.”
Frank Lampard’s return to Everton kicks off this week’s 10 Things column. Also… Glasner Bushfire, Zubimendi v Kroupi in focus and Carrick v Emery.
The Premier League weekend kicks off tonight with Everton v Coventry. A few things…
1) Rank those fantasy teams in time.
2) This City Is Ours will have to wait until the full day. Tonight’s Merseyside pitch war comes first – watch it via MBM.
If Frank Lampard’s guests win, they will increase their number of points to 12. Andrew Beasley explains why this matters.
Summary of last night’s action in Europe. It’s now seven wins in all competitions for Bournemouth, but they’re not happy at Sunderland.
Paul MacInnes was at Selhurst Park to see 10-man Palace draw.
“After beating a side currently in the bottom half of the Bundesliga and scoring a goal in the seventh minute, Palace looked to have given up hope when Adam Wharton was sent off with 13 minutes remaining…”
Some chats ahead of the England team announcement we expect at 10am GMT. England go into the last two games with nine points after three wins and one loss.
Cole Palmer. Chelsea man was ruled out of the September/October squad due to injury, prompting a frustrated reaction from Thomas Tuchel, who said the 24-year-old had missed too many camps. Does he have another chance?
Saka left, but who enters from the right? Bukayo Saka misses this international break after picking up a quadriceps problem in the 2-2 Champions League draw with Bayern Munich. Arsenal counterpart Noni Madueke looks the obvious replacement.
Goalkeeper controversy. Jordan Pickford faces genuine competition for the No.1 spot for the first time in his England career, with James Trafford starting two of the four autumn games. Dean Henderson is also likely to return after recovering from injury.
Will Lankshear. Young people can The striker, who left Tottenham for Middlesbrough in the summer, received a surprise call-up. Harry Kane and all that was taken under his wing. Lankshear’s 15 goals in 16 appearances for Boro this season is certainly Kane-like.
Preamble
If England’s Champions League sides presented a mixed bag earlier in the week, Thursday’s Europa League action was no different.
Bournemouth’s winning streak continued as 10-man Crystal Palace held on for a last-gasp draw with Sunderland fuming after losing at home to Dinamo Zagreb. Elsewhere, it was a thrilling comeback win for Celtic and Brighton still don’t know what it’s like to concede a goal in the Conference League after winning 1-0 at Getafe.
But that’s last night’s news. Football never stops and today all eyes are on announcing England’s squad for their final two Nations League group stage games against Croatia and Spain. Expect white smoke around 10am.
This latest frustrating international break starts next week, but before then it’s another round of Premier League action. We will have talks and managers throughout the day.
Alright, let’s get started!