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As Thomas Tuchel begins to put together his final preparations for this summer’s World Cup, one of the England boss’s biggest selection quandaries centres on what to do in the number 10 spot.
The German has the attacking trio of Morgan Rogers, Cole Palmer and Jude Bellingham at his disposal, who are all part of an exciting new wave of English talent that have burst on to the scene together.
Morgan Rogers on rising through the ranks with Palmer and Bellingham
Aston Villa attacker Rogers clearly remembers that fateful day when the three of them pulled on an England shirt for the first time a decade ago.
“I can remember it vividly – we won the game 5-2,” he recalls to FourFourTwo. “I think Cole assisted my first goal, actually. That’s what the path is about: moments, experiences. I believe I played at every age group for England, so it shows to me how much it means to be in the junior teams, to work with those coaches and to improve each year.
“It’s massive, and knowing players who’ve made it with you, after playing with them for so long, that’s really nice.”
The trio have continued along this pathway right up to the senior England side, with Rogers admitting that he did not think all three would make it up through the ranks together.
“No, of course not,” he admits. “It’s one in however many players that make it, so to have a few from the same group is probably unheard of.
“But I think that shows the younger generations are getting better and the pool of talent is just getting bigger and bigger.”
With the World Cup less than two months away, Rogers, Bellingham and Palmer all appear to be competiting for that same number 10 spot, so does the fact they have all been friends for so long make that easier?
“We don’t look at it like that,” Rogers continues. “We let everyone else do the debates of who should be playing and in what position, those aren’t for us. We’re there to win matches for England – we’re all on the same team, we all want to do well, we all have the motivation to win and will do what it takes.
“We all have different qualities, different abilities and different styles, as we play for different clubs. People might see it as competing, but we’re trying to get the best out of each other for England to win. However that looks, we’ll all accept it and go with it.
“The manager ultimately makes the decisions, and we do what we can to show our ability on the world stage.”
Rogers was speaking during a visit to Puma’s first European flagship store, on Oxford Street in London.
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