Adam Wharton "has won Thomas Thuchel over", but the partnership of Elliot Anderson and Declan Rice may prevent him from earning a starting position for England, says the Sunday Times' chief football writer Jonathan Northcroft. The Crystal Palace midfielder was omitted from this camp because manager Tuchel wanting to stick to the same players he picked last time - much to the surprise of pundits and fans. "Wharton is a really special player and he would have had more caps if it wasn't for injuries," Northcroft told BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast.
Adam Wharton "has won Thomas Thuchel over", but the partnership of Elliot Anderson and Declan Rice may prevent him from earning a starting position for England, says the Sunday Times' chief football writer Jonathan Northcroft.
The Crystal Palace midfielder was omitted from this camp because manager Tuchel wanting to stick to the same players he picked last time - much to the surprise of pundits and fans.
"Wharton is a really special player and he would have had more caps if it wasn't for injuries," Northcroft told BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast. "He has been unfortunate.
"Tuchel a year ago was probably a Wharton skeptic because he likes the athletic profile of a midfielder - like Declan Rice. That means he probably had doubts about Wharton's dynamism.
"He has now won Tuchel over and he did want to get him in the squad, so I do think he would have picked him had he not have wanted to keep the same camp.
"Tuchel has got himself into a nice position now, so that players like Wharton, Jude Bellingham and Jack Grealish know they have to be playing well to get into the squad.
"The difficulty for Wharton is that Elliot Anderson and Declan Rice are looking so good together. Tuchel agrees because he is already talking about them as some form of anchoring point.
"So it will be difficult, but he is such a special player so surely he gets in the squad."
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Category: General Sports
