Thomas Tuchel questioned over plans to hand England debut to man not named in World Cup squad

Thomas Tuchel’s ruthlessness has been questioned ahead of England’s first pre-World Cup friendly.

The Three Lions face New Zealand in Tampa on Saturday, live on talkSPORT.

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Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott is expected to make his senior international debut in the match.

It comes despite the 22-year-old not being named in Tuchel’s final 26-man squad for this summer’s tournament.

Instead, Scott is one of five players to have joined England for their training camp in Florida ahead of the finals.

Jason Steele, Josh King, Ethan Nwaneri and Rio Ngumoha also arrived alongside the rest of the squad on Monday.

However, the decision to potentially hand Scott his debut has surprised talkSPORT’s Scott Minto.

The former England under-21 international believes Tuchel should instead be utilising those who will be at his disposal during the World Cup.

Reacting to the news on Wednesday’s Kick Off, Minto was asked about Scott’s involvement by Hugh Woozencroft.

In response, he explained: “I must admit I don’t get it. I know obviously Declan Rice, along with other Arsenal players, but he’s the midfielder, he’s joining up late and rightly so, but is there not enough in the squad?

“You’re going to have to deal with a 26 that you’ve chosen, unless of course someone gets injured during the tournament.

“So if someone does get injured, you need to think, ‘right, what would I do? Would I put Reece James in there maybe and put someone else at right-back?’”

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Those players who were involved in European finals last week have been given extended time off before joining their team-mates.

Crystal Palace’s Dean Henderson arrived in Florida later than the rest of the squad following their Conference League victory.

Meanwhile, Arsenal stars Declan Rice, Eberechi Eze, Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke are also yet to join up with the squad.

Minto continued: “So personally, I’m pleased for Alex Scott and you never know. We know what happened with Trevor Sinclair back in 2002.

“He wasn’t in the original squad, Danny Murphy got injured, Trev came in. He ended up playing all the way through and played in the Argentina game. He played in the Brazil game.

“So you never know what can happen, but I still feel you’ve picked a 26.

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“We talked about how he’s ruthless and it feels like he’s going back on that and not thinking, ‘what would I do with this 26 if someone did get injured in midfield?’”

Scott was handed his first senior England call-up in November, but was only an unused substitute in a win over Albania.

The Cherries star previously won both the Under-21 and Under-19 Euros with the Young Lions.

Meanwhile, Scott is fresh from helping Bournemouth finish sixth and qualify for next season’s Europa League.

Across 37 Premier League appearances last term, he scored three goals and provided an assist.

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