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England boss Thomas Tuchel has urged Manchester United star Marcus Rashford not to “fall back on old routines” following his call-up to the national team for the first time in 12 months.
Tuchel announced his first squad as England gaffer earlier on Friday and Rashford was included.
It’s time to reveal Thomas Tuchel’s first #ThreeLions squad! 👀🏴
— England (@England) March 14, 2025
The Three Lions are set to face Albania and Latvia at Wembley in their first World Cup 2026 qualifiers.
Rashford has enjoyed a dramatic turnaround in form since leaving United and joining Aston Villa on loan during the January transfer window.
Rashford has yet to score a goal for Villa but has provided four assists in the nine appearances he’s made across all competitions.
Speaking about his decision to call up Rashford, Tuchel told reporters [via 90min], “With Marcus, he is a familiar face but a different situation.”
“I felt that he had a huge impact at Aston Villa, he made a huge impact from the bench mostly. The impact was impressive. The physical impact was impressive and most importantly, his work rate, his defensive ability and tracking back was impressive.”
Tuchel pointedly added, “I had the strong feeling that we should nominate him, bring him in and to push him to stay on that level to not fall back on old routines. This camp is to push him to stay on this level.”
The England boss further stated about his squad selections, “Everyone who is with us on this journey and in this first camp is a contender for the World Cup. Every player is part of this first step. At the same time, it’s only the first step so the nomination is not the nomination for America.”
“We had tough decisions to take and we didn’t make it easy for ourselves. We waited very long until Champions League games were over until we took our last decisions. It is important to be in the first camp and if you are in the first camp, you are in the first step of the journey.”
Reacting to his return to England, Rashford wrote on his Instagram story, “Never stop believing. Can’t wait to get started.”
Meanwhile, United are back in action on Sunday when they go away to the King Power Stadium to take on Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Leicester City.
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