Tuchel’s England squad selection is controversial, but could give regional teams food for thought

LONDON: An England tournament squad announcement and a media meltdown are not new bedfellows.

There was something all too predictable about the furor — from the keyboard warriors as well as seasoned hacks — surrounding Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup squad announcement on Friday, which followed a series of leaks and frenzied speculation throughout the week.

That scrutiny centered less on the players who were actually named, and much more on the omission of household names.

In the hours since the squad was officially revealed, the focus has been on there being no Phil Foden, Trent Alexander-Arnold or Cole Palmer in the 26-man squad. Calls controversial enough to trigger the usual tidal wave of outrage from pundits, former players and social media tacticians.

But, much like his entire tenure in the one of the most pressurized jobs in world football, there has been something refreshing in the manner in which Tuchel has handled it.

He simply does not appear to care.

For far too long, England managers have operated under the crushing weight of English public expectation and, at times, brutal tabloid pressure.

Previous managers have often looked trapped between football decisions and media narratives. The so-called “Golden Generation” era became notorious for shoehorning famous names into the same side regardless of tactical balance. Managers frequently appeared terrified of the backlash that would follow leaving out a star player.

Squad selections often felt like uneasy compromises between tactical planning and national popularity contests. If enough on Fleet Street demanded a player’s inclusion for long enough, eventually that player usually found himself on the plane, regardless of the manager’s wishes.

Tuchel, however,