Jude Bellingham benched! Thomas Tuchel to name strong England XI for Serbia clash but Real Madrid star set to miss out

The Aston Villa midfielder has had a run of games in Tuchel's Three Lions side, starting as an attacking midfielder during October's wins over Latvia and Wales, and the September victory over Serbia. Rogers has enjoyed his time in the national setup since the start of the 2025-26 season, scoring a goal and logging an assist.

Bellingham has repeatedly been deployed as a No.10 in the England side, but was not included in the October squad. Tuchel said the 22-year-old needed to get his "rhythm" back. Bellingham missed the first four games of the domestic season for Los Blancos, starting for the first time in Real Madrid's 5-2 loss to inter-city rivals Atletico on September 25. There are signs that the former Borussia Dortmund superstar is returning to his best, bagging a goal and an assist in last month's El Clasico.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, the ex-Chelsea, PSG and Borussia Dortmund coach said both players are competing for the same berth in his team, and that he would want to deploy his players in their best position rather than force them into the side.

“Rather than finding the best players a position to just have them on the field, it’s maybe better to put everyone in their best position and have a competition. At the moment, the competition is between the two of them,” Tuchel said.

“They are friends so it can also be a friendly competition. They don’t have to be enemies. They don’t have to hate each other. They are respectful. They are friends with each other and they fight at the moment for the same position.

“Can they play together? Yes, but in a different structure and at the moment it’s not the moment to change our structure.”

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Tuchel continued to lay down his vision for his England side in an interview with talkSPORT The German was asked whether Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane could all exist within the confines of his team.

"At the moment, if we keep the structure, they cannot play," Tuchel replied. They can, but not in the structure. Not for the balance that we developed, and not for structure that comes also with wingers who are like specialists in their positions. We play at the moment with a six, eight, a 10 and a nine."

Tuchel's approach to team-building rails against previous managers' attempts at bringing glory to the Three Lions. Sven Goran Eriksson struggled to find a formation that could include all four of Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Paul Scholes and David Beckham, with Scholes shunted to the left-side of a flat midfield during his tenure. Sir Gareth Southgate's side scrapped their way to a finals berth in Euros 2024, despite the apparent struggles of Foden, Kane and Bellingham to bring the best out of each other in Germany.

Prioritising a style of play, and a functioning tactical system, rather than concede to the demands of name power has certainly worked for the 52-year-old so far. England have already qualified for next year's expanded World Cup in North America, winning all six of their games in their group without conceding a goal. Granted, the level of opposition has hardly challenged his supremely talented squad.

Bellingham's ongoing 'exclusion': first from the squad following his injury, and now from the starting eleven, does carry risk. The 22-year-old is a fiercely competitive and proud operator that will view himself as a nailed on starter in any side. Many England fans will share that opinion. Whatever happens, there will certainly be plenty of debate about Tuchel's management of one of his most high-profile players ahead of a make or break tournament for this crop of England players.

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