Five Arsenal players have been named in Thomas Tuchel’s latest England squad, but there is one notable Gunner missing from the group.
Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Eberechi Eze and Ezri Konsa have all been selected for England’s extended international break, which will see the Three Lions play four UEFA Nations League matches.
However, Noni Madueke has been left out despite being part of England’s World Cup squad this summer, while Lewis-Skelly has earned a recall after missing the tournament entirely.
Madueke the big Arsenal omission
Madueke’s absence is arguably the biggest Arsenal talking point from the latest squad announcement.
The winger featured for England at the World Cup and earned considerable praise for what he brought to Tuchel’s side.
That makes his omission this time particularly interesting, especially when he had seemingly established himself as a useful option within Tuchel’s squad during the summer.
No reason has been given for Madueke’s absence in the squad announcement, so for now it is simply a notable selection decision by the England manager.
Lewis-Skelly earns his England return
In contrast, Lewis-Skelly is back in the senior England setup.
The Arsenal youngster was left out of the World Cup squad after a season in which his first-team minutes had become more limited. Just Arsenal covered Lewis-Skelly’s World Cup omission at the time, with his lack of regular football appearing to have worked against him despite previously earning Tuchel’s trust.
His recall therefore represents a significant turnaround and suggests he remains firmly in the England manager’s thinking.
Konsa now represents Arsenal as well as England
There is another change to the Arsenal contingent compared with the World Cup.
Konsa was part of England’s squad in North America, but at that stage he was still an Aston Villa player.
The defender completed his move to Arsenal in August, meaning he now joins Rice, Saka, Eze and Lewis-Skelly in representing the Gunners in Tuchel’s latest squad.
Rice and Saka return after playing starring roles in England’s final World Cup match, when the Three Lions beat France 6-4 in the third-place play-off. Rice opened the scoring while Saka struck a memorable hat-trick.
Four Nations League matches await England
As confirmed by Arsenal, England begin against World Cup winners Spain at Wembley on Saturday, September 26.
They then travel to Prague to face Czechia on Tuesday, September 29 before heading to Croatia on Saturday, October 3.
The lengthy international window concludes with another meeting against Czechia at Wembley on Tuesday, October 6.
For Arsenal, it means five players heading away with England, one more than the four Gunners who went to the World Cup, but with a significant change in personnel.
Lewis-Skelly is back, Konsa is now an Arsenal player, and Madueke is the man who surprisingly misses out.
Gooners, are you surprised to see Noni Madueke left out of the England squad, and are you pleased to see Myles Lewis-Skelly earn his recall?_____________________________________________________________________________________________
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Maybe Tuchel saw Noni miss the sitter against Sunderland? Can’t complain about the performances of the players selected, they have had impacts on the games we played.
I am actually glad Noni was not selected, we need players rested and fresh for after the break, I will take as many as I can get. I wish they could all be rested for a non world cup year, but alas not up to me.
Not surprised Madueke has been left out, but I am amazed Eze has been included, when Touchel has just said on Sky TV that “form” is the main factor surrounding selection.As for MLS, here again his selection surprised me ,and the likes of Wharton and Gibbs White must feel there is a bias against certain lower profile Clubs.At least Tuchel has acknowledged the class of Scott of Bournemouth who has made it impossible for him to be omitted.
Grandad,
Good points well made sir. 👍
Hope they come back strong, in good health and in form so that we attack the coming fixtures with high intensity and consistency with a high level to our winning ways. Madueke is short of some clinical attributes like finishing, and setting up the strikers (feeding them with killer passes) #COYG…
@Alafat Sharma
“Madueke is short of some clinical attributes like finishing, and setting up the strikers (feeding them with killer passes)”
Madueke did that in his latest game for Arsenal, where he had a strong performance. His goal was excellent and his superb crosses in front of goal as well. Gyökeres just was not ready, too slow.
One really good game alone doesn’t do it, and Tuchel has rightly selected players according to their match form here at the start of the season, therefore I think it is justified to leave Madueke out here. However, I am a little surprised by the selection of Eze, because I don’t really think he has started this season well. Only the first time he came in from the bench this year did he play well, only for 20 minutes.