Thomas Tuchel has opened the door for Max Dowman to gatecrash the England World Cup squad, saying the Arsenal prodigy’s youth ought not to be a barrier. The England manager did not include the 16-year-old in a 35-man selection for the Wembley friendlies against Uruguay next Friday and Japan four days after.
Tuchel has gone for the oversized group to manage the minutes of the players at a taxing and pivotal stage of the season. He will have 24 of them – including four goalkeepers – for the Uruguay game before he substitutes in 11 more senior options for Japan, asking a host of the original squad to drop out. He said there would be no more than 23 outfield players for the second game.
