حذر توماس توخيل من أن قرار تريفو تشالوبا قد ينقلب عليه كما أوضح استبعاد ترينت ألكسندر-أرنولد

Thomas Tuchel’s decision to potentially use Jarrell Quansah as an emergency full-back has been questioned.

The Bayer Leverkusen defender is now designated right and left-back cover, after Newcastle United‘s Tino Livramento was ruled out of the World Cup on the eve of their opening game.

Quansah will play at centre-back, but also cover the full-back positionsGetty

The setback should come as no surprise to Tuchel, as the 23-year-old missed a significant portion of the end of the season with a thigh issue.

It also meant Trent Alexander-Arnold was overlooked for the second time with Trevor Chalobah drafted in as a replacement. This leaves Reece James as the only recognised right-back in the squad.

With the media questioning the England boss’ thinking, Tuchel justified his decision by explaining that the Chelsea defender will be acting as a central defender, while Quansah will be handed the responsibility of backup right and left-back.

Despite playing centre-back for his current club in Germany, all three of Quansah’s appearances for the Three Lions have seen him line up at right-back.

However, he has yet to play on the opposite side of the pitch.

On talkSPORT’s Daily Podcast, commentator Jim Proudfoot stated his hesitation regarding the logic.

He said: “I find it really weird his comment that he’s bringing Chalobah in as a centre half so Quansah can play as cover for both sides.

“Quansah has never played a senior minute of football at left-back. Not for England, Liverpool or Leverkusen. He’s played up front but never at left-back.”

He added: “I was really surprised and I may have misread it but I can’t believe that Lewis Hall hadn’t been picked given he could cover both sides.

“There’s a myriad of different options but it looks like Quansah is the first choice centre-half. However, every minute Quansah has played international football, it’s been at right-back.”

James is the only official right-back in the 26-man squad, with Nico O’Reilly and Djed Spence also on hand to improviseGetty

While James will be the preferred option out wide, his reliability remains an issue for England, with the Chelsea right-back only recently returning from his tenth hamstring injury in six years.

Gareth Southgate previously fell victim to experimenting at a major tournament, including starting Alexander-Arnold in midfield, which proved unsuccessful.

Why was Trent left out again?

Tuchel has been vocal about his preference for physical defenders, rather than skillful ones, and has often chosen individuals to play out of position, including Trent’s former Liverpool teammate Curtis Jones.

The Real Madrid superstar was understood to be in the 55-man provisional squad, however, has never played in the ex-Chelsea manager’s first 14 games in charge of England.

Former Three Lions star Stuart Pearce was not shocked by his omission.

He said: “We would have been astounded if he did get called up, for various reasons which have been mooted.

“Whether that be his friendship with Jude Bellingham and their dynamic in the camp, his defensive prowess has been mooted as well.

“Or it could have been a personal issue between the coach and player.”

The two have always had a close bond while in the camp togetherGetty

He added: “The one thing Trent has got is a lot of supporters in the media who like his style of play and his ability to create from deep positions and that’s why he has so many people around him that want to push his name forward.”

Trust in Tuchel

When Tuchel was questioned on his approach to his selection, the German insisted he was trying to create the best team rather than just selected the best individuals.

Before the tournament, he said: “We are trying to select and build the best possible team, which is not necessarily to select the 26 most talented players. Teams win championships.”

On talkSPORT Breakfast, former Premier League striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink supported the manager’s decision.

Hasselbaink said: “It’s a preference. Obviously, there must be something behind it that he doesn’t need a player like that in his team.

“I think Tuchel is big enough and experienced enough to know if he’s going to use him in the way that he’s going to play.

While Andy Goldstein and Gabby Agbonlahor stated it was a shame Trent was not called up and deserved it, Hasselbaink replied: “Why should it be? If he doesn’t fit in the system that Tuchel wants to play then he’s surplus.

“Maybe that [something behind the scenes] is part of it as well, I don’t know, but there must be something that he doesn’t fit in the concept. Even though we don’t like it, we have to respect that.”

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