Thomas Tuchel rocked by five key withdrawals from England squad

Thomas Tuchel has been rocked by a host of withdrawals from his England squad, with Cole Palmer, Declan Rice, Kobbie Mainoo, Marcus Rashford and Tino Livramento all out because of injury issues. The manager has called up James Garner and Morgan Gibbs-White to boost his options for the upcoming Nations League programme.

Tuchel called Palmer back into the squad last Friday. It was a big moment because it marked the start of a new two-year period for the team, which Tuchel hopes will end in success at Euro 2028. England are now back in Nations League Group A. They will play their first match against Spain at Wembley on Saturday. After that, they will play away games against Czechia and Croatia, before returning to Wembley to face Czechia again.

Palmer has a minor muscle problem. This is not the first time under Tuchel that he has had to say he cannot play. The Chelsea midfielder has played well this season, but he has only started three games under Tuchel. He was left out of the World Cup squad after his form dropped last season. Tuchel said, when he announced his squad, that Palmer would get a fresh chance. That chance will have to wait. Palmer, who is 24, has played in almost every Chelsea game this season. He has scored four goals and set up two more in all competitions.

Related: ‘Embrace the chaos’: Tuchel wants to make the most of England’s football culture.

Rice’s withdrawal is not a big surprise, given how much he has played over the last few seasons. In the second half of last season, he had to manage a nerve problem in his hamstring, which also affected his lower back and caused him discomfort at the World Cup. He has started every one of Arsenal’s Premier League matches this season, as well as their Champions League opener against Napoli. The decision has been made that resting him now is the wisest choice.

Mainoo was substituted after 80 minutes in Manchester United's game at Fulham on Sunday. The manager, Michael Carrick, made this decision, and it led to boos from the traveling fans. Mainoo was part of the World Cup squad, but he was the only outfield player who did not get any playing time. Tuchel said Mainoo's lack of playing time was not a criticism of him, his ability, or his effort. Instead, it was purely due to technical decisions Tuchel made. The manager promised to give Mainoo playing time over the next two weeks or so.

Mainoo's United teammate, Rashford, was taken off in the 77th minute of the Fulham game. He was seen holding the area near his hip and groin as he walked off slowly. Tuchel has always supported Rashford. He picked him for his first squad in March last year, when the player was struggling for form. The manager wanted to show Rashford that he believed in him. He has always picked the 28-year-old when he has been available.

Tuchel appeared to lose some trust in Rashford after he played poorly against the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the last 32 of the World Cup this summer. After that, Tuchel barely used him until England's semi-final defeat against Argentina. In that game, Rashford came on for only a few minutes as a stoppage-time substitute. He did play Rashford for the first 45 minutes of the third-place play-off against France.

Livramento was picked for the World Cup squad. But he got a calf injury in training the day before the tournament started. The Newcastle full-back had to fly home. He had surgery. He only came back for his club as a substitute against Bournemouth at the start of the month. He had a new problem in training before Newcastle's win over Hull on Saturday. He was not in the squad for that match. The 23-year-old has not started a game yet this season.

Garner comes in as a central midfield replacement for Rice and Mainoo while Gibbs-White adds to Tuchel’s options in the No 10 position in the absence of Palmer. Tuchel also has Jude Bellingham, Morgan Rogers and Eberechi Eze as No 10s. The players are due to report to St George’s Park on Tuesday.