Thomas Tuchel has made his feelings clear. Players who miss training miss out.
Speaking on Friday, the England boss stated that Cole Palmer is one who misses too many occasions and he wants commitment.
Fair enough. But if that’s the test, our skipper should be near the front of the queue.
It wasn’t long ago when Palmer, Declan Rice, Marcus Rashford, Kobbie Mainoo and Tino Livramento all pulled out injured. Five places opened up.
Tuchel called up James Garner and Morgan Gibbs-White. Jarrod Bowen’s phone stayed quiet.
Nobody is saying Garner or Gibbs-White don’t deserve a chance. And nobody should knock Palmer for being injured. Tuchel himself said he doesn’t blame him.
But you can’t make availability the big message and then ignore the player who has never needed asking twice.
Bowen has taken late England call-ups before, including stepping in for Palmer under Lee Carsley. Hammers News has also reported, citing a club source, that he moved his wedding twice to stay available for England.
That’s exactly the attitude Tuchel says he values. Hunger. Commitment. Wanting to be there.
We have to be honest here. Bowen is captaining a Championship side, and England managers don’t often look to the second tier. That’s on West Ham ultimately for where we are as a club.
But that cuts both ways. He could have forced his way out after relegation. He didn’t. He stayed to drag us back up, and he’s still producing for Nuno.
If loyalty and commitment count for anything, they should count for him.
