Wayne Rooney has hit out at Thomas Tuchel for picking Trevoh Chalobah over Luke Shaw to replace Tino Livramento in the England squad.
Wayne Rooney has hit out at Thomas Tuchel for picking Trevoh Chalobah over Luke Shaw to replace Tino Livramento in the England squad.
The Three Lions face Croatia in their opening group match at the World Cup on Wednesday night, and there has been a change to their World Cup squad ahead of this game.
This is because Newcastle United defender Livramento has been forced to withdraw from the World Cup squad due to injury, and Chelsea’s Chalobah has replaced him.
This is somewhat puzzling considering England already have plenty of options at centre-back and Livramento’s injury leaves Tuchel with few options at full-back, but the head coach has explained his decision.
According to Tuchel, he and his team have selected Chalobah over potential full-back options because former Liverpool star Jarrell Quansah can fill in at full-back.
“Tino has an injury of four or five weeks which is unfortunately too long to reintegrate him into the squad,” Tuchel said.
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“We called Trevoh Chalobah because it frees up Jarrell Quansah to play full-back on both sides, and Djed Spence can play full-back on both sides, so it gives us full coverage in defence.”
“I would have liked to have seen Luke Shaw…”
However, Rooney believes this is a “strange” call, having argued that Man Utd star Shaw is more deserving of a call-up than Chalobah after he shone for the Red Devils in the final six months of the 2025/26 campaign.
“It’s a bit strange,” Rooney said on the BBC about Tuchel selecting Chalobah over Shaw.
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“I would have liked to have seen Luke Shaw.
“And then Djed Spence maybe being cover for Reece James and Luke Shaw come in.
“But I’m sure Thomas Tuchel has kept contact with players to stay available and I’m sure he [Chalobah] was one of those who was available.”
Speaking last month, Rooney explained why he thinks Shaw has been the “most improved player” in the Premier League this season.
“I think, for me, Luke Shaw. I think Luke Shaw has been the most improved player this season,” Rooney said on his podcast.
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“I know he’s an experienced player now but I think his level this season has been much better than they have been in recent seasons.
“People might look at Kobbie Mainoo but I don’t think he’s improved.
“It was just the fact he wasn’t playing under the former manager so it wasn’t good or bad.”
