Thomas Tuchel branded 'immature and stupid' for key decision over England squad ahead of vital Serbia World Cup qualifier

Former Watford striker Troy Deeney has slammed England boss Tuchel for not picking Ivan Toney in his latest Three Lions squad. Harry Kane and Ollie Watkins are England's only recognised strikers, although Marcus Rashford and Jarrod Bowen can play as false nines; but Deeney thinks Al-Ahli's Toney should have been selected.

On Toney's omission, Deeney told talkSPORT: "I think that's a personality clash, isn't it? I think the fact that he's said that is immature and stupid anyway, in my opinion. Because, you've not mentioned one striker there, not an out-and-out striker, from Rashford to Rogers all the way through. 

"So basically, what he's letting you know there, is he's probably going to go to the tournament with two [strikers], Harry and Ollie Watkins, potentially three with [Liam] Delap at best. And if any problems happen, he's just going to rotate any of those guys up front and then if we lose, guess what, the excuse is already built in, we didn't have enough strikers."

England limped to an unconvincing 2-0 win over minnows Andorra at the weekend, and Tuchel's attack looked relatively ineffective. Despite Kane and Watkins being quality strikers, Deeney thinks they need something different up front. The Three Lions certainly seem a long way off being World Cup favourites in 2026.

Toney, who scored 30 goals for Al-Ahli last season and has five in four games this term, is running out of time to make England's World Cup squad. Before then, Tuchel's team face Serbia in a tough World Cup qualifier on Tuesday.