'Are you still upset with me?' - Thomas Tuchel's awkward conversation with Morgan Gibbs-White after initial England omission as Nottingham Forest star called up only as Cole Palmer replacement

Gibbs-White's initial omission from Thomas Tuchel's first-ever England squad created quite a stir among Nottingham Forest fans, who had even abused the German coach online. The Forest captain, however, was later included in the squad after Chelsea's Cole Palmer pulled out of the team due to an injury. The attacking midfielder has enjoyed an impressive run of form in the 2024-25 campaign and has been an integral part of Nuno Espirito Santo's side, who are pushing for a Champions League slot.

After joining the Three Lions squad on Monday at St. George's Park, Gibbs-White had an awkward conversation with the head coach. Recalling his interaction with Tuchel, the midfielder told BBC Radio 5 Live: "Obviously I was upset. Yeah, a little bit disappointed. But when he told me, I respected his decision. The standard of players is top-level.

"I said to him back like ‘I feel like I’ve done enough to get the call-up, considering the form level that we were in, but obviously you’re the manager, you make the decisions, and I respect that totally’. So, obviously, it was disappointing but then Sunday I got the call, so I was straight here."

He added: "It was about 4 or 5 o’clock. He sent me a message to say ‘Are you free to talk?’ And I think I replied within like 30 seconds. He phoned me up and said ‘Are you still upset with me, or do you want to come and join us and fancy training tomorrow?’ Obviously, there’s no question there. I said I’d obviously love to come and join and train with the boys, so, yeah, found out Sunday late afternoon and I was just smiling from ear to ear."

Despite the initial disappointment over the rejection, Gibbs-White spoke highly of the new coach as he said: "To be fair, he’s been incredible. I think he’s done it with most of the players. As soon as he got the job, he’s been in contact with quite a majority of the players. He’s a really easy-going sort of guy, nice to speak to and he just says things like he’s coming to watch everyone play games and stuff.

"I feel like it was, for him, important to try and get that bond straight away with players because he’s used to club football, so he’s used to spending time every day with players. I felt like it was top from him, really good that he sort of started that relationship before even meeting us, which is really good. So, yeah, just delighted to be here now."

England are set to meet Albania on Friday night before facing Latvia on March 24 in Tuchel's first pair of 2026 World Cup qualifying matches.