Arsenal midfielder Max Dowman was left out of England’s 35-man squad for their upcoming friendlies, but Thomas Tuchel has explained his stance on the 16-year-old
Thomas Tuchel explained his thoughts on Max Dowman(Image: Getty Images)
Thomas Tuchel has sensationally opened the door for Arsenal wonder kid Max Dowman to go to the World Cup.
Dowman made history last weekend after becoming the youngest scorer in Premier League history aged just 16 years and 73 days and is English football’s most exciting prospect.
England boss Tuchel did not pick the teenage star for his 35-man squad for the Wembley friendlies with Uruguay and Japan on March 27 and 31 respectively. But Tuchel made it very clear that he is ready to pick him for the United States this summer after describing him as a “game-changer” but insisted he has to earn more minutes at Arsenal.
Dowman, who created Arsenal’s first goal and the scored the second in their 2-0 win over Everton, has managed just 43 Premier League minutes this season. Tuchel said: “Why wouldn’t I keep the door open? I keep the door open for anyone with any age. I learned as a coach not to the take the final decision now.
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“Of course it’s impressive what he’s doing. It’s impressive the feedback I get from players and people who know him, and we have a look at it and we take the last decision when we build the squad in May.
“There are arguments that it’s too young but why open all these arguments now? Let him fight for his minutes. At the moment he’s not a regular starter, you could argue you should be maybe a starter at your club to be considered.
“There’s also the risk to compare it to Lamine Yamal, Lionel Messi and so on, and the age when they have made their way into it. I’m not aware of it but has Lamine Yamal played more minutes for his club before he played for his country? I would say so, so, yeah.
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“But this is exactly the danger and the risk of all of that, it becomes a crazy hype that does in the end not help. So we have to be careful and responsible. But he is in the best club where teamwork is most important. But he put himself in the spotlight now with this amazing goal against against Everton. He is a fantastic and outstanding talent.
“At the moment, I think he’s in a good place to fight for his position and his minutes at Arsenal and we always have the chance to call maybe for the World Cup. It’s the same with young players is to keep their momentum and their level of fearlessness.”
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