LONDON: Jude Bellingham might have to wait to get back in the England team, with coach Thomas Tuchel saying Wednesday he is in no rush to change his system to accommodate the return of the Real Madrid star.
Since Bellingham last played for England — in a 3-1 loss to Senegal in a friendly in June — Morgan Rogers has been installed in the No. 10 role and starred in recent 5-0 wins over Serbia and Latvia that helped to clinch a spot in next year’s World Cup.
Bellingham is back in the squad after fully recovering from shoulder surgery and Tuchel sees him as a No. 10, placing him direct competition with Rogers.
“They are friends so this can also be a friendly competition,” Tuchel said at a news conference ahead of England’s home game against Serbia in World Cup qualifying on Thursday. “You don’t have to be enemies, you don’t have to hate each other. They are respectful, they are friends with each other, and they fight at the moment for the same position.
“Can they play together? Yes, but in a different structure and maybe it’s not the moment to change our structure.”
Working against Bellingham is the fact that he and Phil Foden, another attacking midfielder who has regained a place in the squad, haven’t taken part in a full training session so far this week, Tuchel said. That will happen later Wednesday.
England became the first European nation to qualify for the World Cup last month, so the pressure is off Tuchel and the team heading into upcoming games against Serbia and Albania that wrap up group play.
The German coach said he isn’t thinking ahead to next year’s tournament just yet.
“So much can happen,” he said. “Nobody wants injuries to happen but injuries can happen, players can pull out, drop in form, other players can come in form, so I’m very much open for the next months.
“That’s why I don’t feel the pressure, I don’t feel the World Cup urge at the moment.”
Jude Bellingham facing fight to get back in England team
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Jude Bellingham facing fight to get back in England team
- Bellingham is back in the squad after fully recovering from shoulder surgery
- Tuchel sees him as a No. 10, placing him direct competition with Rogers
Alcaraz powers into Indian Wells quarter-finals
- Alcaraz will next face 2021 champion Cameron Norrie, who earlier beat Australia’s Rinky Hijikata 6-4 6-2
World number one Carlos Alcaraz continued his dominant run at Indian Wells, beating Norway’s Casper Ruud 6-1 7-6(2) on Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals in the California desert.
The Spaniard relied on a near-flawless service game to seize control of the match, racing through the opening set in just 37 minutes after breaking Ruud’s serve three times.
Thirteenth-seeded Ruud raised his level in the second set and forced a tiebreak, hoping to push the match to a decider, but Alcaraz kept his foot on the gas to seal his 15th consecutive victory of the season to reach the quarter-finals for a fifth straight year.
“The conditions were difficult to be honest. Today the ball was tough to control but we both played great,” two-time champion Alcaraz said in his on-court interview.
“My first set was incredible I’m really happy of playing that kind of level, really happy to get through and hopefully I’ll play this level on the next round.”
Alcaraz will next face 2021 champion Cameron Norrie, who earlier beat Australia’s Rinky Hijikata 6-4 6-2, with the Spaniard looking to avenge a defeat to the Briton at last year’s Paris Masters.
SWIATEK, PEGULA THROUGH
World number two Iga Swiatek delivered a dominant 6-2 6-0 victory over Czech 13th seed Karolina Muchova, reeling off 10 consecutive games to secure her fifth win over the Czech, whom she also beat at the same stage of the tournament last year.
“I felt I was playing better and better, just great,” Swiatek said.
“I love playing here ... It’s a great place to play tennis, hopefully I can keep doing that until the end.”
Swiatek, chasing a third Indian Wells title, will face ninth seed Elina Svitolina in the quarter-finals after the Ukrainian advanced when Katerina Siniakova retired injured.
American fifth seed Jessica Pegula overcame Belinda Bencic 6-3 7-6(5) to secure her first victory in five meetings between the pair.
Pegula, coming off a dramatic comeback win over Jelena Ostapenko, took control as she clinched the opening set — her first ever against the Swiss — before edging a tightly contested tiebreak to close out the match.
Russian 11th seed Daniil Medvedev beat Alex Michelsen 6-2 6-4 in a commanding performance, needing just one hour and 27 minutes to dismantle the American and maintain his strong form after winning last month’s Dubai Open.
