Thomas Tuchel sets Marcus Rashford challenge after England call-up

England manager Thomas Tuchel has encouraged Marcus Rashford not to "fall back on old routines" after his bright start to life at Aston Villa.

Rashford moved to Villa Park at the end of the winter transfer window following a complete breakdown in relationship with Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim. The Portuguese boss repeatedly criticised his forward's work rate and was reportedly unimpressed with his off-field activity.

After spending six weeks on the sidelines for United, Rashford has started strongly for Aston Villa, striking up a prolific relationship with fellow winter recruit Marco Asensio. Tuchel was suitably full of praise for the 27-year-old.

"With Marcus, he is a familiar face but a different situation," the incoming international manager told assembled media. "I felt that he had a huge impact at Aston Villa, he made a huge impact from the bench mostly. The impact was impressive. The physical impact was impressive and most importantly, his work rate, his defensive ability and tracking back was impressive.

"I had the strong feeling that we should nominate him, bring him in and to push him to stay on that level to not fall back on old routines," Tuchel pointedly added. "This camp is to push him to stay on this level."

Rashford had fallen out of contention for the national team long before Amorim was appointed at United. Gareth Southgate handed the forward his 60th and most recent cap in March 2024 for a friendly against Brazil. Rashford was subsequently overlooked for the squad which reached the final of Euro 2024 and didn't feature at all throughout Lee Carsley's interim tenure.

Tuchel's England contract only extends to the end of the 2026 World Cup which will be jointly hosted by USA, Canada and Mexico. As he made it abundantly clear, every selection is made with that tournament in mind and every player involved has a chance of featuring.

"Everyone who is with us on this journey and in this first camp is a contender for the World Cup," Tuchel outlined. "Every player is part of this first step. At the same time, it's only the first step so the nomination is not the nomination for America.

"We had tough decisions to take and we didn't make it easy for ourselves. We waited very long until Champions League games were over until we took our last decisions. It is important to be in the first camp and if you are in the first camp, you are in the first step of the journey."

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