Thomas Tuchel has again defended his England squad selection for this month's internationals, insisting it is better to build a 'team' than 'collect talented individuals'.
Star names Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish all missed out on recalls to the latest England squad for Thursday's friendly with Wales and Tuesday's World Cup qualifier with Latvia, with Tuchel keen to build on the momentum gained by September's squad.
Last month, England beat Andorra 2-0 and then thrashed Serbia 5-0 with the best performance of Tuchel's reign so far.
On the eve of the Wembley test with Wales, Tuchel was again quizzed on the importance of building that continuity, despite criticism he was leaving out potentially key players for England, with limited time left to prepare for next summer's World Cup.
"We can only make it happen [a World Cup win] if we arrive with a strong, strong team," said Tuchel.
"I just watched a documentary on the New England Patriots and saw a quote there: 'We don't collect the most talented players, we build a team'. I cannot agree more. That's what we're trying to do.
"We decided to stick mostly with the team that had a brilliant camp last time. Already we have some injuries, we cannot play with the same XI against Serbia, because four players are already missing. It's natural we have changes.
"But we believe in what we're building, we believe in what we feel, we believe in what we're seeing with this team and this squad and the competition is on.
"I'm not surprised I'm questioned about my decisions and people agree or don't agree but that's the nature of the job. The feedback after our last match was very positive and all the credit goes to the team. The fans in the stadium and at home felt we played as a team, that was most important."
Kane out of Wales friendly with Henderson, Stones, Rice vying for captaincy
England captain Harry Kane is one of those four players who started against Serbia but will miss the friendly with Wales.
Kane is out with an ankle injury, although Tuchel hopes to have him back for the World Cup qualifier in Latvia.
Reece James, who had already been forced to withdraw from the squad, Tino Livramento and Noni Madueke , were the other starters in Belgrade who are now absent.
With Kane out, Tuchel said Jordan Henderson, John Stones and Declan Rice are in contention to wear the captain's armband against Wales.
"[Kane] got a kick in his last match with Bayern Munich," said Tuchel. "It was too risky he gets another kick and be in an up and down situation pain-wise. We gave him the chance that everything calms down. We are convinced he'll be ready for the match against Latvia."
Kane is currently following his own routine indoors along with Bayer Leverkusen centre-back Jarell Quansah.
Kane scored his 18th goal in just 10 matches for Bayern last Saturday as they beat Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0, but he hobbled off with five minutes remaining.
Tuchel will now have to choose a replacement from Ollie Watkins, Marcus Rashford or Jarrod Bowen while Anthony Gordon has also featured up front for Newcastle.
Tuchel also explained he intends to field his strongest possible XI against Wales.
"There was a huge chance we would have started with the same squad [that played Serbia] if the same squad was available," he said, when outlining his plans to play a full-strength side against England's neighbours. "We find other solutions. We had only a very short period of time to prepare the match.
"It will be a difficult match and a complicated match because we play against a very well-coached team that have a brave approach to play. They will make the most of the underdog role, they will thrive in this role.
"We have enough time for the next match that we don't need to pay too much attention on the line-up - or maybe not at all - who plays and starts in Latvia because we have four days in between."
England head to Latvia on Tuesday and can secure their spot for next summer's World Cup with a win if Serbia do not beat Albania and Andorra.
England squad
Goalkeepers: Henderson, Pickford, Trafford.
Defenders: Burn, Guehi, O'Reilly, Konsa, Lewis-Skelly, Quansah, Spence, Stones.
Midfielders: Anderson, Gibbs-White, Henderson, Loftus-Cheek, Rice, Rogers.
Forwards: Bowen, Eze, Gordon, Kane, Rashford, Saka, Watkins.
England's October fixtures
England vs Wales - 7.45pm kick-off, October 9 - Friendly
Latvia vs England - 7.45pm kick-off, October 14 - World Cup Qualifier
