Thomas Tuchel names his latest England squad on Friday as he narrows down focus on a team that can win the 2026 World Cup next summer.
The 51-year-old has used his early squads to test players and try experiments but intends to have a more solid idea of a starting XI and group of substitutes that will make up the core of his side in the USA by the end of the year.
Here are the key decisions in each area Tuchel has to make.
Goalkeeper
Is it time to take the plunge and make James Trafford England’s No 1?
Trafford performed incredibly as a central figure in a record-breaking Burnley defence in the Championship last season. Schooled by Pep Guardiola as a teenager, he is adept with his feet as he is with his hands.
But though Tuchel liked what he saw at the end of last season, it had been thought that the 2026 World Cup would come too soon for the 22-year-old.
Tuchel stuck, instead, with longstanding first-choice Jordan Pickford in his early camps.
But Trafford’s summer move to Manchester City, where he has started their first two games, changes things. If Guardiola thinks he’s ready to start for his title challengers, who is Tuchel to disagree?
That said, Trafford will still have to overcome a nervy game in the defeat to Tottenham to secure his place for City, while they are reportedly considering a move for Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, which would complicate his situation.
Trafford is far better with his feet, but Pickford vastly more experienced. It will be a pivotal decision.
Defence
England may have kept clean sheets in Tuchel’s first three games, but they have looked distinctly suspect at the back. And as soon as they faced top 20 opposition they conceded three in a surprise defeat to Senegal in their last match.
In his four games, Tuchel has trialled the following formations: 4-4-2, 4-2-3-1 twice and a 4-3-3 that switched to 3-4-3 in possession. He needs versatile defenders, able to switch naturally from a four to a three, or join the midfield.
On the right side, Kyle Walker, one of England’s great full-backs, looked off the pace against Senegal, but Tuchel came out in his defence after the game. Walker has, in the past, had the advantage of being able to operate well in a back four or three – but his best days might be behind him.
Reece James, a Tuchel favourite from his Chelsea days, has always been earmarked as England’s next right-sided defender, but has failed to stay injury-free for years. And what does that mean for Trent Alexander-Arnold, now at Real Madrid but still, possibly, the best English striker of the ball since David Beckham struggling to find a starting spot?
Myles Lewis-Skelly appears set for the left of defence, either as left-back or left-wing-back, with versatility to attack down the wing or invert as a central midfielder. Tuchel has weighed up whether to protect the 18-year-old, but does not believe he requires it.
But who are the centre-backs? Dan Burn, Ezri Konsa, Marc Guehi, Levi Colwill – who is out for a prolonged period – and Trevoh Chalobah have all been given a go. Konsa impressed the most. Guehi missed the last camp injured.
Tuchel has Harry Maguire and John Stones to fall back on, but they are stalwarts from the Gareth Southgate era who feel like the dying embers of an old regime.
Midfield
Declan Rice is pretty much the only certain thing about England’s midfield. Tuchel really has to start Jude Bellingham – possibly one of the most gifted players the country has produced – but where?
As a No 10, where he prefers? England aren’t short of options there. As a marauding Eight, slightly further back? But does that then blunt his attacking edges?
Tuchel loves Eberechi Eze – frequently referring to him as “Ebs” – who since moving from Crystal Palace to Arsenal has a real chance to prove his status as a world-leading player. But he is most effective behind the striker — Tuchel even played him as a second striker in a 4-4-2 at the start of the Senegal game, although, given how it went, that experiment will likely be shelved.
There is plenty of overlap between midfield and attack, because Cole Palmer and Phil Foden would also fancy themselves as the 10, and both offer their own unique skillsets.
And not forgetting Morgan Rogers, who has impressed Tuchel in central midfield.
Or Jordan Henderson, who, for some reason, the German seems intent on selecting, if only to troll the nation.
Attack
Many felt that Harry Kane was the sticking point for all England’s attacking at Euro 2024. But, equally, England’s record scorer wasn’t fully fit throughout the tournament. And England did reach the final.
Since then, Kane, 32, moved to Bayern Munich and keeps scoring prolifically (four goals in two games this season at time of writing) and in stepped an England manager who signed him for the Bundesliga side and has, at least so far, been fully behind the country’s captain.
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You’d expect to see at least one more major tournament with Kane leading the attack.
That leaves the spaces on the wings. If he can stay fit, you’d hope the right would go to Bukayo Saka.
The left?
A queue of players would take it, including Eze, Foden, Palmer, and Anthony Gordon, who showed with his sending off for two yellow cards against Liverpool that he is increasingly hard to trust (Southgate was unimpressed when Gordon fell off his bike during what was supposed to be a gentle cycle ride in Germany during Euro 2024).
And you can’t discount Marcus Rashford playing his way back into the fold at Barcelona.
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