England World Cup squad – on the plane or on the beach? | OneFootball

Following two underwhelming friendlies, Thomas Tuchel’s next job as England manager is to make the crucial decision on his World Cup squad.

They are only friendlies, and the result is less important than what we learned from them, BUT…

England’s final game before departing for the World Cup ended in more disappointment, a 1-0 defeat to Japan, and another uninspiring display following the B-team’s 1-1 draw with Uruguay.

Tuchel called up 37 players for these two friendlies, and it is fair to say there are still more questions than answers in terms of finding the right playing style, personnel and most importantly who will be on the plane to North America in June – and who can spend their summer on the beach.

So – who’s on the plane and who’s on the beach?

The biggest beneficiaries of these games are the big beasts who did not take part, and whose importance to England was shown up glaringly by their absence. Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice and most of all Harry Kane are more essential than ever if England are to have a chance of making it to the latter stages of the World Cup.

Tuchel tried Dominic Solanke, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and even Phil Foden as a false nine, and none looked close to being a replacement for Kane. It was almost comical to see, during the Japan defeat, the diminutive Foden trying and failing to reach a looping cross that Kane would have headed home on tip toes.

Kane is arguably the best all-round striker in the world right now, England’s record goalscorer, captain and leader, and if he were to get injured ahead of the World Cup, all bets are off.

Rice’s leadership skills and ability in midfield have elevated him to elite level, and again Tuchel’s side would be vastly diminished without him. It was worrying to hear Tuchel’s reason for sending him home without playing was that he is playing at only around 70 per cent capacity in recent weeks for Arsenal because of exhaustion.

The same could not be said of Saka, who is regularly rotated at Arsenal, but the winger is injury-prone and needs to be wrapped in cotton wool for this summer’s tournament. None of Noni Madueke, Jarrod Bowen or Cole Palmer made a case for replacing him on the right wing.

Behind him Tuchel desperately needs Reece James to overcome his latest injury and be ready for the summer. Tino Livramento failed to impress, Djed Spence does what he does for Spurs and Ben White showed why most England fans were not bothered by his self-imposed three-year exile. The man who walked out on England during the 2022 World Cup is no world-beater, and though he got England’s only goal in these two games, it was a tap-in, and the rest of his game was below par. He has nothing like the attacking threat of James or Trent Alexander-Arnold, and looks worse than either of those in defence.

Tuchel may have to rethink his decision to exclude Alexander-Arnold, given the paucity of choices at right-back and lack of creativity going forward. The Real Madrid man is a world-class attacking full-back, and Tuchel’s stubborn resistance to him could be costly.

Bellingham’s case to be England’s number ten was also strengthened by the weakness of his rivals. Phil Foden, Morgan Rogers, Cole Palmer were all tried, none succeeded. Eberechi Eze is injured but has failed to shine in that position for England, leaving Bellingham as the standout candidate, although it remains to be seen if Tuchel sees it that way.

One player who used both games to cement his place as a starting certainty was Elliot Anderson, who continues to make the transition from relegation battles to international football look easy. The Forest midfielder must start alongside Declan Rice at the heart of midfield. And James Garner came in for his debut and looked assured as an understudy for either of them in midfield.

Jordan Pickford is a no-brainer in goal, reaching his 82nd cap against Japan, who ended his run of 922 minutes without conceding a goal for England. James Trafford did enough in the draw with Uruguay to suggest he is a safer bet as England’s number three keeper than either Nick Pope or Aaron Ramsdale.

Marc Guehi is another guaranteed starter, with the City defender captaining the side for the first time on Tuesday. Alongside him, Ezri Konsa has the shirt for now but John Stones might be preferred if he can end the season without injury nor incident. Harry Maguire might fight it out with Dan Burn to be the big lad at the back of the plane. Neither is a starter, for sure.

Left-back looks less of a shoo-in for Nico O’Reilly after his shaky defensive display against Japan, following something similar in Man City’s defeat by Real Madrid two weeks earlier. A match-winning performance with two goals in the Carabao Cup shows his ability going forward, but there is an argument that Lewis Hall, or the excluded Luke Shaw, are better defensively.

So there you have it. Fans and pundits would love to see some players who did not feature – Trent and Jude, particularly – while others may have played themselves into a summer holiday.

Tuchel has to make his decision by May 30, so there is plenty of time to change his mind. But for now we would summarise thus from the players involved in the 37-man get together:

On the plane, and on the team-sheet v Croatia on June 17: Pickford, Guehi, Rice, Anderson, Saka, Kane.

On the plane and in contention to start: Konsa, O’Reilly, Livramento, Hall, Henderson, Rogers, Garner, Madueke, Rashford, Gordon, Palmer.

On the injured list but going if fit: James, Eze, Stones.

At risk: Burn, Wharton, Spence, Quansah, Mainoo, Bowen, Solanke, Foden

On the beach: Tomori, Calvert-Lewin, Alexander-Arnold