The four big World Cup choices that could define Thomas Tuchel’s England reign | OneFootball

Thomas Tuchel can plan for a summer on the other side of the Atlantic. England have seven straight wins in World Cup qualifying, without conceding a goal, and Tuchel has seven men who, fitness permitting, should start in his preferred team at the World Cup.

If some of his decisions involve filling out the squad and finding the right back-ups, Tuchel may have four big calls. Sunday’s final qualifier against Albania may help decide it, even if some of the candidates for places in the United States are nowhere near Tirana.

But, whoever they may be, four more have to join Jordan Pickford, Reece James, John Stones, Elliot Anderson, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Harry Kane among Tuchel’s first-choice starting XI.

Myles Lewis-Skelly seemed Tuchel’s preferred pick, until it became clear he is no longer Mikel Arteta’s. The teenager started five of the first eight games under the German and even scored the opening goal of his reign. Which, as one of the other starts at left-back went to an out-of-position Reece James against Andorra, suggested the Arsenal prodigy ranked a clear first in his thinking.

But Lewis-Skelly has not begun a Premier League game this season, as he has been leapfrogged by Riccardo Calafiori, and Tuchel did not call him up this time. Nico O’Reilly has had another swift rise, but timed his differently to Lewis-Skelly’s: he is now a first choice for Manchester City and, given they don’t lose when he starts, a talisman. The 20-year-old made an encouraging debut against Serbia on Thursday and will presumably get another go.

open image in gallery

Myles Lewis-Skelly has dropped down the pecking order at Arsenal, jeopardising his place at the World Cup (Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Two of the other options have similarities: right-footed, quick and versatile enough to play on either flank, Djed Spence and the injured Tino Livramento would be very useful in a squad, if only because they can cover both flanks. The Newcastle man may offer more going forward, the Spurs man be perhaps better defensively.

Yet Livramento could have competition close by: Dan Burn, a Tuchel favourite, has played left-back for Newcastle but had his limitations there exposed by Brentford’s Dango Ouattara, while Lewis Hall looked the best English left-back until an ill-timed injury in February and is now fit again. Luke Shaw, long England’s best left-back, has been playing all season but overlooked by Tuchel and used as a centre-back by Ruben Amorim. It nevertheless could mean the England manager is picking from six or seven options.

Tuchel’s initial preference was for a left-footer and a right-footer: it worked to the advantage of Burn, given a first cap at 32, and Levi Colwill. But with the former looking like a back-up and the latter injured, it appears to be a partnership of two right-footers, with Stones, assuming a man who has missed a myriad of games for Manchester City but always been fit for England’s major tournaments, is available to be one. He can play on either side of a duo.

open image in gallery

John Stones looks locked in as one of England’s centre-backs but who will partner him? (Action Images via Reuters)

Marc Guehi, still happier on the left and excellent in Euro 2024, looked established as his partner by the end of Gareth Southgate’s reign. Yet the Crystal Palace captain has been benched by Tuchel, most recently in Latvia, and has been fit for neither the Serbia nor the Albania games this month. Ezri Konsa appeared ahead of him in Tuchel’s thinking, with his speed perhaps a factor.

The most contentious of all, if the occupant of the most coveted of roles is not Jude Bellingham, but also arguably the one with the most high-class competition. Morgan Rogers seemed to leap to the front of the pack in September and October, his pressing, work rate and ability to make the team gel making him a face of Tuchel’s ethos.

It was notable that Rogers began ahead of Bellingham against Serbia on Thursday, even if the presumption is that the Real Madrid man will displace his friend: he may have been left out of October’s squad to play Wales and Latvia but it is hard to envisage England winning the World Cup without Bellingham.

open image in gallery

The Jude Bellingham conundrum may be Thomas Tuchel’s biggest call (Getty)

Tuchel, who has indicated he prefers a balanced squad to simply naming the most talented individuals, said it is very unlikely he can take all of his five No 10s to the World Cup. But since then Phil Foden excelled as a false nine in a cameo on Thursday and Eberechi Eze scored when used on the left. It will be instructive if each is deployed in those other positions again.

There is still the question of what happens when Cole Palmer, so far limited to one appearance for Tuchel, is fit again. Would he go to the World Cup without the man who won the Club World Cup for Chelsea? Meanwhile, Morgan Gibbs-White, dropped from the squad, looks like the sixth No 10.

The signs are that Tuchel, like Lee Carsley before him, has Anthony Gordon as his favoured choice. Each appeared to learn from Euro 2024, when Foden was used on the left to get all the premier players in, but England lacked the qualities Raheem Sterling used to offer there: principally pace and a willingness to run beyond defenders.

open image in gallery

Will Anthony Gordon be Tuchel’s preferred choice? (Getty Images)

That would make Marcus Rashford, who Tuchel started in his first game when Albania visited Wembley in March, the other obvious contender. Certainly it feels like Tuchel wants Rashford to be.

But Eze added intrigue to the equation with his excellence against Serbia. More of an inside-left and less of an outside-left, he does not seem to be the profile of winger Tuchel wants. But form and goals can be persuasive.