Henderson over Wharton, Toney preferred to Solanke: Thomas Tuchel explains some of his big selection decisions in latest England squad | OneFootball

Ahead of the next World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Senegal, Thomas Tuchel has announced his second ever England squad.

A full list of the squad is as follows:

Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford, Dean Henderson, James Trafford.Defenders: Reece James, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Trevoh Chalobah, Levi Colwill, Ezri Konsa, Dan Burn, Kyle Walker, Myles Lewis-Skelly.Midfielders: Jude Bellingham, Eberechi Eze, Conor Gallagher, Morgan Gibbs-White, Jordan Henderson, Curtis Jones, Cole Palmer, Declan Rice, Morgan RogersForwards: Anthony Gordon, Noni Madueke, Bukayo Saka, Ivan Toney, Ollie Watkins, Harry Kane.

The German coach has offered his thoughts on a number of those selection headaches.

Ivan Toney over Dominic Solanke:

Tuchel said: “Ivan deserves to be with us, he scored over 20-goals for Al-Ahli this season. He won a major title with the Asian Champions League and a big involvement in the team with goals and assists.“It’s a good occasion now to test, see new players, meet Ivan in person and see him in the environment. We decided to nominate three strikers with Harry [Kane] and Ollie Watkins.“I had a call with Dom Solanke who deserves to be with us who won a major trophy with Tottenham. But he was in camp already, I have a clear picture of what Dom can bring to this group.

With one eye to learning about all of the players at his disposal ahead of 2026’s World Cup, Tuchel said: “Now is the moment to see new players, get a feeling for them and see them within the group.

Ben White’s availability:

Eyebrows were raised by Ben White’s exclusion but the England manager was keen to address that this was for personal reasons. Tuchel said: “He was involved in the latest matches of Arsenal. We had a talk and we decided that at the moment is not the moment because he will become a father very soon.

“The baby is due on the exact date of the camp, it’s his first child. We wish him and his wife all the best for that.

“We thought if he comes back he should come back with a clear mind and a full focus on football which is now not the case so we decided together that this is not the camp for him to come back. He was ready to be selected but the main reason is because of family.”

Trevoh Chalobah ‘deserves’ call up:

Tuchel said: “Trevoh deserves it. He played a fantastic second half of the season with Chelsea. He’s very consistent at a very high-level, especially after our last camp.”

The inclusion of Chalobah may have been because of an injury to FA Cup winning captain Marc Guehi. The Crystal Palace man “got injured in the FA Cup final and it’s a facial injury,” Tuchel said. “The specialist said the eye is involved. The eye specialist told us to not take the risk. We followed the advice.”

Adam Wharton missing:

On Palace’s midfield maestro, Tuchel said: “We had Adam Wharton train with us in the last camp. He was with the Under 21s but trained with us and was very, very good.

“At the moment there is a little injury problem, a concussion protocol going on from the FA Cup final.

“Together with Tino Livramento, Jarell Quansah, Elliott Anderson and Liam Delap, all names who could play a role for us but a major tournament comes up for the Under-21s and the intention is they play a big part in this tournament.

“I like it a lot that they have chances to be leaders in this group, to be players we hopefully will rely on. We will monitor them closely but we decided that with these players take the responsibility for the Under-21s.”

The importance of Jordan Henderson:

Tuchel was keen to point out why Jordan Henderson is so important after again being included, saying Henderson “takes care of all of the standards” in training.

England face Andorra on the 7th of June in Barcelona, before returning home to host Senegal at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground on the 10th.