England Senior National Team General Discussion Thread

Who knows with Tuchel. He played him at right back once.

 

Probably didn’t want to have to bring back someone his discarded. Same with Quansah instead of Chalobah who in his own words deserved a place but he wanted a tighter squad.

Jones probably needs a couple of Liverpool starts in PL or CL to get back in this autumn.

 

BBC player ratings
Madueke - 7.96
Anderson - 7,62
Guehi - 7,62
Rogers - 7.61
Konsa - 7.56
Kane - 7.17
Rice - 7,17
Gordon - 6.85
Livramento - 6.78
James - 6.75
Bowen - 6.56
Rashford - 6.56
Spence - 6.54
Watkins - 6,35
Pickford - 6,29
Henderson - 5.40

Serbia between 4.31 and 3.52

 

Telegraph player ratings and World Cup chances
Pickford - 6/10 - Will start
James - 7/10 - Very good chance if fit at right or left back.
Guehi - 8/10 - Likely
Konsa - 8/10 - Fighting Burn for a starting place.
Livramento- 7/10 - Squad member
Rice - 8/10 - Certain starter
Anderson - 7/10 - Possible
Gordon - 6/10 - Needs a good club season to have a chance
Rogers - 8/10 - Gives himself a chance but Bellingham might displace him.
Madueke - 8/10- If he keeps his form he will start.
Kane - 8/10 - Will start
Rashford- 7/10
Spence - 7/10
Bowen - 6/10
Watkins - 6/10
Henderson - 6/10

 

Great performance and the best I've seen us play in a long time, since some of those Carsley games last year and before that Italy away in the qualifiers a few years ago I think was the last time I remember us playing well. We were awful in the build up to the euros and in practically every game last tournament took, so it's nice to see us play with cohesion for once and I hope it continues. For too long we've looked lost without a real gameplay and square pegs in round holes.

The team today looked balanced and we really have great depth in a lot of positions as someone said earlier we could probably field three teams equally as strong as this. Bellingham and Saka will obviously come back in but Rogers did himself a lot of favours and Anderson looks quality. With Wharton a possibility too surely Henderson's days must be numbered. Really excited to see how we can play now that we have some CM options, something Southgate refused to build on and wasted time trying Trent/Gallagher etc in there and acting surprised when we struggled.

It's also nice having direct players like Madueke who may not be the best but he will take on his fullback and cause issues for his defender in any game.

 

Late night for the players - due to land back at Birmingham at 3am!. Then either Tuchel or Kane (Or both) is flying straight back to Germany on a private jet going by flight records.

 

I've never understood why they don't just stay in a hotel and leave in the morning? Feels very strange to fly back at silly hours in the morning and mess up your sleeping pattern with just a few days until the league starts again. Maybe that's my preference but I'd rather do that.

 

The U21’s did the same. Got in at 3.35 am.

I think it might be partly down to how the clubs behave. The U21’s flew back late at night after both winning finals as well!. (They was a video posted in 2023 showing them landing at Birmingham airport in the dawn light).

Maybe also to stop them wanting to party etc. After home second matches they have been seen going in London clubs (Rumours emerged of bad behaviour in 2023) but I doubt the FA want them trying that abroad.

 

Two games. Two big performances.@elljanderson is your England Player of the Match connected by @EE once again! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/7UrSBEfyGX

— England (@England) September 9, 2025

I would have gone for Madueke. Suspect Forest and Newcastle Fans helped him win that vote - Madueke doesn’t yet have Arsenal fans voting for him in online votes.

 

seems like he plays better when there is no Jude Palmer Foden behind him. I think it's the main reason that while the squad depth talent improved post 2018-2021 the quality of the play dipped. When the team was built around Kane it ticked better.

 

Yeah maybe I think a good team balance trumps shoehorning star players into the team and the balance isn’t quite right but it doesn’t explain how poor he was at the weekend against Andorra when I think he had 12 touches all game. Just absolute night and day in his performance over a few days.

 

I think team balance being key and that match being an example of getting it right is the main takeaway. Players like Anderson, Rogers and Madueke instead of three players who all want to be 10s.

 

I wonder if Palmer is at risk of not being brought back. He is a big match player and would be an excellent bench option in my view even if not starting but I could see him being omitted due to not yet having done anything for Tuchel. Rashford might become Tuchel’s favoured super sub.


‘

 

‘Thomas Tuchel counts on Marcus Rashford for the 2026 World Cup.
— @mundodeportivo’

Remarkable stat:

Across England's five World Cup qualifiers under Thomas Tuchel, they have conceded one shot on target.

That was against Lativa, in Thomas Tuchel's first game.

So since March 24, England have not conceded a shot on target in a World Cup qualifier.

— Simon Collings (@sr_collings) September 10, 2025

40 clean sheets for the #ThreeLions 🧤

Jordan Pickford moves level with David Seaman in third on the all-time list 👏 pic.twitter.com/7wJNbIVwIN

— England (@England) September 10, 2025

"Is he an alternative to Bellingham? Is he a companion to Bellingham?" 🤔

Morgan Rogers will be hoping he's giving Thomas Tuchel selection headaches after that performance 😅 pic.twitter.com/q07S8uETwE

— ITV Football (@itvfootball) September 9, 2025

Manchester United and England midfielder Kobbie Mainoo, 20, may seek to resurrect a loan move to Napoli in January if he does not get more game-time at Old Trafford. (ESPN)

Liverpool and Newcastle are the latest clubs to join the race to sign England and Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton, 21, with Chelsea and Manchester United also among interested parties. (Teamtalk, external)

Riot police charged into the crowd after violence broke out in the stands during Serbia's clash with England. (Daily Express)

 

Saturday is rare for a normal weekend in that pretty much everyone in this squad is back playing. Only Rashford, Trafford, Stones and Loftus-Cheek are scheduled to play Sunday and the Man City pairing may not start to injury/being dropped. Quansah has a even quicker return playing Friday night,

Newcastle v Wolves - the most English players v the least this weekend.

 

Apparently, the Welsh asked for it.
Trying to test themselves against the bigger nations before potentially qualifying for the World Cup.
Not sure what we would learn from this fixture though, would prefer to play France or Spain.

 

Unfortunately both of those teams have no free slots this autumn due to only starting qualifying this month. In March we may not be playing any matches due to the training camp in the Middle East that is being arranged - or if we do it’s probably be an Middle Eastern team or two like Jordan or Saudi Arabia.

 

According to the Daily Mail Tuchel has said privately that he might start Livramento at left back at the World Cup.

 

Livramento would be my pick. He's got the engine to get up and down and he's very solid defensively

 

Wow that’s disappointing! We’re going into a tournament with probably more questions than answers, and not even able to remedy that against some established teams.

 

I wouldn’t be against that to be honest, he’s just so comfortable there like he is at right back. A player you would think has already nailed down a place on the plane.

 

He's like Trippier only ten times better