England Senior National Team General Discussion Thread

"Hit to the big lad up front" Pep Guardiola 2025

 

Loftus-Cheek only on the bench. Tomori does start for AC Milan up against Kelly for Juventus.

 

Loftus cheek has absolutely no business being in this squad.

 

Yeah, it’s a bit ridiculous to be honest for many reasons that’s already been discussed. Basically there because he’s a good traveller who trains well and doesn’t cause any issues even though he’s unlikely to get any minutes.

 

His vision is exceptional at times. Its mad he's not in the squad

 

This squad would be so much more digestible if Tuchel had just swapped Loftus-Cheek with Wharton or Jones. Does Tuchel think he can just play Elliot Anderson for 90 minutes in every England game for the rest of his contract?

It's funny how he talked about the "what if Jude gets injured" scenario and how we can't rely on him alone and need to look for other solutions without him, which makes sense, yet he doesn't apply that to Anderson, whose qualities are essential to the way he wants the team to play. A Rice/Henderson, Rice/RLC midfield would get played off the park by any half-decent team, just as Rice/Gallagher did against Senegal. You have to take another midfielder who can look after the ball under pressure and progress it well, and there isn't one in this squad.

There's obviously the far more likely scenario that he's well aware of all of this and knows he needs to take someone like Wharton to the WC on top of Anderson, which is almost worse because it means he's wasting a camp.

 

Would I have picked Wharton for this squad? Absolutely.

Is it a disaster he hasn't been picked? Absolutely not.

Tuchel picked him for the September squad, that he had to pull out of, so it's not like he has something against him. I will be more concerned if he isn't in the squad in November because he needs the minutes in camp in the build up to next year. As I said, I would have picked him this time.

As for the "can he play Anderson for 90 minutes in every England game". Well if he decides that he's a key player then, yes, he probably plays the vast majority of those minutes.

 

But as horris said tuchel needs to see other players in that position. As he mentioned not relying on Bellingham for the world cup we can't put all our eggs in one basket with Anderson

 

Tuchel can't play Anderson for 90 minutes in every game and expect good outcomes. He can't even bank on Anderson's fitness when we're 8 months away from the World Cup for a start.

It's not the same situation as it is with someone like Kane. Anderson plays in the most fatiguing position on a football pitch and runs like a carthorse every game; he'll be burnt out by the end of the group stages at a World Cup without a backup. It's not like the situation with Bellingham either, where any backup is an immense drop in quality.

Even Carsley didn't play Anderson for 90 minutes in every game at the U21 Euros. He played two full 90s out of a possible six and started the quarter-final on the bench. Anderson was England's best player at that tournament but Carsley had the wit and the courage to manage his energy levels so he could end up being more impactful on the team than he would've been if he was forced to play every minute. He could only do that by taking competent backups with lots of on-ball quality, like Tyler Morton.

It's not rocket science and if we accept that someone like Wharton or Jones needs to go to the World Cup, it's then a complete waste leaving them out of this squad in favour of a player who isn't going to go to the tournament - especially when we have so little time to prepare for it. There's no other way to frame it imo.

 

I don't know if you missed the part where I said I absolutely would have picked him?

All I'm saying is that if Wharton gets picked in November then missing this camp isn't some sort of disaster. If he doesn't get in in November I'd be concerned because I agree that he needs an option off the bench and to be able to rest Anderson, because of the conditions that we're likely to face in North America, although he's played a reasonable amount of three game weeks for Forest so I'm confident he can cope if properly managed.

Also, like it or not, and I don't particularly, there could well be Henderson to step in for 15-20 minutes at the end of games so it isn't as if Tuchel has nobody to fill in in that role.

I repeat I definitely want him in camp in November if he's available and if he isn't I'll be very critical.

 

We back Tuchel! Daily Mail Sport readers overwhelmingly agree with England boss Thomas Tuchel's decision to axe Jude Bellingham from Three Lions squad https://t.co/oHREiTT3dc

— Daily Mail Sport (@MailSport) October 6, 2025

Chelsea will not make a move for Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi, 25, despite the England defender being available on a free transfer next summer. (Express, external)

James Ward-Prowse, 30, is preparing for a permanent move away from West Ham in the winter transfer window, with the English midfielder falling down the pecking order following the appointment of manager Nuno Espirito Santo. (FootballInsider, external)

Arsenal are hopeful they can agree the terms of a new deal with Bukayo Saka, 24, during the international break to keep the England winger at the club long-term. (TBR Football, external)

 

‘Manchester City’s Nico O’Reilly has received his first call up to the England senior squad.

The 20 year old moves across from the MU21s squad and comes into contention for the Three Lions’ forthcoming fixtures against Wales and Latvia.

The inclusion of O’Reilly, who has been capped from MU15 through to MU20 level, follows the withdrawal of Reece James.

The Chelsea captain sustained an injury playing for his club over the weekend and has been ruled out of England’s October internationals following medical assessments.’

Reece James has withdrawn and Nico O’Reilly has been added to replace him.

Presumably Spence will now play right back? Wonder if it’s first times ever we have a squad where no player currently plays right back for their club in it?

 

Great progression from O'Reilly who was in the 18s & 20s before and hadn't played for the 21s.

 

I'd expect more withdrawals before Thursday

 

Doubt it unless they get injured in training.

 

Or they're not interested in being involved in this international window

 

It sounds like everyone else has confirmed they turning up otherwise they would wait till later to announce James out. They might well already mostly be there and if not are in their cars on the way.

 

Probably, but I wouldn't be amazed if Loftus-Cheek gets some minutes there. Tuchel played him as a wing-back a number of times when he was at Chelsea.

 

Surely the move was to call up a RB, pretty much means Spence will play both games now, unless he fudges someone in there for the Wales game, which would be stupid. Would have called up Maitland Niles or Walker myself.

 

With O'Reilly includeed we could field a massive back four Burn 6.7, O'Reilly 6.4 Stones 6.3

 

I miss the good old of Southgate where he'd pick about 7 rightbacks. It is weird that so many are either to old or injuried.

 

We had no left-back under Southgate now we have about 6. Weird how things turn