England Senior National Team General Discussion Thread

Can't believe he'll drop rogers

 

Trent, Bellingham and Palmer in fight for last World Cup places
https://www.thetimes.com/sport/foot...en-desperate-fight-world-cup-places-smtwr908h

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Only five England spots still up for grabs and the clock is ticking for host of big names as head coach Thomas Tuchel relishes scramble to be on the plane next summer

Two years ago, in the October before a tournament summer, Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions had never looked more convincing. They mauled Italy at Wembley to qualify early for Euro 2024. Headlines were “England show their class” and “That’s how good England are”.

Southgate’s set-up was incredibly stable. Seven of his starters were stalwarts who had been with him since the 2018 World Cup and the other four were younger players blooded at Euro 2020. You thought you could be certain what the team — and the squad, more or less — would look like when the Euros came round.

And yet there was Southgate, on the eve of the finals, culling Harry Maguire, Jordan Henderson, Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish, and travelling to Germany with 12 players who had no tournament experience.

The churn? Some of it was forced by factors outside Southgate’s control and perhaps he now regrets some of the omissions. We may find out when Southgate’s book is published next month.

It is very unlikely Thomas Tuchel will tread a similar path. To qualify for the World Cup he merely needs to dispose of Latvia, who drew at home with Andorra on Saturday, and Tuchel’s talk since triumphing 5-0 in Serbia has focused on continuity. He believes he has found his England formula and now it’s largely about finessing it.

Continuity led him to leave Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Grealish out of the present squad and he will name just two more squads before choosing his group for the World Cup next summer. The clock is ticking for some big stars to play their way back into his plans.

They may find their less-high-profile competitors hard to dislodge. At his most recent squad announcement, Tuchel said that it would be “not authentic” for him to drop players who have done well for him. “Imagine the phone call… what would you think as a player? ‘Didn’t you tell me that was exactly how you wanted it, and now I’m out?’ ” he said.

At the Daugava Stadium in Riga, on Monday evening, he expanded on how he sees things. “You can have injuries and dips in form, and you can have players exploding in the Premier League that we don’t even think of, so the door is always open for changes,” he said. “[But] the guys don’t let us down in the moment so we can rely on them, we can trust them.”

Barring injuries, 11 players seem certainties to be in Tuchel’s World Cup 26. They are: Jordan Pickford, Dean Henderson, Reece James, Marc Guéhi, Ezri Konsa, John Stones, Declan Rice, Elliot Anderson, Bukayo Saka, Harry Kane and Anthony Gordon.

A further eight seem near-certainties: Tino Livramento, Dan Burn, Jordan Henderson, Morgan Rogers, Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke, Marcus Rashford and Ollie Watkins.

Then there are two young players whose talent Tuchel adores and who have been in all of his squads: James Trafford and Myles Lewis-Skelly. The only issue affecting them is getting enough minutes with their clubs, Manchester City and Arsenal respectively.

Laying it out like this makes you realise there could be as few as five spots up for grabs — and quite a number of stars scrambling for them. As Tuchel likes to say, with a certain relish, whenever he is asked about selection: “The competition is on.”

Main battlegrounds
The biggest question: No10
Could Tuchel really leave Bellingham out of England’s World Cup squad? Well, he is not afraid of any selection decision — as he has shown over the last month — but it still feels very unlikely. Tuchel has been clear about his admiration for Bellingham as a player. “Listen, do I believe we are a stronger team with Jude? Yes. Is he one of the best players in the world? Yes,” Tuchel said last week.

The likeliest scenario is Bellingham is given the chance to reassert his credentials in the November internationals — and, given his ability, that he will take that chance. In Riga, Tuchel also left the door open for Bellingham to return to the squad’s leadership group, albeit while striking a cautious note.

In the current squad he has earmarked Kane, Henderson, Rice and Stones as his “captains” and said: “That is an ongoing thing. They behave like captains and they are like captains. They are the drivers of the standards and the mentality.”

When reminded Bellingham was previously in his leadership group Tuchel said: “He was — he was when he was in camp with us.” Pressed on whether Bellingham would return to the group if he gets back in the squad, Tuchel said: “I guess so.”

More secure in the No10 spot is Rogers. Only three outfielders (Kane, Rice, Konsa) have played more minutes for Tuchel than him and Tuchel sees the Aston Villa youngster as the type of collective-orientated, sacrificing, connective player his team need. Rogers seems certain to go to the US.

Left back
Tuchel has stated that he wants a squad where there is clarity over roles and two players vying for every outfield position, leaving three spots to be filled by multi-purpose selections.

However, at left back the policy gets complicated. Lewis-Skelly is the only naturally left-sided full back to have played for Tuchel, with two right-footers, Livramento and Djed Spence, playing on the left in the last two games and James (another right-footer) filling the slot away to Andorra.

It proved a big mistake when Southgate failed to take a left-footed left back to Euro 2024, so Lewis-Skelly has a great chance of going to the USA as long as plays enough for Arsenal, and the door is open for Nico O’Reilly, Lewis Hall and even Luke Shaw (who Tuchel greatly admires) to force their way in.

On the right, James is the man in possession, Konsa provides cover, and Livramento and Spence are strong contenders because they can play on both sides. All this severely reduces the prospects of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Kyle Walker.

Tuchel’s second No8
“In the moment, Elliot and Jordan in midfield,” said Tuchel last week, making the pecking order at No6 clear — Anderson is in possession, Henderson is the back-up. At No8 the starter is Rice, who effectively became England’s vice-captain when Tuchel gave him the armband against Wales in Kane’s absence. But who might go to the World Cup as back-up?

Adam Wharton had to withdraw from the squad for the September internationals through injury, missing a golden opportunity to stake his claim, but Tuchel likes him enough to have phoned Wharton to say he “deserved” to be in the squad on form, and missed out simply because of a desire to stick with an unchanged group.

Tuchel believes Wharton can play No6 and No8 but versatility is also part of Curtis Jones’s attraction and Ruben Loftus-Cheek has impressed Tuchel since rejoining England’s squad. A dark horse may be Mason Mount. Tuchel loved him at Chelsea and his revival at Manchester United has not gone unnoticed. Conor Gallagher’s chances seem slim after he struggled in June’s 3-1 defeat by Senegal.

The back-up striker(s)
Asked about his understudies for Kane, it was fascinating that Tuchel only named one regular No9 as a contender: Watkins. The other options he cited were Rashford and Jarrod Bowen, who prefer operating wide, and a collection of theoretical false nines: Rogers, Bellingham and Foden.

Tuchel did namecheck the uncapped Liam Delap, with whom he has not been able to work. The Chelsea striker is out until the new year with a torn hamstring. The absence of Dominic Solanke’s name felt significant and the prospects of Ivan Toney — who underwhelmed Tuchel when he was part of the June squad — appear to be very small.

A battle of the talents for one or two ‘floating’ roles
If Tuchel takes two players per outfield position, that leaves him with three spaces to fill. It is likely one will go to an extra centre back or utility defender (Trevoh Chalobah, Jarell Quansah and Levi Colwill are contenders) and Tuchel loves Eze, hinting that he will find him a place in the squad because he offers something unique — both as a person and a player.

With the wing options seemingly Saka/Madueke and Gordon/Rashford, this may leave just one spot to fill from Foden, Grealish, Cole Palmer and Morgan Gibbs-White. That is some competition.

 

The first sentence of that article is said with so much certainty, yet is absolute guess work.

 

I think myself it might be
Pickford, Spence, Stones, Guehi, Lewis-Skelly, Anderson, Rice, Saka, Rogers, Gordon or Rashford, Kane

 

Chelsea’s pursuit of Crystal Palace's Adam Wharton has intensified but they face competition from Manchester United for the 21-year-old England midfielder. (Teamtalk)

 

Gordon and Burn have to be careful today if they play as another yellow would rule them out if the Serbia match. With how Tuchel works missing a single match could affect their World Cup chances.

 

That’s massively over the top surely?

 

It's gone a little under the radar, but if England avoid defeat tonight they will extend their unbeaten run in World Cup qualifiers to 37 matches - the second longest in UEFA qualifying history.

The last time we lost a qualifying match for a World Cup was back in October 2009 against Ukraine - and only Spain recorded a longer unbeaten stretch (between 1993 and 2021).

 

The BBC having a prediction that Jordan Henderson won’t go to the World Cup because of his age - anytime Tuchel speaks it’s clear he js planning to take him. And also that writer wants Foden to start.

 

How many did Spain go unbeaten?

 

They went a whopping 66 games before finally losing to Sweden. So only another 30 World Cup qualifiers for us to go undefeated. Doddle.

 

Harry Kane expected to return to the starting XI tonight. Myles Lewis-Skelly also playing. Marc Guehi rested. Rest is the same as Wales. @BBCSport

— Sami Mokbel (@SamiMokbel_BBC) October 14, 2025

 

Lewis-Skelly feels like a problem in waiting. Tuchel has openly said this camp his lack of club playing time could cost him.

 

Well it could, but I don't really see how that gives us a problem we don't already have?

 

Your #ThreeLions for tonight's @FIFAWorldCup qualifier in Latvia 🦁 pic.twitter.com/sJNISJhhAf

— England (@England) October 14, 2025

 

It just feels like Tuchel might have been better saying playing time doesn’t always matter rather the suggesting it does.

 

I wonder how much longer Anderson will stay at 21 before he starts getting a higher number.

 

Much better balance at the back

 

Didn't realise ghuei has been dropped. Why?

 

Rested

 

I know but surely u start ur best team at this stage

 

Apparently due to his Palace minutes but Konsa has had a similar playing time.