Its debatable whether Englands only option is to play Rice/Anderson. But if that's the case, then that opens up a more important question of who do you build the rest of the team around, if you dont have the midfield of Spain, Portugal and Croatia? England have a significantly better player pool we had 10-15yrs ago. Our player profile has evolved and we have some excellent players to choose from that we didn't have before. Foden, Palmer, Bellingham, Gibbs White, Saka and even Eze/Rashford can't all play at the same time, but they're Englands most technically capable attacking players (excluding no 9's). So we should be finding a way to make it work with these options. If Tuchel is insisting on Rice/Anderson, then he should (at the very least) build an attack in front of them from the above names. Thats his job. If he was brought in just to end with the grand plan of playing a team of direct transition runners (inc Gordon, Rogers), then I dont know why we even bothered getting rid of Southgate and bringing in a foreign coach to take England that step further.
The fella on the left choosing Henderson as his own choice blew my mind but then he said it’s the one position he’s less invested in maybe says a lot. In my mind it’s one of the most important positions to get right.
This is why Nico O'Reilly could be so important for us this summer. I'll bet any money that Tuchel is looking to him to be the man who moves up, creates those overloads and wins us control of the midfield. He looked a little unsure of where to position himself against Japan at times, but with more time training under Tuchel, l think he could play a key role in helping us dominate games.
If we're doing the I'd prefer Lewis-skelly at left-back. He's better at doing that role. He's better on the ball than o'reilly and a more progressive passer
Who else is dreading Tuchel’s squad? I'm going all Fireburn here but I have a horrible feeling he's going to leave out jude bellingham. He's the kind of manager who wants to stick two fingers up to the media and do it his way
He won’t leave him out but he will give no care about how popular the decisions are. Croatia needs to be a good performance through or things could get very toxic.
We have people discussing Bellingham being excluded and it’s Monday and the squad isn’t announced until Friday, God help us all!
That is the benefit of playing O'Reilly at LB and is what Tuchel and Pep use him for. Although I still have big worries about playing a CM at fullback because their positional awareness and 1v1 ability really gets exposed when defending. - and I don't think it's worth the risk in knockout tournament football. Lewis Hall is still raw, but he is much more of a natural fullback than O'Reilly and has that ability to break the lines, because he's such a good ball carrier in tight spaces. For me , Hall offers that preferred trade-off between an experienced LB like Shaw and O'Reilly. I would love to see Hall (being left footed) paired with Rashford down that left side. Especially with both of them instinctively running at players in 1v1's, it could give opponents all kinds of problems..
I'd take both O'Reilly and Hall personally. It would worry me more to have two full-backs in James and Shaw who, through relentless hamstring and muscle injuries, have had to seriously modify their games and cut back on the attacking sorties they make down the flanks.
The relevant Sport article mentions Rashford missing the game because of a ‘minor inconvenience’ that meant he didn’t train. Looks like just a precaution.
Cross has some odd takes - but seems convinced he'll take 3 strikers - I've seen very few others really suggest this due to the knock-on with numbers elsewhere - and has again flagged Toney as a possible. "The third striker is the one to watch, and that will be the story" He doesn't seem to have much of an insight as usual - evidenced by his lack of certainty Jordan Henderson will go, which seems a done deal
He seems even more sure he'll take 3 in print Thomas Tuchel's private Ollie Watkins view as England boss set to name THREE strikers - The Mirror Thomas Tuchel is set to name THREE strikers in his England squad - and that should open the door for Ollie Watkins. It could open the door for forgotten man Ivan Toney who has been in prolific form in the Saudi Pro League and has gained a reputation as a penalty specialist ahead of potential shoot-outs.
I agree - but he's gone out on a bit of a limb. I haven't seen anyone else suggest it Thomas Tuchel's private Ollie Watkins view as England boss set to name THREE strikers in World Cup squad✍️ @johncrossmirror https://t.co/od3Y6pFP8B pic.twitter.com/gpDMevDlQf— Mirror Football (@MirrorFootball) May 18, 2026