My god, these squads. I'd love to hear Jack Pitt-Brooke explain why he thinks taking Rice, Anderson, Henderson and Wharton as the only four deep midfielders is a good idea. I don't think anybody in the media is giving much thought to how problematic the midfield might be. Nobody seems bothered about what Wharton and Mainoo playing in a pivot for a team like England would mean and the issues that could come with it. I honestly think I'd feel more confident at this point if Tuchel just left Wharton and Mainoo at home and took Rice, Anderson, Scott and Garner as the midfielders. It's obviously not what I'd do but it would at least be coherent with how he sets the team up and wants it to play. It feels to me like he's going to fall into the same trap as Southgate did in 2024 where many of the squad selections are at odds with the setup.
He doesn’t explain why. Spoiler (Move your mouse to the spoiler area to reveal the content) Show Spoiler Hide Spoiler Most of these picks are obvious. There is no point wasting words justifying Declan Rice’s inclusion. In terms of the marginal calls, I was very tempted to bring back Trent Alexander-Arnold but just went for Reece James and Tino Livramento as my right-backs. If either cannot prove his fitness, then the Real Madrid man comes in. Harry Maguire gets the nod as the experienced centre-back option over Dan Burn, but that is a tight one, too. Morgan Gibbs-White’s club form is too good to ignore, so he is in rather than Kobbie Mainoo as my extra midfielder. The forwards are more debatable. I dropped Phil Foden, who has not looked right for England for some time. Cole Palmer does make it onto my plane. Danny Welbeck is my back-up No 9 over Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Dominic Solanke, although that was not an easy call either. Jarrod Bowen also makes it.
The midfield is industrious but lacks creqtivity which is my worry We don't have many creative 6/8s Looks a similqr team I would pick with the options available. Is James fit?
He takes Henderson because of his experience, that seems like the standout reason ( replied to a poster on X ) which lead myself and a few others on X asking him about it. Some other journalists were also baffled by it.
Rice is the most industrious out of Anderson and Bellingham who are creative imo, well depends on your definition of creative but both can see a pass between the lines, Bellingham still has the X factor.
I mean someone who can take the ball from deep and find creative oasses in the inside channels and half spaces We don't really have that. Bellingham might work well with kane I suppose overlapping him etc but his form hasn't been amwzing
Ghana failed to qualify for Afcon, lost their last 4 friendlies including a 5-1 thrashing by Austria, sacked their coach and replaced him with Queiroz last month. This is the worst iteration of Ghana in years.
I really hope he takes at least one of Mainoo/Wharton. Garner isn't technical enough to play as a CM for England. He also doesn't have that physical profile to impose himself on a Midfield that you often see from Anderson and Rice at club level. Wharton probably won't make it and Tuchel could end up picking Rice, Anderson, Mainoo and a fourth CM
I'm not that big on Garner. I don't think he's bad and I think he's good technically and is good off the ball, but I don't think he processes the game like a top midfielder. Unless you can make the more complex decisions quickly the top teams will just press you into being conservative and impotent. We have better options imo. Fwiw I do think one of Wharton and Mainoo will go. I also think Garner will go though so I don't think we'll get both of them. Unless Tuchel is willing to pick Alex Scott, I think Garner has to go tbh. Our back four would take an absolute beating if anything happened to Rice and all we had was Wharton, Mainoo and a 36-year-old Hendo.
Queiroz’s style is very Icelandic. He's going to set them up to play ultra pragmatic, counter attacking/set piece football. If England or Croatia are only 0-0 or 1-0 up after 70 minutes, the game suddenly becomes uncomfortable. That’s the scenario Queiroz wants and lends itself to nicking a draw and changing the group Moreover Ghana have more athletic players than any of his previous teams. They've got Semenyo, Inaki Williams and Kudus to hurt teams, which will probably suit how Quieroz wants to play.
Tuchel needs to make his mind up on who his backup CM is going to be. If he doesn't think Henderson is up to it, pick Garner instead (but not both). That will completely disrupt the Midfield balance
It's going to be really hard to coach a decent defence in just a couple of weeks. Presumably why they're having a friendly with fringe players in a couple of days. And only one more friendly against Wales the day after they announce their squad. All seems a bit rushed and chaotic. I think they are the weakest team in the group.
Our back four would take an absolute beating if anything happened to Rice and all we had was Wharton, Mainoo and a 36-year-old Hendo.[/QUOTE] First rate observation.
I submitted my prediction to the FA competition Pickford, Henderson, Trafford, Stones, James, Guehi, Colwill, Konsa, Chalobah, Spence, O’Reilly, Quansah Henderson, Rice, Bellingham, Palmer, Wharton, Rogers, Anderson, Garner Kane, Rashford, Saka, Watkins, Gordon, Madueke I didn’t have the nerve to predict Loftus-Cheek.
It's so tough having to assess how real the chances are for players who'd get 1% in a public vote like Spence, Burn, Quansah, Chalobah, and Jordan Henderson. You've got to recognise the comments from Tuchel, and who he's actually picked - and it basically becomes a bit of a 'don't screw it up too much' challenge. I find myself angered when having to type 'Burn' or ''Henderson' in a prospective 26 due to the knock-on effects it produces. Pickford Henderson Trafford James O'Reilly Guehi Konsa Rice Anderson Bellingham Rogers Saka Rashford Gordon Kane Watkins I think those are the only 16 absolutely nailed-on, with Stones 75% and Henderson 90%-nailed. Adding the other 10 comes down to how much you buy the case for the handful of Tuchel favourites. There's still the chance the last 2 months of thinking time and form has produced a couple of real surprises, so if you're too wedded to every bread crumb he's dropped in the past from press conference 12 months ago, you could miss the wood for the trees. It's a bit of a lottery. However tempted you are to cut a corner, with Stones, I'm just sceptical you can take fewer than 5 CBs. And if one's Dan Burn, you're in trouble. And can you take less than 4 proper, front-line full-backs? My 2 strongest feelings are he won't take Hall or Wharton - but I don't think he'll take Shaw either. So it's all a bit confusing. Gun to my head, I think he'll take Madueke, but I'm not convinced by him. I think Garner will go as well
I think three of Spence, Burn, Quansah, Chalobah and Henderson might not make it (if I had to guess I think Henderson and Spence will be in). Where are you seeing the public vote % btw?, I'd imagine most people are just stacking there squad with fowards and 10s like they usually do.
Egypt have named an 18 year old who hasn't played a first team game yet so I don't see why we shouldn't be including Ngumoha
Interesting that article says some olayers have already been told they not going and then goes on to say Colwill is unlikely to go. Seems to think Quansah will go but Chalobah and Tomori probably won’t, And seems to think Rogers might start ahead of Bellingham.