For England coach Thomas Tuchel, the real work has just begun. Forget the phoney war of a qualifying group in which England played eight matches against the mediocrities of Albania, Andorra, Latvia and Serbia and won the lot without conceding a goal. Disregard the end-of-season friendlies when the squad was shaped by club commitments and injuries. It was in picking his World Cup squad that Tuchel started to show how he intends to win the trophy that has evaded England for 60 years.
Tuchel has more freedom as England coach than any of his recent predecessors, and the squad shows that he intends to use it. As a foreigner who came to the job with a stacked trophy cabinet, his reputation will not be made nor lost by how England fare in the US. Nor was he trying to prove anything to the FA. He was offered a short, 18-month contract with a single purpose. He has been freed of the accompanying baggage of trying to build a squad for future tournament cycles. He also has the luxury of a much deeper talent pool to pick from. Even with a larger squad size of 26, every place is competitive.
These advantages have enabled Tuchel to take a genuinely bold approach. He has been clear that he will pick players based on their performances for their clubs rather than their reputation in the game. This is a major departure how things usually work. Tuchel trialled it during the qualifiers, by picking Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers at 10 ahead of Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham, and was happy with what he saw.
This principle means there is no place for either Manchester City’s Phil Foden or Chelsea’s Cole Palmer. Plenty of England fans will be aghast. Palmer was England’s best player during their defeat to Spain in the final of Euro 2024. But viewed through Tuchel’s lens, these are relatively straightforward calls. Foden has only started two league games for his club since the beginning of March. Palmer’s season has been disrupted by injuries. Their replacements in the squad, Rogers and Eberechi Eze, have been playing every week.
Tuchel’s approach to Trent Alexander-Arnold is further evidence of how he is cutting through perceived wisdom to take a simpler and more sensible approach. Alexander-Arnold is a wonderful player, whose highly unusual skills enabled him to stretch the definition of what a right back can do while playing for Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool. But his passing range is much less useful if the manager wants his full-backs to play as defenders. Tuchel’s predecessor, Gareth Southgate, turned himself inside out trying to accommodate Alexander-Arnold. In the run-up to Euro 2024, he decided to try him as a midfielder, a last-minute panic that he scrapped midway through the tournament. Tuchel has refused to get caught up in any of this hand-wringing and simply picked a group of other talented right-backs instead. Again, it shows a clarity of thought that England squads have previously lacked.
There will be no tactical innovation or frippery in the coming weeks
This is really the theme of the squad. Tuchel had a wealth of options and he has narrowed down his choices to a very clear plan. There will be no tactical innovation or frippery in the coming weeks. More so than ahead of previous tournaments, it is quite straightforward to identify his first-choice XI: Pickford; James, Stones, Guehi, O’Reilly; Bellingham, Rice, Anderson; Saka, Kane, Rashford. The back-ups match neatly player for player: Anthony Gordon and Noni Madueke will get plenty of minutes as cover for the wide forwards. Ivan Toney and Ollie Watkins will battle to replace Kane. Ezri Konsa and Jarell Quansah are the reserve centre-backs. Jordan Henderson, Kobbie Mainoo and Rogers are the spare midfielders. Djed Spence is in because he can play on either side of defence.
Club and international football are diverging tactically. Club managers have year-round access to their players, which has enabled them to build increasingly complex systems. International managers get several short camps a year, which are usually disrupted by club commitments and injuries. Imposing detailed playing structures is almost impossible. This World Cup will be hot and teams will do a lot of travel. England will have a talent advantage over almost every team that they encounter. With the caveat that tournaments usually throw up a few surprises, these circumstances favour keeping it simple. With this squad, Tuchel has shown he gets it.
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