Tuchel’s England Squad: The Good, The Bad, and The Prehistoric

Thomas Tuchel has picked his England squad, and as usual, it has got everyone talking. As a Guitarist (& Sunderland supporter), I might look at a few of these selections a bit differently, but let’s look at the facts first.

Here is the breakdown of who is in, who was left behind, and the massive tactical flaws most pundits are completely missing.
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The Squad: The Ins and Outs

The Backline Dilemmas

• The Pickford Problem: The goalkeeper spot belongs to Jordan Pickford, but his form is a worry. Watching my team, Sunderland, put three quite ordinary goals past him recently proves he is far from invincible right now.
• The "Prehistoric" Selection: I have no idea what Dan Burn is doing in this squad. Tuchel loves him for the camp chemistry, but on the pitch, he is basically a prehistoric lump.
• The Shoe-Ins: Reece James and John Stones are 'old-school', proper defenders. They are guaranteed starters if they can stay fit.
• The Full-Back Chaos: Tino Livramento is a great impact option. Meanwhile, Matt O'Reilly is everyone's flavour of the month, but he spends so much time in the opposing box that nobody actually knows what he is like as a defender. To make matters worse, Tuchel named Djed Spence as his second-choice left-back. Isn't he a natural right-back?

Midfield and Attack

• The Safe Core: Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson are absolute shoe-ins. In attack, Harry Kane is the main man, flanked by Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford.
• The Predictability Trap: Saka always cuts inside to curl it with his left boot. Rashford always runs fast down the outside, cuts inside, and shoots wide. The whole world knows their moves. How are we going to surprise any top-tier opposition with this?
• The Penalty Myth: Ivan Toney seems to be there strictly for penalties. But if Toney is on the pitch, it means Kane is off. If it comes down to a crucial shootout, everyone knows who they would rather have taking it. Ollie Watkins is the much better impact sub here.

Left at Home: The Omissions
Tuchel made some massive gambles with his omissions, leaving some world-class creators and tactical outlets in England.
+-------------------------------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+
| Player Left Behind         | Picked instead? | What We Are Missing            |
+-------------------------------+---------------------+--------------------------------------+
| Phil Foden                       | Kobbie Mainoo| Pure magic & impact ability  |
| Lewis Hall                        | Dan Burn            | Dynamic left-sided defense |
| Dominic Calvert-Lewin| Ivan Toney          | Tactical forward outlet          |
| Cole Palmer                   | Kobbie Mainoo  | Renaissance form & goals   |
+------------------------------+---------------------+---------------------------------------+

• Phil Foden: Leaving Foden out of the squad entirely is unbelievable. His form at Manchester City fluctuated, but class is permanent. Other countries would jump at the chance to have a magical player who can make something happen out of nothing.
• Lewis Hall: Even looking at this objectively, it makes no sense how Hall missed out while Dan Burn made the cut.
• Dominic Calvert-Lewin: He was incredibly unlucky. He offers a direct Plan B. You can knock long balls up to him, let him chase down channels, and rely on him to be a true poacher in the box.

The Tactical Nightmare
When you look closely at the potential starting eleven, a massive structural problem appears.

The further back you go in this team, the less secure it gets. While the front five is mostly settled—aside from debating Morgan Rogers over Jude Bellingham, or Anthony Gordon over Rashford — the defence is a total guessing game.

If Matt O'Reilly and Reece James both charge forward into the attacking thirds, they will leave gaping corridors of open space down the wings. If our full-backs push too high, it leaves our centre-backs completely exposed on the counter-attack.


Reasons to Be Cheerful?
It is easy to look at this squad and spot the structural holes. However, England still possesses world-class attacking depth, individual match-winners, and a manager who knows how to win knockout tournaments. If Tuchel can solve the defensive spacing issues, the firepower upfront might just carry us through.

To hear the full breakdown and see my visual team selection maps, watch the full video on YouTube.

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