
Your views, reaction and analysis as Thomas Tuchel names his first England squad for World Cup qualifiers
Jordan Henderson and Marcus Rashford both return to squad alongside uncapped players Lewis-Skelly, Burn, Trafford and Quansah
Tuchel: 'Henderson embodies everything we want' | White wants England return | 'Lewis-Skelly can handle the heat'
Analysis: Alex Howell on the 'physicality' of England's squad | Sami Mokbel on Tuchel's remit | Phil McNulty on Henderson recall
Harry Poole, Holly Bacon, Ben Ramsdale, Sarah Rendell & Karan Vinod. Edited by Murray Burnell.
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See ya there!England
It has been a long time since we had a new permanent England manager naming their first squad – eight years to be precise.
Gareth Southgate had been in interim charge for four games prior to this but this was the first full squad he selected as permanent boss of the Three Lions.
Goalkeepers:
Defenders:
Midfielders:
Forwards:
Is there always such debate around England squads? I genuinely can't remember what it was like when Gareth Southgate named his first side eight years ago.
Speaking of, though, sounds like a good note to finish on doesn't it?
Let's have a look at the 23-man squad that Southgate named to take on Germany back in March 2017.
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That under 21 team has a better defence than the senior team.
Anon
According to whoscored.com, these are the top 12 rated England players that have made 15 or more appearances so far in 2024-25.
Of the 12, six aren't included in Thomas Tuchel's squad, though two (Bukayo Saka & Trent Alexander-Arnold) are injured.
Do you think some of these were unfortunate not to get the nod?England
Lee Carsley has named his England Under-21s squad ahead of their friendlies against France and Portugal.
Jarrad Branthwaite, Liam Delap, Rico Lewis, Adam Wharton, Archie Gray, Elliot Anderson, Jamie Gittens, Ethan Nwaneri, Harvey Elliott, James McAtee, and Omari Hutchinson are all included.
Loads of comments asking about Adam Wharton and Jarrad Branthwaite throughout the day so far.
They have been included in an England squad after all – just not Thomas Tuchel's…
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I think this is a very good squad and I understand the choices he has made. It’s unlikely Henderson will start but I think he will be a great person to have on the training ground for those young players. Players like Wharton and Braithwait are still very young and they have a long time to get into the team and it might benefit them not to be rushed into it.
Mark
In February Henderson was involved in this heated exchange with a reporter about his future at the club.
He accused the Dutch journalist of making 'untrue' claims.
The former Liverpool man was linked with a move to Monaco during the January transfer window. Henry Winter
Football writer on The Football News Show
Henry Winter, speaking on The Football News Show, quizzed Thomas Tuchel's selection of Jordan Henderson for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia.
"I thought it was bizarre that he included Jordan Henderson. I don't think he needed too, I think England have got other options – Adam Wharton, Morgan Gibbs White – slight different positions; Kobbie Mainoo when he is back fit, Angel Gomes. It just is strange.
"Whatever way you dice it, you are going to have Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham, there isn't a place for him in midfield, and personally there shouldn't be a place for him on the bench given the other players of quality that England have coming through."
Henderson returns to the England squad for the first time in over a year.
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If Chris in Tamworth is so certain Henderson shouldn't be in the squad based on form, am I allowed to ask many Eredivisie games he's attended this season? Plenty of players in the Dutch league play to a high standard in internationals and he's the captain of Ajax which isn't to be sniffed at. Having said that, I'd have preferred Wharton personally, but I've seen him play this season as many times as I've seen Hendo…
Sam, Brighton
Thomas Tuchel defended his decision to pick Marcus Rashford in the recently announced England squad. Tuchel said: "With Marcus, he is a familiar face but a different situation. I felt that he had a huge impact at Aston Villa, he made a huge impact from the bench mostly.
"The impact was impressive. The physical impact was impressive and most importantly, his work rate, his defensive ability and tracking back was impressive."
With that said, let's dive into the stats and see if the numbers back what Tuchel said about Rashford's tenure with Villa so far. These stats are retrieved from Opta. John Murray
BBC Radio 5 Live chief football correspondent at Wembley
On his biggest day in the job so far Thomas Tuchel has certainly sprung some surprises with this first England squad selection. Most notably I think with the recall of Jordan Henderson at 34-years-old, who has captained England and is now captain of Ajax who are top of the Dutch league.
It is going on a year-and-a-half since his won the last of his 81 caps.
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Genuinely quite embarrassing that Rashford, after a year of basically not bothering, gets back in on the back of a few decent appearances off the bench. Is our bar not higher?
Michael
Seeing Rashford likely to be called up shows me TT will suffer the same downfall as previous England managers in calling up names instead of in-form players.. IMO, a few half decent games at a new club doesn't merit a call up. Same old England.
Anon
Marcus Rashford has commented on his return to the England squad via his Instagram page.
On his story, he attached a picture of himself in an England shirt and wrote: "Never stopped believing, cannot wait to get started."
Rashford, who is on loan at Aston Villa from Manchester United, hasn't been a part of the Three Lions squad since March 2024.
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There's one tradition for me that should be there in any international squad, every position in the squad should be earned only by current form, not past glory, mentality or anything else. Telling me Rice can’t be a leader? Or Pickford from the back, Konsa, Kane or Jude have big voices on the pitch too, age isn’t the only metric for being a leader. About a 3rd of this squad is arguable, if it was just 1-2 then maybe but if we’re still not back to selecting people based on form, it’s ALWAYS going to be the wrong squad. The damage it does to be overlooked or ignored is unfair to both player and club, who risk having players ask to move to bigger clubs or struggle for form after being rejected. As my mum said to me on a near weekly basis as a child.. Tuchel, I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed.
Chris, TamworthHenry Winter
Football writer on The Football News Show
Henry Winter, speaking on The Football News Show, praised the way Thomas Tuchel carried himself in the news conference.
"For half an hour, he spoke very well, he is very impressive, you can see that enthusiasm, you can see why the players will be enthused by him.
"With Tuchel, the most important thing is – he is so decisive in games. he is tactically smart, we saw he outwitted pep in a Champions League final, he is tactically adaptable."
England
There were a few doubters in our audience when Thomas Tuchel's England squad was announced – but if he was ever going to win them over, it was during that news conference.
The new Three Lions boss boasted an authoritative yet calm aura throughout and also found the time to joke with the press – the 'Hi, I'm Jordan' line comes immediately to mind.
Every question that came his way he answered in a detailed, thorough manner – something that you expect will reflect in his managerial approach moving forward.
The simple yet effective use of "we" numerous times throughout when referring to England is another thing picked up on. He may be German by birth but Tuchel is all in on this England train.
A very impressive stint in front of the media. Now it's time for business.
Well that just sounds far too sensible, Matthew.
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We should see how these 2 games go before everybody starts roasting who's in the squad
Matthew
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