England squad: Three Lions vets Kyle Walker, Jordan Henderson back; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jack Grealish out

Jordan Henderson and Kyle Walker are among the surprise inclusions after Thomas Tuchel named his first squad as England head coach.

Veterans Henderson and Walker, key components of Gareth Southgate’s squads reached the World Cup semifinals in 2018 and European Championships final three years later, are joined by the returning Marcus Rashford in the 26 man group that will face Albania and Latvia at Wembley in England’s first qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.

A notably experienced squad does however make room for first time call ups, Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly and Dan Burn of Newcastle hoping to win their first caps. Jarrel Quansah and James Trafford will both also be bidding to earn their first caps having previously been called up, the former part of the preliminary group for Euro 2024. Burnley goalkeeper Trafford is the Championship’s sole representative.

There is, however, no space for Jack Grealish, struggling for form with Manchester City, whilst Liam Delap’s rich run of goalscoring form with Ipswich has not been enough to earn him a spot in Tuchel’s first squad. Morgan Gibbs-White and Adam Wharton are among the younger players who do not figure in plans either.

Meanwhile Tuchel confirmed that Harry Kane, who he coached at Bayern Munich, will remain his captain. “It’s a pleasure to work with him,” said Tuchel. “We have a proven goal scorer at the highest level. He has the most caps and he has the most goals so he sets the records and sets the standards when it comes to that. We have a lot of expectations because we know him already. It will be a lot of extra responsibility on his shoulders but Harry is someone who proves that he can handle it. We’re happy to have him in good shape. It’s a clear choice.”

Here’s our analysis on some of the big calls Tuchel has made.

The old guard returns

The boys are back in town. Spread the word around. Walker and Henderson in particular were supposed to be relics of the old England, the latter dispensed with by Southgate on the eve of Euro 2024 in what felt like a fresh start for a man who, it eventually transpired, was already expecting to leave.

Neither player has particularly pulled up trees since the summer tournament. Walker has gone on loan to AC Milan where his form has been unremarkable. Henderson has started one of Ajax’s last eight games. Meanwhile there is no opportunity for Ben White at right back nor for dynamos such as Gibbs-White and Wharton in midfield. Already that section of the England fanbase that expect their squad to win every game, win them well, play with composures and blood the bright young things are grumbling.

It might, however, be worth considering the case for the defense. Henderson and Walker know this setup as well as anyone, the latter now with a realistic prospect of getting the seven caps hes need to become an England centurion. Both are old enough to have seen how successful dressing rooms function on the international stage and to have observed some of the chaos of previous years. That is something the new call ups will need. So will the new head coach, who for all his outstanding track record at the club game is coming into a new environment and a public who he seems to know he must win over.

Speaking about Henderson, Tuchel said: “What he brings to every team is leadership, character, personality, energy. He makes sure that everyone lives by standards and with this characteristic he embodies everything that we try to build. We try to build a team for our fans and a team that they are proud of and can identity with. Jordan embodies everything that we want from this team.”

What is worth noting is that Henderson does not have to be on the pitch to impart those qualities on the England setup. Tuchel specifically noted the value Myles Lewis-Skelly, the Arsenal youngster who has been under the spotlight for his disciplinary issues and celebrations, could get from being around Henderson. The same would be true of Walker.

There are realistically three or four players who could figure in midfield ahead of Henderson. Reece James, Tino Livramento and Ezri Konsa could all get minutes at right back before Walker does and that is a position where England are plugging holes with Trent Alexander-Arnold injured and White yet to build sufficient fitness. Just because these two old hands are in Tuchel’s first squad for the World Cup journey does not mean they will be on the plane to America. Before then, however, there is wisdom to impart.

How will Tuchel line up?

The challenge of assessing the make up of this squad is it is not yet clear how Tuchel will deploy them. At Chelsea he moved swiftly to a back three that turned a fringe Champions League side into winners. Early in his career he was as zealous a high pressing coach as anyone in Germany, when he landed at Paris Saint-Germain and subsequently at Bayern Munich, adaptations were made for superstar players.

For the time being, Tuchel is intent on playing his cards close to his chest over whether he will line up with three in defense or four. The relative paucity of central midfielders hints that maybe something more like the Chelsea style 3-4-2-1 could be in the works as does the involvement of Burn, James, Walker and Konsa, all of whom could play a hybrid center back full back role. Equally if that is the case, there don’t seem to be a lot of wing backs in the mix.

“I think we have a lot of options,” was all Tuchel would give away in regards to his tactical approach. “We chose some players because they are able to play in more than one position. I think that the challenge is to combine all of these different ideas into one idea and maybe more than ever it is important that less is more.

“We will not invent new football in the four days we have before the first match. There will be a lot on video and on the pitch and then we need to find a structure and identity that suits everyone and that everyone understands quickly and give everyone freedom to express themselves and show their talent.”

Time for Grealish to move on

If anyone might have hoped that a new boss would have brought fresh opportunities, it might have been Grealish. For all that the 29 year old lit up the stage off the bench at Euro 2020 there was always the sense that Southgate had to be convinced to give minutes over to the playmaker who was the people’s champion at Aston Villa. Ten caps since the start of 2023 speak volumes, this is an English and European champion with just 39 caps for his country and only 18 starts.

His prospects of making the World Cup squad look slim given how infrequently he is getting on the pitch for City of late. He ranks 16th for minutes in all competitions in Pep Guardiola’s squad and the acquisition of Omar Marmoush puts another body between him and the XI.

Meanwhile his former club do have more than one notable presence in Tuchel’s forward line. Morgan Rogers’ presence is no great surprise, more notable is Rashford’s. His loan spell from Manchester United is going quite well, just one start in the Premier League but two assists against Chelsea and another against Club Brugge. The trajectory, at least, is upwards for a player who seemed trapped in the wrong environment.

Tuchel acknowledged much of that. “With Marcus, he is a familiar face but a different situation,” he said. “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 workrate, his defensive ability and tracking back was impressive. I had the strong feeling that we should nominate him, bring him in and to push him to stay on that level to not fall back on old routines. This camp is to push him to stay on this level.”

Grealish looks like one who also needs that shove.

England squad

Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Southampton), James Trafford (Burnley)

Defenders: Dan Burn (Newcastle), Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Reece James (Chelsea), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal), Tino Livramento (Newcastle), Jarell Quansah (Liverpool), Kyle Walker (AC Milan)

Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), Curtis Jones (Liverpool), Jordan Henderson (Ajax), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa), Declan Rice (Arsenal)

Forwards: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Marcus Rashford (Aston Villa), Dominic Solanke (Tottenham)