Tuchel's most controversial England squad selections

The England squad for the World Cup is out, time for everyone to get extremely mad online.

Thomas Tuchel made some controversial selections, so let’s talk about the most surprising ones, and the players perceived to have been left out at their expense.

Jordan Henderson vs. Adam Wharton

For a 35-year-old returning to the Premier League after several seasons away, Jordan Henderson had a totally decent season. For someone who’s trying to be one of 4 deeper-lying central midfielders in the England squad, he was probably not quite good enough. Especially when compared to Adam Wharton, who did not make the squad. Wharton is no worse than Henderson defensively, and is a considerably more effective playmaker.

The argument made in Henderson’s favor will be one about experience and leadership, which I don’t discount. I am not simply a nerd looking at spreadsheets; I do believe that there are important intangible qualities that stats can’t measure. But I also think that Harry Kane, Jordan Pickford, John Stones and Declan Rice should be enough experienced leadership for one squad. Leaving out a player as good as Wharton in a position where you don’t have a ton of depth is a mistake.

Djed Spence vs. Lewis Hall

This is a pretty clear philosophical statement by Tuchel. Spence, who is not left-footed and who contributed to one of the worst performing teams in the Premier League, has been selected for England because he runs fast. He runs a lot faster than Lewis Hall, an actual left back who does things with a football at his feet. I disagree with the selection, but I understand.

I actually think that Myles Lewis-Skelly is better than both of them, but we never got to find out because the team he plays for is too good to start him every game.

Dan Burn vs. Harry Maguire

The very simple justification for this could be “Burn tall,” but I don’t think that’s the whole story. Maguire is also a big dude and has a history of excellent set piece goals and assists for England. They don’t call him Slabhead for nothing. I think it’s mostly that Burn is left-footed, and has plenty of experience playing as both a left center back in a 3, and a left back in a conservative, low-block back 4 team. That flexibility is what gets him into the squad.

I don’t think there’s any way to justify this selection on form or playing style as a center back in a back 4, since they’re basically the same player, but Maguire is marginally better.

Overall, I don’t think Tuchel had great choices at center back. Fikayo Tomori and Trevoh Chalobah had down years, while Ben White and Levi Colwill would have been in the mix if not for injuries.

Morgan Rogers vs. Morgan Gibbs-White

This was never going to be a real selection dilemma. Tuchel has very clearly dug his heels in on this one. He loves Morgan Rogers and all of the indication we have from previous matches is that he will be first choice at the 10, even ahead of Jude Bellingham.

But among athletic, box-crashing 10s, there was a better selection available. Morgan Gibbs-White had a much better season than Rogers, despite playing for a considerably less talented and successful team.

The contrasting shot charts tell a huge story for me. One of these guys settles for low-quality shots and the other is much better at moving into the box for high-quality opportunities.

Ivan Toney: Penalty merchant?

If you’re not sure what Ivan Toney is doing here, well, I don’t blame you for not following the Saudi league closely. He’s been tearing it up there, though an incredible percentage of his goals have come from the penalty spot. He’s also a big dude who’s good at being a complete nuisance in the 6-yard area.

With the World Cup now allowing teams to carry a 26 man roster instead of the classic 23, I don’t mind taking a player like Toney as a last-minute penalty and set piece specialist. I doubt he’ll appear in any knockout round matches before the 115th minute, and there’s nothing wrong with that. He’s there to do a specific job, and he’ll fill it well.

Rest up: Trent Alexander-Arnold and Cole Palmer

Two of England’s most talented players have been left out of the team due to injury issues that led to poor form this season, and it’s hard to argue with their omission. I think that Trent Alexander-Arnold and Cole Palmer are both part of the best possible England XI when everyone is fit and at their best, but these guys are both far from it at the moment.

Here’s Trent’s last Liverpool season, compared with what he did for Madrid this campaign. Look at how they massacred my boy.

And here’s Palmer’s previous Chelsea campaign compared to this one, where he’s just considerably worse at everything. Some of that is down to coaching and teammates, but he also just clearly has not been the same since rushing back from his injury.

It’ll be extremely disappointing for these guys to miss the World Cup. I’m sure they’re devastated. But they are also very much in need of a summer off, and I’m looking forward to seeing both of them perform at a much higher level next year after getting some rest. They’re still two of the best players in the world, and I think they’ll start looking like it again soon.

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