England Squad Verdict

Thomas Tuchel announced his first England squad earlier today ahead of their opening two World Cup 2026 qualifiers against Albania and Latvia.

There are two new faces to the squad in Myles Lewis-Skelley and Dan Burn, and there are recalls for James Trafford, Reece James, Tino Livramento, Jarell Quansah, Jordan Henderson and Marcus Rashford.

This is what I make of the squad.

Lewis-Skelley 100% deserves his call up because he's been brilliant for Arsenal since he broke into the first team. He is only 18 and is yet to make an appearance for the U21's, but he still deserves a place in the squad because of the form he's in, and him being part of the squad will help him develop more as a player.

Dan Burn's call up is very surprising as I wasn't expecting him to be called up. He has played well for Newcastle over the last couple of seasons, but I didn't think he was in the kind of form to get himself an international call up.

In terms of the players that have been recalled, Livramento is the only one whose recall doesn't surprise me because England are very short on left backs, and he is someone who can fill in there.

As for the rest of the recalled players, I wasn't expecting any of them to be in the squad. Reece James has played a handful of games for Chelsea recently, but I didn't think he was ready to be recalled as he's still working his back to full fitness.

James Trafford may have an impressive clean sheet for Burnley this season, but I still didn't see him being recalled as he's playing in the Championship.

Jarell Quansah's recall was surprise as he hasn't been a regular starter for Liverpool this season. He has featured in the odd game and is someone who can fill in at full back, but I still wasn't expecting him to be recalled.

Jordan Henderson's recall was definitely a surprise as I thought his England days were over around this time last year due to his age and the players England have coming through.

Marcus Rashford has been in good form since joining Aston Villa on loan from Man United, but I still wasn't expecting him top be recalled as he's yet to score since joining Villa.

As for the rest of the squad, I was surprised to see Ollie Watkins dropped as I was very much expecting him to still be included. For me he should've been in the squad ahead of Dominic Solanke, who has just returned from injury and hasn't scored as many goals as Watkins this season.

FULL ENGLAND SQUAD:

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

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

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

FORWARDS: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle), Marcus Rashford (Aston Villa), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Dominic Solanke (Tottenham)