England Squad Verdict

Thomas Tuchel announced his latest England squad earlier today ahead of their upcoming friendlies against Uruguay and Japan.

There are two new faces to the squad in Jason Steele and James Garner whilst there are recalls for Aaron Ramsdale, Lewis Hall, Tino Livramento, Harry Maguire, Fikayo Tomori, Kobbie Mainoo, Cole Palmer, Noni Madueke, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Dominic Solanke.

Jason Steele's call up was very surprising because he's Brighton's back-up keeper and back-up keepers rarely get called up for their national side.

I was also surprised that James Garner was called up because I wasn't expecting him to be called up. But he does his call up because he's been in very good form for Everton and has bee one of their best players this season.

In terms of the players that have been recalled, Fikayo Tomori, Noni Madueke and Dominic Solanke are the only three players who I'm surprised to see back in the squad. I was surprised that Tomori got recalled because I wasn't expecting him to be recalled and it was the same for Solanke and Madueke, who I don't think have enough enough to earn a recall.

Ramsdale's recall was probably expected after replacing Nick Pope as Newcastle's first choice keeper and so was Tino Livramento because of Reece James being unavailable due to injury.

Lewis Hall definitely deserves his recall because he's been in good form for Newcastle recently and he'll be looking to use this international break to cement himself as England's first choice left back for the World Cup due to the lack of options England have in this department.

Harry Maguire and Kobbie Mainoo both deserve their recalls because they've both been in excellent form for Man United since Michael Carrick took over and especially Mainoo, who has relished being back in first team action after being frozen out by Ruben Amorim.

Cole Palmer, like Ramsdale and Livramento, was probably expected to be recalled because he missed the last international break due to injury and has been in good form for Chelsea recently.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin is back in the squad for the first time since 2021 and he deserves to be recalled because he's been the best English striker in the Premier League this season. His form has dried up since that brilliant spell he had around Christmas but with other English strikers out of form, he deserves to be back in the squad.

In terms of the rest of the squad, James Trafford's inclusion surprises me because he's Man City's second choice keeper behind Gianluigi Donnarumma. Djed Spence's inclusion was also a surprise because I don't think he's been in good enough form for Spurs due to the struggles they've had this season.

Phil Foden's inclusion also surprises me because he hasn't played a lot for Man City since the turn of the year and hasn't been in the form he was before Christmas.

FULL ENGLAND SQUAD:

GOALKEEPERS: Jordan Pickford (Everton), Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Aaron Ramsdale (Newcastle), James Trafford (Man City), Jason Steele (Brighton)

DEFENDERS: Tino Livramento (Newcastle), Marc Guehi (Man City), John Stones (Man City), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Harry Maguire (Man United), Dan Burn (Newcastle), Jarell Quansah (Bayer Leverkusen), Fikayo Tomori (AC Milan), Lewis Hall (Newcastle), Nico O'Reilly (Man City), Djed Spance (Tottenham)

MIDFIELDERS: Declan Rice (Arsenal), Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest), Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace), Kobbie Mainoo (Man United), Jordan Henderson (Brentford), James Garner (Everton), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa), Eberechi Eze (Arsenal), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Phil Foden (Man City)

FORWARDS: Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Noni Madueke (Arsenal), Marcus Rashford (Barcelona), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Leeds), Dominic Solanke (Tottenham)