England: Three major selection decisions facing Thomas Tuchel for first game | OneFootball

A fresh start for the Three Lions at Wembley, but new boss dealing with same dilemmas as Gareth Southgate

A new England era starts tonight as Thomas Tuchel’s Three Lions meet Albania at Wembley in their first 2026 World Cup qualifier.

Tuchel, who won the Champions League with Chelsea, is viewed as the elite-level coach required to get England over the final hurdle after a series of near-misses under Gareth Southgate, including back-to-back European Championship final defeats.

But while the 51-year-old arrives with new ideas, fresh energy and a different character to his predecessor, he must still overcome the same three major selection issues.

Who plays at left-back?

Left-back has been a consistent problem area for England, with Southgate relying - unwisely, as it turned out - on Luke Shaw’s recovery from injury and an out-of-position Kieran Trippier during Euro 2024.

Several new options have, however, emerged since, including Lewis Hall, who stood out in Lee Carsley’s final games in interim charge in the autumn.

Cruelly, the Newcastle man has since been ruled out for the rest of the season through injury, meaning Tuchel is back somewhere close to square one.

Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly is the exciting newcomer and while Tuchel has admitted he was cautious about calling the 18-year-old up so soon, including him in his first XI this evening would give it a vibrant, fresh feel.

That would be welcome given the German’s first squad announcement was somewhat underwhelming in its return to Southgate favourites like Jordan Henderson, Kyle Walker and Marcus Rashford.

Levi Colwill and Dan Burn are both centre-backs who can play on the left of defence, but at home to Albania, fielding either would seem an overly cautious move. Both would benefit were Tuchel to employ a back three at some stage in his reign.

Debut: Starting Myles Lewis-Skelly would give England’s team a fresh feel against Albania

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The versatile Tino Livramento is the other left-back option in Tuchel’s first squad, while veteran Walker and Reece James, who excelled under Tuchel at Chelsea, appear to have the right flank between them, with Trent Alexander-Arnold injured and Ben White not yet back in the fold.

Who partners Declan Rice?

If Southgate was criticised for failing to budge from his Trippier left-back plan in Germany last summer then he at least could not be accused of a lack of experimentation in midfield.

Alexander-Arnold, Conor Gallagher and Kobbie Mainoo all started games alongside Declan Rice, while Adam Wharton was overlooked throughout the campaign.

For various reasons, none of that quartet are in Tuchel’s first squad and nor is Angel Gomes, who at one stage in Carsley’s spell looked like a potential left-field solution. Instead, Tuchel appears to have left himself a choice between Liverpool midfielders past and present.

Curtis Jones was another who impressed in the brief Carsley era and Southgate is known to have been frustrated that injuries prevented him from introducing the 24-year-old sooner. Jones is not a certain starter for Liverpool, but his versatility and dynamism has been a key factor in their charge towards the Premier League title.

Recall: Jordan Henderson’s return was the biggest surprise from Tuchel’s first squad selection

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Henderson’s recall, meanwhile, was the biggest surprise of Tuchel’s squad announcement last week. The 34-year-old’s leadership qualities have been talked up as the main factor in his return, but he has also been a steady presence at the base of Ajax’s midfield this term.

Using Henderson in a deeper No6 role could free up Rice to be more adventurous, but banking on his form and fitness holding through to next summer - when he will be 36 - looks a risk.

The alternative to both players would be to use Jude Bellingham in a deeper role… but more on that anon.

Who plays at No10?

Last summer, with Harry Kane’s tendency to drop deep, Phil Foden drifting inside from an uncomfortable left-wing berth and Bellingham nominally starting at No10, England often found themselves with three of their most dangerous forwards crowding the same area of the pitch. Cole Palmer, meanwhile, did not start a single game.

Circumstances mean that, for tonight at least, this may be a dilemma that solves itself. Palmer’s injury has him out of contention for the No10 spot that has become his permanent position at Chelsea, while Bukayo Saka’s absence means that Foden, if not picked in his preferred central role, can at least play off the right, where he is more effective than the left.

That assumes, though, that Tuchel intends to use Bellingham as his first-choice No10, and not in a deeper role alongside Rice.

Conundrum: Tuchel can either use Bellingham as his preferred No10 or in a deeper midfield role

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Southgate was reluctant to move Bellingham back into midfield during the Euros because he had spent the season playing higher up the pitch for Real Madrid, but this term, following the signing of Kylian Mbappe, his role at the Bernabeu has been much more varied.

Tuchel may not have to do much shoehorning to get his best available attackers into the same lineup right now, but once Saka and Palmer return to fitness, pushing Bellingham deeper may be the only way to do so.

With so few games and so little time between now and the World Cup, it may be an option he wants to look at straightaway.