England manager Thomas Tuchel is narrowing down his list of candidates before announcing his World Cup squad, but he is concerned whether his attackers, apart from Harry Kane, have the killer instinct needed to become champions this summer.
England head coach Thomas Tuchel has set a challenge for his frontline players.
Thomas Tuchel’s messaging is very clever.
In October last year, a strong warning was issued to Marcus Rashford about the need to perform on the pitch, with the word potential being “dangerous in sport” if a player fails to live up to expectations. Since then, Rashford has worked hard and excelled, impressing manager Tuchel with his work rate against Uruguay on Friday night.
On Monday, the eve of the match against Japan, there was a more general message to other forwards that made it clear that this was a big night for England’s attacking line-up. “I love the players, I really love the quality of our players, especially the attacking players, but the sheer numbers of our players, apart from Harry on the wings and everywhere, are not the outstanding numbers that we would normally expect,” Tuchel said.
“So what’s the reason? According to the league, is it that the defenders are too strong and difficult to score and assist?”
“I want them to put up more numbers, so Bukayo, Noni, Ebbs, Anthony Gordon, even Cole Palmer, even Morgan Rodgers. Phil Foden, not Jude. Like Harry, who’s producing these outstanding numbers? Who’s deciding the games? It’s just a fact and it tells us what we have to do as a team.”
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Kane has always been exempt from such general messages as his numbers for club and country speak for themselves. He is enjoying the season of his life and should be in the Ballon d’Or conversation.
But the likes of Anthony Gordon, Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and Phil Foden will be keeping an eye on them ahead of Tuesday’s meeting with Japan.
Tuchel mentioned the names of Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke and Ebulelesi Eze, who are all absent, with Jude Bellingham also not playing and having been sidelined in recent weeks, he has been exempted.
But the rest is in the spotlight. It’s hard to imagine Tuchel using more than two wingers in each team. And considering one can play as a wide or false nine, number 10 is an absolute maximum of three.
Thomas Tuchel speaks to players during England’s training session (Image: 2026 The FA)
Phil Foden and Cole Palmer are both struggling to qualify for England (Image: Michael Regan/The FA via Getty Images)
If you do the math, it’s very simple. Big names will miss out. I feel like it’s going to be Foden or Palmer. Both may be difficult to get to.
Foden started against Uruguay but was sent off just before the hour mark. He was being strangled with a sickle, which was probably going to come off anyway. He has barely played for City and it has been a frustrating season.
Palmer has had a stop-start this season, but has played well in the Champions League and is likely to be one of the two players on the left against Rashford.
Saka remains the favorite on the right. The remaining spot will be between Jarrod Bowen and Madueke. Bellingham and Rodgers are the leaders in the clubhouse competing for the No. 10 spot. Eze is probably struggling, but Palmer could fill that role as well.
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But this is all about numbers, a strong finish to the season and Tuchel impressing against a decent opponent, Japan, who are ranked 19th in the world and beat Scotland last weekend and just recently beat Brazil.
Palmer would certainly get a start, but would it work if it was on the right side in front of Ben White? But what about Rodgers at No. 10? There will be some auditions and rotations, but nothing as experimental as the game against Uruguay.
This is now a serious issue and Tuchel’s message was equally clear.
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