New leader in the England Ladder as Tuchel moves to brink of World Cup qualification

It would be fair to say we’re still working on getting ourselves inside Thomas Tuchel’s head.

We had our disagreements with Gareth Southgate, but what we’ve learned from Tuchel’s early months is that we were by the end far more in tune with Southgate’s thinking than we’d realised. We didn’t always agree with what he did, but we could usually see it coming.

We did not see Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s recall coming, just as we had not seen Jordan Henderson’s, or Ivan Toney’s.

But as always with the England Ladder, the point is that this represents our best guess at what the England manager’s current thinking is. The quality of that guessing is just very much up for debate at this time. And all times, frankly.

You can check out the last, post-Senegal update from June here before getting into this one that has ended up a lot more positive than we expected after the Andorra game and we can confirm has made us cry slightly less than the last one did.

 

1. Declan Rice (3)

Yes, we’re doing that thing where we move Kane from top spot just to feel something. Call them joint first if you like – both are as secure and obvious first-choice members of the starting XI for Tuchel as they were for Southgate and as, we suspect, they would be for just about any manager on the planet.

Rice has grown into the role of senior pro nicely over the last couple of years, and the potency of his set-piece delivery was highlighted yet again with his assists against Serbia, and it isn’t exactly hard to imagine it proving equally vital on multiple occasions next summer.

 

2. Harry Kane (1)

Against Andorra had one of his England performances he chucks in every now and then just so everyone can have a moan about him – something people in this country remain pathologically fond of doing – before showing in the big game against Serbia just why the succession plan still remains a conversation for another day/tournament/manager.

None of his goals count, though. Not a single one of his 74 England goals.

 

3. Jordan Pickford (4)

Nine clean sheets in 10 England caps since the final of Euro 2024. Hasn’t conceded a goal in international football since the Greek tragedy at Wembley back in October last year. Remains pretty much impossible to imagine anyone else leapfrogging him between now and next summer, and we’re okay with that.

 

4. Jude Bellingham (2)

Missing the Andorra game did him no harm, despite the Daily Mail deciding in a rare move that it represented an ideal chance to give a young, articulate and outspoken black man an absolute kicking for no real apparent reason. Which isn’t like them.

The Serbia game did give genuine pause, though, with Morgan Rogers thoroughly excellent in Bellingham’s No. 10 role.

We’re still almost certain the shirt is Bellingham’s when push comes to tournament shove and everyone is available. But only now almost certain.

 

5. Bukayo Saka (5)

Similar to the above in many ways. Surely still first choice, but it doesn’t do anyone any harm – least of all Saka himself – that in Noni Madueke there does now seem to be a perfectly able deputy for both club and country.

Nice to think that when Saka does return from his latest injury setback he won’t once again simply have to play all of the football all of the time for everyone because there is simply no alternative.

 

6. Reece James (10)

England have a plethora of right-backs, but a fully fit James is probably the most compelling and reliable of them for the requirements of international football even before you factor in the Played For Thomas Tuchel At Chelsea factor. And that does need factoring in.

Again, when the World Cup begins and everyone is fit, we’re reasonably confident this is the direction Tuchel goes. Again, we’re fine with it.

 

7. Marc Guehi (12)

Got in on the goalscoring act as Serbia’s 10 men wilted terribly and while the reasons for wanting to join Liverpool in the summer are many and varied and sound, one thing he doesn’t really have to worry about is the impact on his international chances.

Is and we strongly suspect will now remain a clear first-choice pick in the heart of the defence.

 

8. John Stones (7)

The most frustrating injury withdrawal from this latest camp, because it’s very clear that Tuchel rates him very highly but has yet to be able to pick him in a single game. Was even mentioned as a possible midfield option when the emergency Ruben Loftus-Cheek button was pressed.

The fact Stones is playing every week for Manchester City again means we’re less concerned than previously about rustiness when he rocks up for England duty, but we really would like to see him actually play in October please.

 

9. Elliot Anderson (NE)

A huge new entry for Lee Dixon’s favourite player, who played every minute of the two games after his first call-up to the national team and may very well have grasped the opportunity to play himself into Tuchel’s first-choice midfield where the man himself has spoken openly about the lack of options available for the spot alongside the inked-in Rice.

Anderson is far from the first midfielder to step in to that role and get everyone overexcited, but we are ready to get hurt again. He is the future. He is the present. He is in.

 

10. Morgan Rogers (15)

Yes. YES. That was a lovely, lovely performance from the Aston Villa man in what was supposed to be the first real meaningful, competitive test of Tuchel’s previously tepid and soporific England.

That they were the exact opposite in a thumpingly impressive 5-0 win wasn’t entirely down to Rogers, but he was a huge factor.

It was a performance good enough to prompt genuine, non-mischievous questions about whether England are in fact better balanced with him in there instead of Bellingham, and had Roy Actual Keane giddily and excitedly comparing him to peak Gazza. That’ll do for us.

 

11. Anthony Gordon (14)

Conspicuously the least effective of England’s attacking players in Belgrade, but Tuchel clearly likes him a lot and keeps picking him.

We have, we must concede, reverted to our previous position on Gordon of not quite understanding what the fuss is about having briefly dallied with understanding what the fuss is about in his early days with Newcastle.

His evident fondness for a heroically brainless red card absolutely gives us the major-tournament knockout-game willies.

 

12. Ezri Konsa (8)

Got himself a goal in the fun and games against Serbia and has over the last year firmly established himself as an England centre-back option whose presence on a significant team sheet doesn’t give us conniptions. It’s all we will ever ask of a third-choice centre-back, frankly.

 

13. Tino Livramento (32)

Livramento being entrusted with the starting left-back role against Serbia while Lewis-Skelly was left out of the 23 altogether feels like one of Tuchel’s more significant decisions thus far. There is clearly a starting spot to be won here, and Livramento has done nothing to suggest it shouldn’t be his.

 

14. Noni Madueke (22)

Truly excellent against Serbia and importantly precisely the sort of all-action player that England need to position around late-career Kane to get the best out of their attacking riches.

Hard to see him ever displacing Saka as first-choice for either club or country on the right, but what a wonderful thing it is for both club and country to have a proper option.

READ MORE: England boss Tuchel tells Arsenal star one area he must improve after eye-catching display vs Serbia

 

15. Eberechi Eze (6)

We’re huge fans and he’s got the Champions League move he probably needed, but the Andorra performance can only go down as a disappointment, compounded by England looking so much better as an attacking unit without him in what was on paper the far more difficult assignment in this break.

Absolutely remains one of England’s most appealing ‘change something from the bench’ options but has surely for now at least played himself out of the starting XI. Six does look a bit giddy now, if we’re honest.

As ever, the ladder represents our best guess at Tuchel’s innermost thoughts and it’s very clear he’d been building towards Belgrade as the first real meaningful test of his reign. Eze is not the only man affected – not even the only Arsenal man – but we will be taking note of those players he gave the responsibility of that game rather than the Andorra one, and laddering accordingly.

 

16. Jordan Henderson (16)

You don’t like it, we don’t like it, but Tuchel likes it. And that’s the real quiz. Ended the Serbia game as captain, pointedly telling the referee he’d missed what was in fairness a pretty obvious penalty and also pointedly, well, pointing.

 

17. Ollie Watkins (17)

With Dominic Solanke apparently in some nightmarish purgatory where he is always one week away from returning to action but never does and with Randal Kolo Muani and a rejuvenated Richarlison now in his way at club level if and when he actually does return to action and Liam Delap a long-term absentee, Watkins doesn’t have to do much to hold on to that coveted Harry Kane back-up role.

Which, if you wanted to be a bit of a bitch about it, is just as well for Watkins. That’s not very fair, is it? He’s obviously very good, and did win the cherry-on-the-icing-on-the-cake penalty in Belgrade, but does feel like he shouldn’t really be this unchallenged as the reserve striker.

 

18. Cole Palmer (18)

Injuries have meant we’ve seen annoyingly little of Palmer in an England shirt for Tuchel, something we suspect annoys Tuchel even more.

 

19. Dean Henderson (19)

England have conceded a goal in just two of their last nine internationals, and Henderson was in goal for both those games. Feels instinctively sub-optimal but also probably in large part a coincidence.

More meaningful for ladder purposes is the fact he was the man selected for the games where Pickford was not, making him now a pretty clear second-choice keeper pick. James Trafford’s newly-muddled situation at Manchester City is another factor to consider.

 

20. Marcus Rashford (20)

Became the first Barcelona player to represent England since Gary Lineker and scored a very woke penalty to wrap up the surprisingly easy and enormously impressive win over Serbia in Belgrade.

Was extremely lively when he came off the bench, albeit against a wearied and depleted defence. For now we still think he makes Tuchel’s squad but there really are a startling number of enormously talented players vying for these positions and to retain that squad position Rashford probably does need more compelling returns in Spain than is currently the case.

 

21. Myles Lewis-Skelly (11)

Being left out of the squad altogether for the expected if it turned out almost entirely absent physical threat posed by Serbia tells us that Tuchel sees the quality and potential of Lewis-Skelly but isn’t yet sure about throwing him into the very biggest games. Probably fair, and the fact he now quite possibly isn’t first choice when everyone’s available at Arsenal might not help him.

For the first time since both Luke Shaw and Ben Chilwell were both fit, England have actual options at left-back.

 

22. Dan Burn (29)

He really might be the fourth-choice centre-back at this time. Hold us.

 

23. James Trafford (25)

Has sat on the bench for every game England have played under Tuchel without getting a minute of game time. Let’s not overcomplicate things; this is textbook third-choice keeper territory.

What is now unavoidably complicated is Trafford’s club situation after Man City brought in Gianluigi Donnarumma.

 

24. Morgan Gibbs-White (23)

Now has five caps from his first year as an international footballer, but yet to really have the chance to show what he’s truly about with the combined total of those appearances a mere 71 minutes of football. Could really, if he’s selfishly honest about it, have done without Rogers and his currently unproblematic ‘swagger’ making such a compelling case at No. 10 against Serbia.

 

25. Curtis Jones (13)

Overlooked in the initial squad and then again when Ruben Loftus-Cheek was recalled from the darkest depths of international wilderness. We’re not really entirely sure why any of that happened, to be honest, but rules are rules and down the list he must tumble.

 

26. Djed Spence (47)

Became the first Muslim to play for England having spoken openly about becoming the first Muslim to play for England, leaving a series of comment-section binfires all across the internet.

Had very little to do, in truth, in his brief debut against a long-since beaten Serbian team, but when you consider where he was this time last year it’s a remarkable 12 months. And absolutely no reason to suggest this is a finishing point rather than another staging post on the road.

One of the best actual defenders among England’s full-back options, which matters more in tournament football than it does in qualification football, where the fact he genuinely is a full-back truly comfortable on either flank is another big plus from a squad-composition perspective.

One of the great tragedies, really, that Spence’s big top-level breakthrough came just after Southgate left. He would have absolutely loved him.

 

27. Jarrod Bowen (34)

Brilliant, sack-forcing player, enjoyed himself late on against Serbia, but we still just think that with all the options England have he is going to be one of the unfortunates to end up on the outside looking in.

 

28. Trent Alexander-Arnold (9)

We’ll be honest, absolutely no idea where to place him now. We rarely do, but being left out of this squad altogether has left us less certain than usual about how we and more importantly Tuchel think about him. But at least his absence makes a lot less noise now.

 

29. Conor Gallagher (24)

Barely mentioned even as England scraped the midfield barrel this month. Really might turn out to have been the biggest loser from the Senegal shambles.

 

30. Phil Foden (21)

Long time since we’ve thought Foden didn’t merit a place in a tournament squad, but even when at his very best for Man City the reality of Foden so rarely matched the idea of Foden when he donned an England shirt.

And he is not and has not been for quite some time at his very best for Man City. And there are just so many other players competing for those spots flitting busily around Kane.

 

31. Ruben Loftus-Cheek (RE)

Pure mischief from Tuchel. We are seriously working on a theory that one of his primary motivations is making the job of compiling the Ladder fundamentally impossible. No, you’re paranoid.

 

32. Trevoh Chalobah (33)

That Senegal game is a significant blot on a lot of copybooks, but imagine it being your debut and then not getting called up to the next squad. That has to sting, but he is playing and impressing in a very good Chelsea team and has every chance of forcing his way past some uninspiring options, surely.

 

33. Kobbie Mainoo (28)

There is still a space right there in that England midfield, despite Anderson’s impressive start. But Mainoo, like many others, has significant club battles to wage and win first.

 

34. Jarrad Branthwaite (40)

One of so many injured centre-back options we would really like to be available please.

 

35. Jack Grealish (35)

It’s been absolutely textbook Just Looks Like He’s Enjoying His Football Again stuff at Everton, and if Grealish keeps doing that we really might all be set to clamour like it’s 2021.

 

36. Dominic Solanke (38)

Has been unfortunate in recent months with injury and now has enough on trying to shake off the assorted niggles and regain a starting place at Tottenham before worrying once more about furthering his England ambitions. But Liam Delap’s own injury concerns and Watkins’ failure to really nail down the understudy role keeps him firmly in the frame.

 

37. Luke Shaw (36)

Has played almost every minute for Man United in the Premier League this season, which may or may not be a good thing.

Too good a player to dismiss entirely, but we suspect his international career is done, sadly.

 

38. Levi Colwill (26)

Does he have time to recover and prove himself after a cruciate? Probably not. Which is more of a concern than losing a five-cap centre-back should be, really.

 

39. Kyle Walker (27)

Has made multiple dramatic returns after being written off by the Ladder, but we simply refuse to learn our lesson and are confidently doing it once more. Surely this time we’re right.

 

40. Ivan Toney (30)

Like we said with RLC, we genuinely think Tuchel is f**king with us sometimes.

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41. Adam Wharton (43)
42. Liam Delap (31)
43. Aaron Ramsdale (41)
44. Lewis Hall (42)
45. Harvey Elliott (49)
46. Ethan Nwaneri (44)
47. Nick Pope (45)
48. Harry Maguire (46)
49. Jarell Quansah (37)
50. Phil Neville (50)