Thomas Tuchel to select 34y/o to start for England, as stalwart is dropped to the bench

Thomas Tuchel will reportedly pick an experienced 34-year-old from the start in his first game as England coach, while he’s also set to drop a regular starter to the bench.

Tuchel made some shock selections and omissions in his first Three Lions squad. Somewhat surprising were call-ups for Dan Burn, who has never played before, Jordan Henderson, who many feel should not play, and Marcus Rashford, who’s back in form at Aston Villa.

The omission of Morgan Gibbs-White initially caused a stir, before he was added to the squad to cover for the absence of Cole Palmer.

In his first starting XI as England boss, Tuchel has again made some interesting decisions. Kyle Walker moved from Manchester City to AC Milan on loan in January, and though he did play the last three England games prior to that, he didn’t play a minute in any of the previous three.

According to the Daily Mail, he is expected to start the first game of Tuchel’s reign, beating Reece James and Tino Livramento to the right-back spot – the latter started at right-back in the final game under Lee Carsley.

At centre-back, there has been a change from the norm, where Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi is a mainstay. He played every minute he was available for at Euro 2024, and has played five of six England games since then.

However, he has reportedly been dropped to the bench, with Levi Colwill and Ezri Konsa expected to be the starters at centre-back.

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It is not clear what other selection decisions will be made by Tuchel for the game against Albania. But he clearly wants to stamp his identity on the England side, so his selections in the game could be a sign of things to come.

Asked about the key to success for England, Tuchel said: “That people feel that’s the team to beat. That we arrive with a group to beat. That we know already, once we’ve qualified, once we arrive that this is the team to beat.”

READ MORE: It’s Thomas Tuchel time; we don’t need to fall in love with this one…