What to look out for from Tuchels first England squad

Thomas Tuchels 18-month contract as England head coach started in January 2025

Englands new head coach Thomas Tuchel will name his first squad on Friday morning as the Three Lions prepare for the start of World Cup qualifying.

England play Latvia and Albania on 21 and 24 March, and Tuchel has just seven international windows and roughly 450 days between now and the ultimate challenge of winning the 2026 World Cup.

BBC Sport looks at some of the talking points around Tuchels first announcement, including:

Follow the BBC Sports live page on Friday as the squad is announced, including a Tuchel news conference live stream.

Tuchel has planned his squad announcement for Friday to take into account the English players playing on Thursday in Europe for Manchester United, Tottenham and Chelsea.

Over the past few weeks, Tuchel has spoken to more than 55 players individually on the phone, sources told BBC Sport. FA chief Mark Bullingham said Tuchel was "building connections".

Tuchel has been partly working remotely from Germany, although Bullingham clarified last week that Tuchel is based at St Georges Park and living in London.

The England boss is often shown on TV cameras at Premier League matches and has travelled to Milan to watch Kyle Walker, Madrid to see Jude Bellingham and also been to Germany to watch England captain Harry Kane.

Tuchels assistant Anthony Barry has also been to watch games individually and Tuchel has been at St Georges Park between two to three days a week, with his backroom team planning next weeks camp.

Given Tuchels job description has been underlined as an 18-month trophy quest, will he focus on experienced players he knows well to win now? Interim Lee Carsleys preference was to experiment with youth and prioritise the long-term development of the squad.

Englands established centre-back pairing of Harry Maguire and John Stones are both injured, with a younger crop of centre backs such as Marc Guehi, Levi Colwill and Jarrad Branthwaite in strong contention.

Ben White made himself unavailable for England selection after the World Cup in Qatar in 2022 when he left the squad but Tuchel has spoken to the Arsenal defender who can play both at right back and centre back. While Chelsea captain Reece James is also known and liked by Tuchel.

Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice are two near certainties to play for England in midfield with the third place up for grabs if Tuchel plays with a three-man midfield.

Kobbie Mainoo took that role at Euro 2024 but is currently injured, whilst Carsley introduced Angel Gomes, Morgan Gibbs-White and Curtis Jones during his interim time in charge.

And Tuchel has been at Selhurst Park for their past two Premier League matches and Adam Wharton. The former Blackburn man was included in the Euro 2024 squad but did not play a minute, yet has impressed since coming back from injury and could be the number 6 that England are craving.

Record goalscorer Kanes England place was one of the biggest talking points of the summer. But any discussion of evolving away from the Bayern striker has disappeared with the appointment of his former boss Tuchel and Kanes 10 Champions League and 21 Bundesliga goals this season.

Unusually for this squad, form and fitness means Englands usual array of attacking talent is partly reduced.

Cole Palmer, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish are all out of form, Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke are injured. They are competing with Anthony Gordon, Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers who are all having good periods. Could Aston Villas Marcus Rashford, on loan from Manchester United, get a surprise recall?

In terms of formation, Tuchel has used both the 4-2-3-1 formation and a variation of 3-4-2-1, which he implemented at Chelsea in an impressively short amount of time for Champions League glory.

His sides can be described as pragmatic with an extremely high level of detail put onto each player. Not afraid of a direct style, his Bayern side knocked Arsenal out of last seasons Champions League maximising long diagonal balls into pacey wingers for one v one situations.

The biggest clue as to whether Tuchel will play three at the back will be if six centre-backs options are chosen to cover the two games, rather than four or five, including versatile players like White. Another hint would be the inclusion of Crystal Palaces Tyrick Mitchell, who is playing as left wing-back under Oliver Glasner.

Thomas Tuchel at Crystal Palace v Ipswich in March

Southgate was criticised for his failed Luke Shaw fitness gamble in the summer and left-back remains a dilemma for Tuchel.

In-form Newcastle defender Lewis Hall - who was given his Chelsea debut by Tuchel - was nailed on, before being ruled out for the rest of the campaign with an injury.

However, Arsenals Myles Lewis-Skelly has had an impressive breakthrough season despite actually being a midfielder at youth level.

Palace defender Mitchell has not added to his two England caps since making his debut in 2022, but with Tuchel being a regular visitor to Selhurst Park, he may be an outside bet.

Then there is Tottenhams Djed Spence, a right-footed left wing-back nominated for Februarys Premier League Player of the Month after finally getting a run of games under Ange Postecoglou.