How England could line up under Thomas Tuchel

Ladbrokes looks at how England could line-up under Thomas Tuchel, with the German now officially the men's national team manager.

Less than 24 hours after their shock defeat to Greece in October 2024, it emerged that the English FA were speaking to Tuchel about the prospect of replacing Gareth Southgate as England's next manager, and he immediately became the bookies favourite to become the Three Lions' boss.

The feeling was Lee Carsley would get the job on a permanent basis, given that he was only in charge on an interim basis following Euro 2024, but after only two camps without Southgate, the FA made an appointment, with Tuchel taking over in January of this year.

So, with the German entering dugout at Wembley as a national team coach for the first time in his career, Ladbrokes looks at the potential starting line-up Tuchel could favour now that he's got the England job, and with the nation's next game being with him at the helm next month.

We kick things off in goal, where we expect Tuchel to continue with Jordan Pickford as his starting number one now that he's been appointment as England's next manager.

Edouard Mendy was Chelsea's goalkeeper, and while he has differing qualities to Pickford, we don't see any reason why Tuchel would opt to drop the Everton shot stopper.

Pickford has always been stellar when he's put on an England shirt, and with changes likely coming in other positions of the squad, there's no need to disrupt things further by going with another keeper.

If Tuchel opts for a 3-4-3 as he did at Chelsea and other clubs throughout his managerial career, there's no reason why Levi Colwill wouldn't be the perfect left-centre back.

Comfortable on the ball and incredibly astute defensively, Colwill is a potential future England captain, and we expect him to be a nailed on starter now that Tuchel has been appointed.

The German manager would have been familiar with Colwill during his time at Chelsea as a young prospect coming through the ranks, and we've got no doubts that he'll be pegging the former Brighton loanee as someone he can rely on.

John Stones was one of the shining lights of the Gareth Southgate era, and despite no longer being a regular for Man City, we expect him to start as one of three centre-backs under Tuchel.

At Chelsea, Tuchel favoured Thiago Silva as one of his centre-backs, with the Brazilian's experience and defensive assume being a major factor in how he was able to guide them to Champions League glory in 2021.

Stones could have a similar impact on the England side under Tuchel, potentially with the World Cup in 2026 being his final tournament as a nailed-on starter for his national team.

Ben White majorly fell out with ex-England boss Gareth Southgate during the 2022 Qatar World Cup, even reportedly rejecting call-ups to the national team in 2023 and 2024 as a result.

However, White is exactly the type of player that Tuchel would want as his right-sided centre-back as part of a back three, so we expect the German to be on the phone to White to try and convince him to represent the Three Lions once again.

White is great on the ball and when defending too. His ability to overlap and underlap will be vital in helping out the right wing-back we've picked in our team as well...

Some may argue that Trent should be a midfielder in England's system, similar to how Joshua Kimmich was occasionally for Tuchel at Bayern Munich, but we don't think that's going to happen.

In the big games, like against Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals last yearr, Tuchel didn't trust Kimmich to play in the centre of midfield, instead fielding his fellow German at right-back, and we think the same could happen with Trent.

Another issue could be Tuchel's affiliation with Reece James, who really broke out at Chelsea under the German manager. However, with the Blues' skipper still dealing with serious injury issues, and with Trent's undeniable quality, we expect him to be chosen at right wing-back.

Both at Chelsea and at Bayern, Tuchel tried to sign Declan Rice as his starting holding-midfielder, so he's definitely going to want to play the Arsenal star in his England side.

Rice has all the qualities, both from an on-pitch and off-field perspective to be a future England captain, and he's someone that Tuchel will see enough ability in to build his midfield around.

Some may think that Bellingham should play further forward as one of Tuchel's more advanced players in his favoured 3-4-3 system, but given the plethora of incredible attacking talent on England's books, he may have to settle for being one of his nation's number eights.

Bellingham does have the ability to play in a deeper role, as he did during his formative years at Birmingham and Borussia Dortmund, as well as for England in the 2022 World Cup, so doing so under Tuchel shouldn't be too much of an issue.

The Real Madird man will give Tuchel enough attacking threat from midfield, with the deeper role even allowing Bellingham to effect play from the middle of the park, using his strength and power to great effect.

Luke Shaw could feature here if he manages to stay fit and play regularly for Man United, and Tuchel opted for Chilwell as his wing-back in the Chelsea side that challenged for European and domestic honours, but a variety of factors have us of the belief that Lewis-Skelly will be the man chose in that position.

Arsenal signed Riccardo Calafiori from Italy in the summer, but the teenager Lewis-Skelly has kept him out of the team, and with good reason too.

Arteta trusts the youngster and with good reason too. He's brilliant on the ball, has incredible work rate, and is able to knock men ten years his senior off the ball with ease.

Reports suggest he's being considered by Tuchel for a call-up to the men's national team, and it's not hard to see why.

Saka is one of the Premier League's best right-wingers, and was actually in Ladbrokes' Team of the Season so far in that role, alongside Mohamed Salah of Liverpool.

Cole Palmer may consider himself unlucky to feature here, but Saka has simply been too good for too long, for both club and country, to not be included.

Foden is undeniably one of the best players in the world, but he definitely hasn't been able to hit the heights for England that he's managed to do for Man City, but that could change under Tuchel.

Again, similarly to Mount and Musiala, Foden would thrive for England in a role just behind the striker, and he should have enough chemistry with Palmer from the pair's time together at Man City to make an attacking duo work with them.

Tuchel was the man who managed to lure Harry Kane out of Tottenham and to Bayern Munich, so he'll almost definitely keep the star striker as his number nine for England.

Kane is England's top goalscorer of all-time, and we expect him to continue banging in the goals for his country now that Thomas Tuchel has been appointed as England's next permanent national team manager.

The aim for Tuchel, without a doubt, will be for him to win the World Cup in 2026. The good news for the ex-Bayern Munich boss is that he goes into the job with England already one of the favourites to win the competition.

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All odds and markets are correct as of the date of publication.