There are between five and 10 spaces up for grabs in Thomas Tuchel\u2019s England squad, and Friday\u2019s friendly against Marcelo Bielsa\u2019s Uruguay provided the perfect opportunity for those on the periphery.<\/p>\n
You\u2019d be bold to identify anyone who grabbed their chance with both hands after England\u2019s stale 1-1 draw at Wembley.<\/p>\n
The biggest takeaway from that match was not that Player X should be starting, or even that Player Y should be nowhere near the World Cup squad, but that Uruguay are dirty buggers. Friendly, my arse.<\/p>\n
Oh, and that the referee was absolutely terrible. He booked Manuel Ugarte twice and didn\u2019t send him off. He also should have sent off Ronald Araujo and disallowed England\u2019s goal. And that was not a penalty against Ben White. He\u2019s the only person on the pitch tonight we can confidently say does not deserve to be in North America this summer \u2013 not even on his holidays. Butlins for you, pal.<\/p>\n
Anyhow, here are our painstakingly put-together player ratings from England 1-1 Uruguay.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
James Trafford<\/p>\n
Back at Wembley after keeping a clean sheet in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday, Trafford was given his England debut against Uruguay in Friday night\u2019s friendly.<\/p>\n
He was so close to keeping a clean sheet but faced a penalty in the fifth minute of injury time. He couldn\u2019t get near Federico Valverde\u2019s strike despite going the right way.<\/p>\n
READ: World Cup snub for Foden sealed but Palmer could steal England starting XI spot from Arsenal star<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Tino Livramento<\/p>\n Defenders are bleeding impossible to rate after a game like that. We\u2019re just surprised Livramento played 90 minutes considering his injury history. Because, as we\u2019ve mentioned, the Uruguay team is full of filthy animals.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Harry Maguire<\/p>\n England\u2019s starting XI was full of players on the fringes, which means his inclusion surely gave Maguire the perfect motivation to perform. He did fine.<\/p>\n Before the game, he was my starter next to Marc Guehi this summer. He still is, because he didn\u2019t need to do anything exceptional.<\/p>\n He was fuming after the game, and rightly so. And he stuck up for White.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Fikayo Tomori<\/p>\n Came off for Ben White in the second half after a quiet 69 minutes.<\/p>\n It was his sixth cap and his first since November 2023.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Djed Spence<\/p>\n Came off in the 69th minute along with three other England players.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n James Garner<\/p>\n Garner has a wicked set-piece delivery on him and, while that is an important string to his bow, it\u2019s not the X-factor it would be ahead of any other tournament with Declan Rice there and absolutely undroppable.<\/p>\n His debut lasted 69 minutes.<\/p>\n