Tuchel made his stance clear when he picked the 26 players for the tournament. Firstly, he went with Livramento despite the Newcastle man missing the final part of the season with a thigh injury. The England manager had not picked Alexander-Arnold all season, last giving him a cap for the laboured 1-0 win over Andorra in June 2025. He has still not picked him in a starting line-up.
“I know his quality, I know his personality, especially in big matches but the guys who were with us in September, October, November just gave us a little bit of extra hunger, a little bit of youthfulness, a little bit of more excitement and we chose for that,” Tuchel said when he picked his squad.
Tuchel’s “brotherhood” policy of picking on character over talent is damning on Alexander-Arnold, Cole Palmer, Phil Foden and Morgan Gibbs-White. Although in defence of Alexander-Arnold, he was not in a position to impress Tuchel during the season. After the Serbia win in Belgrade, unused substitutes made a huge impression on the England backroom staff with voluntary sprints after the match. Those players all got into Tuchel’s World Cup squad.
Calling-up Alexander-Arnold would also have created a circus around the England camp in Kansas. All focus would be on him returning to the squad, his feelings towards England after a year out and how he interacts with team-mates.
Tuchel is attempting to get the vibe right for this tournament and it would inevitably have impacted on those plans. He also has plenty of back-up to James, should he choose to rest the Chelsea captain for a game. Djed Spence is a natural right-back, while Ezri Konsa was picked at right-back against Wales last season.
Jarell Quansah is an under-the-radar favourite of Tuchel’s. The Bayer Leverkusen defender has been in every Tuchel squad since his appointment, even if one was an injury call-up. Quansah is a centre-back but comfortable at full-back too.
Those final places in Tuchel’s squad went to players with squad mentality, like Jordan Henderson, who is happy to be part of the camp environment and knows he probably will not start matches. It is a different case with Alexander-Arnold.