Thomas Tuchel told England only have two ‘definite starters’ for the World Cup

John Barnes believes England only have two ‘definite starters’ for next summer’s World Cup.

The Three Lions continued their encouraging run under Thomas Tuchel with a 2-0 win over Albania in World Cup qualifying.

England, who had already qualified for the World Cup ahead of this international break, beat Serbia last week.

The Euro 2024 finalists became the first European nation to ever go through an entire World Cup qualifying campaign of over six matches without conceding a goal.

England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, meanwhile, has not conceded a goal in over a year.

Despite this, Barnes does not view Pickford as a ‘definite starter’ for England at the 2026 World Cup and believes only two players are worthy of that tag less than six months out from the tournament.

‘There aren’t any players barring Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham that can say they are definite starters for England at this moment in time,’ Barnes, who earned 79 caps, told Video Gamer.

‘As we saw when we last played where a lot of the superstars were missing, I think England played some of their best football since Thomas Tuchel took over as manager.

‘The question is then whether you leave out players like Morgan Rogers, who has performed brilliantly for Tuchel, in order to bring back in players like Phil Foden?

‘It’s about fitting the system rather than how well you are doing for your club, and I think that’s the right way to be.’

Tuchel’s World Cup plans appear to be becoming clearer following another positive international break but he still faces a dilemma in several key positions.

Bellingham and Foden were both recalled to the England squad for the current camp, having been left out of the previous group.

But Tuchel has already said Kane, Bellingham and Foden cannot all play in the same England team.

‘At the moment, if we keep the structure, they cannot play,’ Tuchel said. ‘They can, but not in the structure, not for the balance that we developed.

‘Not for the structure that also comes with wingers who are like specialists in their positions. At the moment, we play with a No 6, a No 8, a No 10 and a No 9.

‘There is a lot of congruence, especially in the No 10 position, if you think about Phil can play there, you think about Jude, you think about Morgan Rogers, who played fantastic for us in this position.

‘You have Cole Palmer, you have Morgan Gibbs-White, so there is a lot of players and there is the chance that we will not take everyone.

‘Not because we don’t like [them], not because they don’t individually deserve it, but we will always do what’s best for the team.

‘We will always do what’s best for winning, we will always do what’s best for balance and we will try to keep the clarity, even if it means that we have to take tough decisions.

‘We take tough decisions in any camp and this will not change when we go to a tournament.’

Discussing Foden, who looks somewhere near back to his best following a drop-off over the past 12 months, Tuchel added: ‘If you’re a unique player, you can play both positions.

‘I think he can play the No 9, he can play the No 10, it gives him an advantage to compete for both positions.

‘For Man City he plays almost like a No 8/10, so maybe during the next months we consider him as a No 8.

‘But again, I see a very low percentage that we take five No 10s into a tournament. I don’t see how this will help.’

One of the players Tuchel mentioned – Chelsea’s Palmer – is currently out injured but is expected to push for a World Cup spot when he returns from the treatment room.

Ex-England striker Darren Bent believes Tuchel has an ‘impossible job’ trying to get the country’s array of attacking talent into an XI.

‘Everyone’s saying Cole Palmer has got to get back in the squad,’ Ben told talkSPORT. ‘Right, so who should you leave out?

‘I’ve had those conversations with people. I was in there with a few ex-players, a few supporters and stuff like that. We were all talking. Everyone kept saying, “Well, Cole Palmer’s got to get back in the squad.”

‘And I was like that’s fair enough but if he goes back, say you put Palmer in this squad, who’d you take out?

‘It’s an impossible answer. It’s an absolutely impossible answer. So Thomas Tuchel has got a big job on his hands.’

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