John Terry has questioned ‘three or four’ of Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup picks and claims 11 England players are not good enough to be in the squad.
The Three Lions face Costa Rica on Wednesday night in their final warm-up game before beginning their World Cup campaign next week against Croatia.
Tuchel’s 26-man squad has divided opinion and Chelsea legend Terry ‘disagrees’ with several of the players who were chosen to represent England out in the United States.
Terry believes Manchester United duo Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw should both have been picked and says Tuchel was ‘wrong’ to omit Chelsea star Cole Palmer.
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Assessing England’s squad more generally, Terry believes Tuchel is reliant on ’14 or 15 starters’ and has questioned whether the ‘rest of the squad’ can contribute to a World Cup win.
‘First of all, I really like him [England boss Thomas Tuchel],’ Terry said on Piers Morgan Uncensored.
‘Obviously, seeing his work around Chelsea, when he was there, he brought success for us in the Champions League as well.
‘And what I like about him, he’s not afraid to make these big decisions, and I think we’ve seen that in his squad.
‘Now, that’s something I disagree with actually, in terms of the players that he’s not picked for this World Cup.
‘Harry Maguire being one, the first one. For me, he’s a better player than Dan Burn and now if the other two get injured, whether that’s John Stones coming in, I’d much rather Harry Maguire there and be the one coming in.
‘I think he always poses a big threat from set plays as well late on, and I know Dan Burn poses that threat as well, when he can play at left-back being a left sider.
‘But I would have Harry Maguire there every day of the week. Luke Shaw is another one at left back. We’re looking at Nico O’Reilly playing there.
‘I think someone like him needs someone like Luke Shaw around the place to help him, settle him, give him a little bit of advice because he is the future of us in our next World Cups coming up.
‘Cole Palmer is the next big decision as well. So I think he’s got it wrong in three or four big decisions on the pitch, actually. I think you need your best players, the further you get in these World Cups.
‘I don’t think Djed Spence is the future for England, for me. I think he’s had a poor season, Spurs have been really poor as well, so you can definitely argue that one.
‘But for me, I just think you need to have your best players there. When I look at it, I’m looking at the team now, there’s probably 14, 15 starters… there’s only 13, 14 or 15 players that can play if we’re going to win this World Cup.
‘When I look at the rest of the squad around me, I’m not sure they’re going to push the players who are going to be playing.’
England turn their attentions to Ghana and Panama after facing Croatia in their World Cup opener as they look to get out of Group L.
The Three Lions are bidding to win the World Cup for the first time since 1966, having came agonisingly close to winning a major trophy under former boss Sir Gareth Southgate.
England reached back-to-back European Championship finals under Southgate and went deep in two World Cups, reaching the semi-finals in 2018 and the quarters four years ago.
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