Thomas Tuchel squad announcement: Arsenal pair backed for inclusion as England given recipe for World Cup success

England fans are set to find out the make-up of Thomas Tuchel's first Three Lions squad with this Friday's announcement.

Since the German started work at St George's Park in January, there have been rumours and clues, hints and tips - but no one quite knows what Tuchel is thinking.

Will he go experience-heavy or youthful energy? Will he pick players he has worked with in the past? Will the likes of Jack Grealish, Marcus Rashford or James Maddison have done enough to merit a call-up?

Ahead of Friday's grand reveal - which precedes 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia - TNT Sports caught up with ex-England midfielder Joe Cole, who shared his views on possible wild cards, Tuchel's style of play, and how they can win a second World Cup...

Joe Cole: I see some reports where people are going ‘the boys he had at Chelsea are going to be in favour’, but football’s constantly moving. It’s hard to say. I think his squad will be big, I think it will be an indicator of where he sees strengths and weaknesses, where does he load up the pitch, who does he want to have a look at? People will be thinking ‘well he brought Eric Dier to Bayern Munich, maybe that means he’ll be back in’.

You just don’t know, football moves month by month so it’s just going to be a case of waiting and seeing, but it will be interesting.

JC: I think that’s pretty normal. There’s a shortlist of England players playing top-flight football, then you’ve got your scouting network and there would be people doing match reports on them, so I think that’s just pretty standard procedure. I think he’ll have an idea, obviously the Harry Kanes of this world, Declan Rice, he’ll have an idea of the core players and he’ll probably want to touch base with them, they’ve got a big body of work, you know what they’re capable of.

There’s no need to be ringing loads, you get the phone call to play for England - you turn up, you bring your boots. He’ll just want to get his first few games out the way.

JC: It will be organised, it will be structured. He played with a back three at Chelsea, but when he went to Bayern Munich he went with a four, because obviously he felt like he had more of an abundance of players in that area.

I think he puts a big importance on physicality, runners, very similar to Gareth [Southgate] in that sense. I think those are the things that he looks for, as well as the other stuff, but that’s what I think of when I think of Thomas Tuchel teams.

JC: I don’t think there’ll be anyone from the Championship. Lads in the Championship, they’re at that stage in their career, it’ll be a case of getting a move or getting up and figuring it out. There’s such an abundance of talent, I think I’d look at the young boys at Arsenal, Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly. I think those boys are doing it regularly and they’re standing up.

I think having them in the squad will be good for them and good for the team. I don’t think any of the Championship players will get in, there’s too much quality in and around Europe.

JC: We need to play against the good sides, the top sides. It’s pointless playing teams that are below you. I want us to be playing against your Argentinas, Brazils, Spains, Germanys in the friendlies.

I’d like to see an England team that can handle the ball, you need to have a plan when you’ve got the ball and a plan when you haven’t got the ball. To win the tournament you need characters, real good characters to manage games in certain parts, whether the tempo needs to be stepped up, how you’re going to dig yourself out of not having the ball in a game.

I don’t care if we lose every friendly getting up to the tournament, we need to be playing against the best. I think that’s crucial.

JC: I think they’ve done great this generation, they’ve got further on than we did. They need to keep that togetherness, don’t lose what Gareth built. It needs to be fun, I would give the lads a lot of freedom, I know a lot of people don’t agree with that but these boys are now experienced players. They can be professional and they can have freedom, they’re grown men, a lot of them are fathers. I wouldn’t be so worried about headlines and things like that, these boys are a lot more professional than previous generations. You have to make it light.

I hope Tuchel can bring that instinct around the tournament, that sense of what the lads will need at certain moments. It’s the World Cup, it’s all culminated into six weeks together, of this intense pressure where the world’s watching. You’ve got 23 lads who will come together and figure out a way to win seven games of football in the toughest environments. I’d like to think there’s a lot more done on instinct, every team will be training the same, lovely training grounds, they’ll be fed the finest food, the difference will come in moments.

The Argentina team in the last World Cup against the Netherlands, they’d won the game, then they’d allowed the Netherlands to get into it, and it was a street fight. Leandro Paredes kicked the ball into the Dutch bench, it lit up the stadium, it lit up the Argentina players, it probably reminded them that they were in a war, in a battle. They managed the remainder of that game and won it. They could’ve gone out of the tournament at that moment.

I just think sometimes football’s not perfect, there’s no script to it, you can have all the data and analysis in the world. There will be a moment at the next World Cup, whether it be a penalty shout or something where you’ll have to do something on a feeling and passion. I want the group to be ready to know they’ve got the freedom to do that. It’s a fine margin to manage, and ultimately there will only be one manager, one group of players that will have got it right, but I think there’s something in that.

JC: My goal against Sweden for me personally was obviously a fantastic memory. To score such a fantastic goal technically on the biggest stage is great because it lives forever.

But as a youngster watching it, it was the 1990 World Cup watching Gazza [Paul Gascoigne] play, which invoked my love of football.

Ultimately we all want to win the World Cup, every country, you hold the dream of every young player in the world. And only one group of players, one country can do it every four years, so you have to take what you can take from it, and we have to celebrate it as a tournament of football.

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