Thomas Tuchel has a World Cup headache - too many stars are underperforming

Thomas Tuchel can only hope that the players delivered to him in May are in a better place than he finds them in March.

The England boss names his squad for this month’s friendly matches on Friday and his pool of talent is not flowing as freely as he would have liked. Too many are unfit or out of form. That is the lot of an international manager.

Take Phil Foden, recalled in November to great fanfare. Here was a No.8, 9 and 10. At Manchester City of late, his relevance has better reflected in his shirt number - 47th in the pecking order, it seems. His inclusion, or perhaps otherwise, is one of the biggest calls facing Tuchel.

But those decisions, this time, are not big calls to separate big players enjoying big moments.

Foden or Cole Palmer? The latter started scoring again last month but still only has two goals from open play since Christmas. This is not the Palmer of two seasons ago or even last season. His Chelsea numbers are getting progressively worse. Foden, meanwhile, has not scored any type of goal since Christmas. Tuchel was excited about him in the hole behind Harry Kane. He spends most of his time now sat in a hole behind Pep Guardiola.

And this is the area of the pitch where England are supposed to have an embarrassment of riches. The strength of that currency has depreciated in recent months.

Morgan Rogers, at Aston Villa, is seven games without a goal and has ran cold after a hot streak. Eberechi Eze is improving at Arsenal but his season has been sticky. Jude Bellingham has not played since February 1 because of a serious hamstring injury. Morgan Gibbs-White might be the pick of the No.10s on form, but he is playing in a struggling Nottingham Forest side and was overlooked in November. It felt then like his World Cup chance had gone.

To the left of them, Anthony Gordon will likely be Tuchel’s starter on the wing, but he is being reinvented as a striker at Newcastle. That, in truth, is a small mercy for the head coach, given he does not really fancy any of the other alternatives to Harry Kane.

Gordon is set to be one of four Newcastle players in this squad - along with Lewis Hall, Tino Livramento and Dan Burn - but their morale would have taken a hit after Wednesday’s 7-2 humiliation at Barcelona, a match in which Marcus Rashford was only a late substitute. He has done fine in Spain, but nothing more.

On the other wing, Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke are at least part of Arsenal’s feel-good charge for the Quadruple, but Saka is another with only two goals since the start of December. His form is not at the level it can and should be at. Tuchel likes Madueke, but he is often Saka’s understudy.

Again, the pick on Premier League form could well be West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen. However, like Gibbs-White, he is involved in a relegation scrap. Forest’s Elliot Anderson, Tuchel’s starting No.6, is in this bracket too. See also Conor Gallagher at Tottenham.

The three who are playing in the top-flight’s form-table leaders, Manchester United’s Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw and Kobbie Mainoo, have had no indication yet that they’re in line for a recall. The feeling is that the door was as good as closed on bolters when Tuchel spoke repeatedly about continuity in the autumn.

But keeping the door shut at the World Cup will be the German’s biggest worry, given the current state of his defence.

It is thought he has concerns over Nico O’Reilly - he started at left back in the final World Cup qualifier in Albania - now playing in midfield for Manchester City.

Reece James, his favourite right back, has a hamstring injury and faces a battle to be fit before the end of the season.

John Stones spends too much time sat next to Foden, while Ezri Konsa is part of Villa’s recent wobble.

Djed Spence has been hit and miss amid Tottenham’s woes and Tuchel has reservations anyway after he ignored manager Thomas Frank when walking off the pitch earlier in the season. Tuchel did not like that.

Myles Lewis-Skelly does not play enough at Arsenal. All of this leads to Hall and Livramento. The former is playing very well but has never featured under Tuchel for England, the latter has only just returned from injury.

Even Trent Alexander-Arnold now enters the reckoning, despite Tuchel’s doubts evidenced by his non-selection so far this season. Like Rashford, he has done OK in Spain. OK, however, will probably mean a KO when England meet decent opposition in the knockout rounds in North America.

At least there is Jordan Pickford, Marc Guehi, Declan Rice and Kane. That is the spine of Tuchel’s team and he must hope their backbone is strong, given the heavy lifting anticipated.

Pickford and Kane, in particular, underline the fragility of England’s options. Were injury to befall either, the drop off to their deputies is scarily steep. Dean Henderson or an uncapped James Trafford in goal and Ollie Watkins or Dominic Solanke in attack. There has been talk in the past 24 hours of Dominic Calvert-Lewin - last cap in 2021 - being under consideration. Still looking forward to the summer?

Tuchel’s management has been smart and considered and the perfect record in qualifying left England in a good place when they departed Tirana four months ago. What has happened to his players since is beyond his control. He has, though, played the game with Premier League clubs by insisting that the forthcoming friendlies, against Uruguay and Japan, are played at Wembley and not abroad.

He could do with those clubs returning some sort of favour by the time he names the squad that really matters.