Tuchel's defensive gambles and Alexander-Arnold's exclusion

Tino Livramento's departure from England's World Cup squad due to a calf injury has highlighted the gambles and potential weaknesses in head coach Thomas Tuchel's defensive selection. Livramento sustained the injury in training before Wednesday's opening World Cup group game against Croatia in Dallas (21:00 BST), with Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah called up as his replacement.

Tuchel's risky defensive picks

Tuchel's initial choices in defense already carried high risk given the injury problems of likely starters Reece James and John Stones last season. Livramento's departure will bring further scrutiny to those selections. The choice of Chalobah, a central defender by trade, has once again ignited the debate about why Tuchel seems to have no intention of restoring Trent Alexander-Arnold to England duty.

Livramento's injury history

Livramento's latest injury should come as no surprise to Tuchel, given the Newcastle full-back—who could play on both flanks—missed most of the end of last season with a thigh problem and had also been absent with hamstring issues. His departure leaves England with three natural full-backs: James, Tottenham Hotspur's Djed Spence (who can also play on both sides), and Manchester City's Nico O'Reilly, who can also play in midfield. Newcastle's Dan Burn can play at left-back, while Jarell Quansah and Ezri Konsa can play in wide positions, but there would be serious concerns about deploying any of them in unaccustomed roles against high-class forwards at a World Cup.

Chalobah's call-up

Replacing Livramento with Chalobah—another example of Tuchel's apparent preference for tall, physical defenders—again suggests Konsa will be selected ahead of Marc Guehi against Croatia. Chalobah has only one senior England cap, in the 3-1 defeat to Senegal at the City Ground a year ago, so it is a big vote of confidence from Tuchel in a 26-year-old who is inexperienced at this level.

Injury concerns for key defenders

Stones, 32, remains England's classiest and most experienced defender as he goes into his sixth major tournament. Tuchel is a huge admirer of his quality. However, the centre-half has struggled with injuries—starting only five Premier League games last season. He left Manchester City at the end of last season. Chelsea captain James has struggled with regular hamstring injuries in recent years, starting only 20 league games last season. Stones and James are high-quality defenders, but Tuchel will have to keep his fingers crossed over their fitness and manage minutes in the searing conditions England will face.

Alexander-Arnold's continued exclusion

Tuchel's decision to select a central defender in Chalobah rather than a natural full-back replacement is further proof that Real Madrid's Alexander-Arnold remains well out of the picture. Alexander-Arnold's fate seemed sealed as far back as August when Tuchel left him out of England's squad for World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Serbia. This came after Tuchel even opted to pick Alexander-Arnold's former Liverpool teammate Curtis Jones, a central midfielder, ahead of him at right-back against Andorra in June. Tuchel has made his concerns over Alexander-Arnold's perceived defensive frailties clear, saying: "If he wants to have this impact in the English national team then he has to take the defensive part very, very seriously."

As Tuchel's predecessor Sir Gareth Southgate found when he played Alexander-Arnold in midfield at Euro 2024, a major tournament is no time for experiments or square pegs in round holes. England's defense remains the least settled and most concerning area of the team, and it will continue to be so.