Arsenal and Man Utd defenders unlucky to be snubbed by Thomas Tuchel as precedent set

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Whether or not you agree or disagree with his calls, Thomas Tuchel is pretty much always happy to explain his more contentious selections . And that is exactly what he did when discussing Myles Lewis-Skelly’s omission from the England squad for the upcoming games against Serbia at Wembley and against Albania in Tirana.

He said the Arsenal man “needed more starts, more minutes” and had been “outperformed” by Nico O’Reilly recently. Which is a touch harsh.

Since the last international break - when he started and finished the qualifier in Latvia that confirmed England’s place at World Cup 2026 - Lewis-Skelly has started two games for Arsenal and made three brief appearances as a substitute. Granted, O’Reilly has been eye-catching in recent starts for Manchester City but Lewis-Skelly is hardly out in the cold at the Emirates.

And to be dropped having not done anything wrong in a 5-0 win is a tough one to take, to say the least. Lewis-Skelly has not long turned 19 and will hopefully have a long international career ahead of him but this still comes as setback.

It also puts some focus on the left-sided defensive position. Fitness allowing, Tuchel appears to have plenty of options - and exciting options at that.

Long-term, Tina Livramento is one of those options, as is his Newcastle team-mate Lewis Hall. Djed Spence is in this England squad and is playing well.

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So, come next summer, there should be no shortage of quality personnel available in that area. But aside from Lewis-Skelly, the other left-back who can feel unfortunate not be in this latest Tuchel squad is Luke Shaw.

He has been consistently good in recent weeks, is having his best run of fitness for a long time, is versatile, and, of course, has a decent international pedigree, even though his tally of 30 caps reflects those injury issues.

While 30-year-old Shaw has started every Premier League game for Manchester United this season, he has had a couple of low points, most notably when he was heavily criticised for his performance against City in the derby in mid-September.

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But he has been mainly excellent in United’s four-game unbeaten run and is a more natural left-back than O’Reilly. Elsewhere in the squad, there is very little to quibble over.

The return of Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden is as pleasing as it was predictable and it will be great to see Adam Wharton try and get his England career well and truly started. It should not be a case of whether or not the Crystal Palace midfielder should make the squad for next summer, it is a case of whether or not he should start the first game.

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And the call-up for Alex Scott is a nice nod to the notion that an England cap can be a reward for good form, no matter how under the radar your progression in club football has been. So, in general, this is quite a feelgood squad.

But both Lewis-Skelly and Shaw can consider themselves unfortunate not to be part of Tuchel’s latest World Cup planning stage. Because if fit, both will have a compelling case to be at World Cup 2026.

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