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In the analysis of Thomas Tuchel’s split-squad approach for this international window, his naming of 35 players for the Wembley friendlies against Uruguay on Friday and Japan on Tuesday – including nine that he has not previously worked with – one detail has slipped under the radar.

It is because it is easy to forget that the England manager recently signed up to stay on for Euro 2028. There is a degree of longer-term planning about him wanting to get a first look, for example, at Ben White and Lewis Hall, Kobbie Mainoo and James Garner. Fikayo Tomori as well. The centre-half left Chelsea for Milan, initially on loan, in January 2021 – four days before Tuchel arrived at the London club for his brief but storied spell.

Tuchel’s other first calls have been for Jason Steele, Harry Maguire, Harvey Barnes and Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Even if none are prominent at Wembley, simply having them in camp could be a useful exercise for Tuchel in terms of the next European Championship, which England will co-host. The exceptions are Steele, who is a very specific case, a training goalkeeper, more of an auxiliary coach, and Maguire who, at 33, can feel time running out. Then again, his middle name ought to be Lazarus. Never write him off.

There is a reason why hardly anyone on the outside and, frankly, inside the dressing room too, is looking beyond the summer. The World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico is everything, the ultimate dream and this is the final England get-together before Tuchel selects his 26-man squad for it. He is completely comfortable with how the Uruguay game has come to be billed – as a direct shootout for particular players to stay alive for the tournament.

Tuchel has structured it this way with his initial 24-man group; he will add 11 players for the Japan match, basically his big guns, including Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Harry Kane. Each of the 11 would go to World Cup if it were tomorrow.

The head coach says he will have a maximum of 23 outfield players for Japan so at least seven will be released back to their clubs, possibly eight or nine. He has identified who he is most likely to send away and has told each of those players about his intention. He has not wanted to make that public because it would “not be nice” for them to read their names in the newspapers. But also because if any of them were to excel, he would change his mind and keep them on. The incentive is there for the players who are not first-choice selections and those further on the fringes. The competitive tension pulses.

The other major part of the dynamic is Tuchel’s obsession with positional clarity. There is room for a bit of flexibility but not much. Tuchel sees pretty much every player in a specific position and, broadly, he wants two to do battle for each spot. So against Uruguay, for example, it is Noni Madueke versus Jarrod Bowen on the right wing – with the former’s Arsenal teammate Saka to come in for Japan.

“For any player, it’s great to know what you need to do and who you’re competing against,” Madueke says. “The manager’s made it very clear to all of us. I feel like in that sense he’s been really, really, really good with us. First and foremost with me, Jarrod and Bukayo for England, or me and B for Arsenal, we want team success. If you don’t want that, it hard to achieve something great. Then, of course, you’re a competitor and you’re trying to play as much as possible.”

The one-v-one duels feel as if they are the whole story against Uruguay. It is Tino Livramento v White at right-back. Djed Spence v Hall on the left. In the centre of defence, there are only three options for the two spots: John Stones, Tomori and Maguire.

The central midfield pairing will be contested by the No 6s, Jordan Henderson and Adam Wharton, and the No 8s, Mainoo and Garner. On the left wing it is Marcus Rashford against Barnes and up front it is Calvert-Lewin v Dominic Solanke. Tuchel believes it is a good thing that the centre-forwards can lock horns in the absence of Kane. There will be no shadows cast by him. There is a world in which Tuchel might take no back-up No 9 to the US and rely on Bowen, Rashford, Anthony Gordon and even Phil Foden – albeit that would appear to go against the head coach’s instincts.

The most intriguing fight is Cole Palmer v Foden in the No 10 position. Jude Bellingham is with the squad and has trained furiously. But he will not play against Uruguay as his minutes are managed in his comeback from a hamstring injury.

It says everything about Tuchel’s respect for Palmer and Foden that he will keep both of them in the squad after Uruguay – even though Morgan Rogers will be added for Japan and Bellingham could feature. Will Foden’s added ability – in the eyes of Tuchel – to operate as a false 9 give him an edge? What is clear is that Palmer has plenty to do to impress Tuchel after barely being available to him so far. The German’s most difficult decisions are for the No 10 places.

England trained at Wembley on Thursday afternoon and it was their fourth session after the one at St George’s Park on Tuesday and the double one there on Wednesday. In other words, Tuchel has not had much time to prepare a new-look team for the challenge of Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay. It only adds another layer to an entirely one-off occasion.