Thomas Tuchel dropped several detailed hints on Friday about which positions he sees players playing in his developing England team, and who is competing for which, as he named his latest – and slimmest – squad for the upcoming camp.

As time ticks down towards the World Cup, a tournament it was proudly, ambitiously – possibly foolishly – announced Tuchel had been appointed to win when he was unveiled as head coach last year, after a period of experimentation – four formations and 35 players over two camps – he spoke of a tighter squad, one harder to get into.

He wants to make the competition “spiky”, to change the “energy” around the team – an energy that has felt lacking from his first four games, particularly the humbling home defeat to Senegal in their last match.

“We cut down the lo

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