England 2026 World Cup watch: Why Thomas Tuchel was at Selhurst Park

Are Adam Wharton and James Garner going head to head for an England World Cup place? Richard Pelham/Getty Images Share articleEngland manager Thomas Tuchel was at Selhurst Park on Sunday to watch Crystal Palace take on Everton. Why, you might ask? After all, there was the pulsating clash between relegation-threatened West Ham United and title-chasers Arsenal just up the road at the London Stadium, and there were plenty of England internationals and budding World Cup squad candidates playing elsewhere. Then again, what would he learn from those games? Tuchel seems to know the core of his squad for the United States, Canada and Mexico already. His recent 35-man squad left little doubt whom he favours and, more significantly, whom he does not. There were, however, a couple of intriguing head-to-heads that pitted contenders against each other in south London, making Tuchel’s attendance worth his time. Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson will be Tuchel’s first choice to anchor midfield at the summer tournament, but who should be his backup this summer? Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton is a strong candidate for the role and has been capped four times to date. Three of those appearances came under Tuchel in England’s last four fixtures. Wharton has made a late run into Tuchel’s thinking, having not previously featured in his squads. Palace’s surge to the Conference League final in Leipzig has helped his cause, but it has been more to do with impressing Tuchel within those England camps. The odds are now in his favour. Lining up against the 22-year-old on Sunday was Everton’s James Garner, who has made his own late run into the reckoning this season, picking up his two caps so far under Tuchel in March. The profiles of Wharton and Garner are not exact matches — while Wharton played in the central holding position on Sunday, Garner played slightly further forward, with Tim Iroegbunam the deeper of Everton’s midfielders — and the Everton player’s versatility and ability to play full-back will appeal to Tuchel, but they could be vying for the same role in the squad. So what would Tuchel have spied? The pair’s statistics from the 2-2 draw are certainly comparable. Wharton made 52 successful passes, 19 of which were into the final third of the pitch, to Garner’s 37 and 17 into the final third. Both had a completion rate of 82 per cent. Wharton made 20 forward passes to Garner’s 14, mainly due to his slightly deeper position. The Palace player fizzed eight into the Everton penalty area, creating two goalscoring chances. Garner played nine into the Palace box and created three chances. Wharton himself had two shots on goal to Garner’s one. Wharton also carried the ball towards goal further than Garner — 73.8 metres compared to Garner’s 60 — but, again, this could be due to his deeper starting position. Defensively, Wharton was the busier of the pair, making six tackles and winning possession eight times, to Garner’s two tackles and one interception, although the latter had a much higher duel success rate with 62.5 per cent to Wharton’s 33 per cent.  Looking at their data for the season, Tuchel has a choice to make. Wharton is the better progressive passer and controller of possession, but doesn’t offer as much as a scorer — he has never managed a goal for Palace — or in dribbling as Garner, who offers a blend of pass creation with some ball-carrying (his ball retention score is significantly higher) and both are good at defending aggressively. Whoever gets the nod would be supplying a backup option to Anderson, who excels in aerial duels and recovering the ball. The much-coveted Nottingham Forest midfielder also provides a similar goal threat to Garner and progressive passing to Wharton. If it is a case for horses for courses in defensive midfield, the choice as to who starts in goal seems more of a one-horse race. Tuchel watched the visitors’ Jordan Pickford take on his England deputy, Dean Henderson, on Sunday. Pickford will start as the No 1 in the United States, and he demonstrated why on Sunday. He faced eight shots on target from Palace and made six saves, but his expected goals on target (xGOT) conceded – which measures the quality of shots on target based on accuracy and their projected final location in the goalmouth (rather than xG, which measures them based on location of the shot) – was 3.4. That effectively means he prevented 1.4 goals. Henderson faced seven shots on target and saved five. His xGOT figure was 2.0, which meant he conceded as many goals as expected. It has been a similar story throughout the season. Pickford has faced marginally more shots than Henderson, but similar shots on target, and their save percentage is similar too at 69.3 per cent for Pickford and 71.5 per cent for Henderson.  Pickford has prevented 5.3 non-penalty goals to date this season — only Manchester United’s Sene Lammens and Brighton and Hove Albion’s Bart Verbruggen have a higher number — but Henderson is not far behind with 4.8.  Pickford has made three Opta-defined errors leading to a goal (against Arsenal in March, Newcastle in November and Tottenham Hotspur in October), while Henderson has made two errors leading to a shot but none leading to a goal. One big advantage Pickford has is his ability with the ball at his feet. Pickford goes long 64 per cent of the time with a 40 per cent accuracy – only Manchester City’s Gianluigi Donnarumma has a higher success rate – while Henderson goes long 61 per cent and is accurate with 26 per cent of those kicks. Overall, Pickford ranks higher in passing on 62 per cent compared to Henderson’s 56 per cent. Combine all that with his experience and the Everton No 1 is in pole position to start in goal this summer, and deservedly so. That said, Henderson has proven he can provide reassuring backup if required. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms