For Chelsea supporters with a vested interest in the England national team, this international break was a great deal more appealing to them.
That’s because Thomas Tuchel, a man who once occupied the Stamford Bridge dugout, is now in the Wembley hot seat.
He’s the head honcho of the England side, the man tasked with bringing football home. In America no less, in 2026, the German will hope to end 60 years of hurt.
If he’s to win the tournament, then a number of Chelsea players could well be key.
Cole Palmer missed the latest camp through injury but will no doubt play a big role next year having scored England’s only goal in last summer’s European Championship final. Doesn’t that feel like a long time ago now?
Much has changed for the Three Lions since then. Gareth Southgate departed his role, Lee Carsley took over on an interim basis and now Tuchel is at the helm.
He’s already sprung a few surprises, too, notably calling up Reece James.
Reece James' stunning England return in numbers
When Tuchel announced his first England squad nearly two weeks ago now, there were a few shocks.
This was perhaps a moment to mark a changing of the guard, a moment to get rid of the old and bring through the new.
Well, the head coach decided to merge the two ideologies together, combining youth with experience.
Myles Lewis-Skelly, Arsenal’s exuberant 18-year-old made his debut and scored during the 2-0 win over Albania but even his inclusion wasn’t the most surprising.
That honour went to Jordan Henderson and Kyle Walker who both now ply their trade on the continent with Ajax and AC Milan respectively.
Rivalling Walker for a place on the right-hand side of the defence was none other than James.
The Blues skipper has only played 14 times this season as he has his load managed following a string of injuries but Tuchel knows him well, having managed the 25-year-old on 74 occasions. For context, no other manager has used James more.
Speaking before the game with Albania, the boss was confident the full-back would stand up to the task.
“He is fully available. We double-checked, triple-checked also with him personally and the club and medical department. There is no doubt about Reece’s quality and capability, what he can bring to us. As you all know, we want to be flexible and have a wider range. That’s why it was a pleasure to bring Reece back in.”
Well, he certainly stepped up alright. Handed a rare England start in their 3-0 win over Latvia on Monday evening, it was James who opened the scoring.
The hosts won a free-kick on the edge of the area and it was the Chelsea captain who stepped up to take. Step up he did, curling a delicious set-piece past the goalkeeper.
While that goal will no doubt give Tuchel the confidence to select James again, it wasn’t just the attacking phases of the game that he impressed in.
The defender only misplaced one pass all night, had a whopping 118 touches, completed two tackles and made two interceptions. Forget about the level of opposition, it really was a complete performance.
Minutes played
90
Touches
118
Accurate passes
96/97 (99%)
Key passes
1
Accurate crosses
2/3
Duels won
2/5
Interceptions
2
Tackles
2
Shots on target
1
However, while James caught the eye, the rest of Chelsea’s England contingent shouldn’t be too confident of a call-up next time around.
Chelsea's England hopefuls
There are a number of England prospects in the current Chelsea side, ranking from that man James to the likes of Jadon Sancho, Levi Colwill and Noni Madueke, somebody who actually assisted a goal during the Lee Carsley era.
While it wouldn’t be out of the realms of fantasy to suggest all three could be at the World Cup next year if they find form, one Chelsea player who is seriously unlikely to be there is Ben Chilwell.
The £200k-per-week left-back could have been the answer to their lack of options on the left side of the backline but the fact of the matter is there’s far more promising options coming through.
Take the aforementioned Lewis-Skelly for instance, take two former Chelsea boys in Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall too.
Both Lewis-Skelly and Livramento were in Tuchel’s first squad but Hall was unfortunate to miss out having sustained a season-ending injury a few weeks ago.
So, there’s two left-backs Chilwell would have to usurp and despite his Chelsea connections, someone like Luke Shaw who was at the Euros is probably still in their mind.
So, we’re up to three left-backs and if you count Colwill and Dan Burns’ ability to feature in that position, you’re looking at five players standing in the way of Chilwell. Add players like Tyrick Mitchell and Leif Davis to the mix and it looks quite bleak for the former Leicester defender’s hopes of an inclusion.
Performance in Numbers
Want data and stats? Football FanCast’s Performance in Numbers series provides you with the latest match analysis from across Europe.
So, with Chilwell quite rightly not being called up for the matches with Albania and Latvia, it looks as though he’s already played his last game in an England shirt.
He’s played just 45 minutes of football for Chelsea this term and hasn’t exactly done a lot since a winter loan move to Crystal Palace was formalised, featuring in only five games and yet to start in the Premier League.
Barring a severe improvement in his injury history and game time, it’s unlikely we’ll see him in a Three Lions jersey again.
Aged 28 and once valued at £50m, that feels like a sad sentence to be writing.
7 left-back options for Thomas Tuchel's first England squad
With the likes of Luke Shaw, Lewis Hall and Joe Gomez all injured, someone could sneak into Thomas Tuchel’s first starting XI for England.
ByStephan GeorgiouMar 13, 2025