Thomas Tuchel wanted continuity. That was the plan. Come out of the World Cup semi-final defeat to Argentina, dust yourself off, keep faith with the group that got England that far, and build steadily towards Euro 2028. Clean, sensible, manageable. Football, of course, had other ideas. By the time England played Czechia at Wembley on Tuesday night, the last of four Nations League fixtures in this window, Tuchel could only name twelve players from the World Cup squad who were still available to him. Injuries had not just disrupted the plan. They had effectively ended it. What followed instead was something far more interesting: an accidental audition, and one that produced some results nobody quite saw coming.
The new model, road-tested under pressure
Tuchel and his staff had been clear that this window would serve a dual purpose. Yes, results mattered, but the bigger ambition was to stress-test a revised game model. The changes were not sweeping. The bones of the system remained. But the directive was unmistakable: more freedom, more movement, more trust in instinct. Players were encouraged to roam, to take risks, to back themselves, provided they were willing to cover for teammates when possession went. It is the kind of football that looks beautiful when it works and chaotic when it does not. Against Croatia in Rijeka, it worked to the tune of seven goals without reply.
That 7-0 win in Croatia will be the headline anyone picks, and rightfully so. But the window's real story is subtler. England lost to Spain, won the two matches against Czechia either side of the Croatia demolition, and came out of it with a clearer picture of who fits this new direction and who, through absence or attitude, does not. Tuchel himself made no effort to hide that reality. "The train is rolling," he said, with the kind of quiet bluntness that communicates far more than a lengthy tactical briefing ever could.
Alex Scott: the find of the window
If one player defined what Tuchel is trying to build, it was Alex Scott. The midfielder made his debut as a substitute in the first Czechia game in Prague, coming on in the 70th minute, and did enough to earn a start against Croatia. That start became a statement. His smoothness on the half turn, the way he drives with the ball, the dynamism he brings in central areas: these are qualities Tuchel's assistant Anthony Barry was already talking about publicly by the end of the window, name-checking Scott alongside Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson as the kind of player this system demands.
Tuchel had worked with Scott before, in November 2025 and again at the pre-World Cup camp in Florida. But this time felt categorically different. "He was on a completely new level," Tuchel said. "Super-strong." That is genuine excitement from a manager who does not traffic in flattery. Which makes the injury news all the more gutting. Scott aggravated a thigh problem against Croatia and is out for two months, ruling him out of the November fixtures against Croatia and Spain. For a player who had just announced himself to the country, that is brutal timing. The upside is that Tuchel has seen enough to know Scott is not just a promising name. He is a cornerstone of what comes next.
Lewis Hall and the left-back picture
Hall's route into the team was similarly opportunistic. Nico O'Reilly started at left-back against Spain and then withdrew, and Hall stepped in for the remaining three fixtures. "Three top matches from him," Tuchel said, and that endorsement carries weight. Hall did not just fill in adequately. He made the shirt feel like his own, which is a different thing entirely, and it puts O'Reilly and Djed Spence, who has not played a minute of football this season, in a very uncomfortable position heading into November.
Myles Lewis-Skelly also continued his upward trajectory, starting three games and being deployed as a midfielder rather than at left-back. That positional shift matters. It signals where Tuchel sees him, and it broadens Lewis-Skelly's value to the squad considerably. The one concern: he picked up bookings in both Czechia matches and is suspended for the home game against Croatia. Tuchel admitted, somewhat surprisingly, that he was not even aware of the second yellow card until after the fact. That is a detail to watch, because Lewis-Skelly's energy is exactly what this system needs, and keeping him on the pitch is non-negotiable.
Trent and the question that never goes away
Trent Alexander-Arnold's return was, as ever, a study in fascination and complication. On the pitch, he was excellent. His cross for Anthony Gordon's opener in Prague was the kind of ball only a handful of players in the world can produce, and his performance at Wembley in the Czechia win was attack-minded and authoritative. The argument for him is the same as it has always been: he does things nobody else can do, and you build around points of difference, not away from them.
And yet. Tuchel has previously stated that he considers Reece James, Tino Livramento and Spence ahead of Alexander-Arnold at right-back. None of those three were available this window. When they return, does Alexander-Arnold drop back out? The manager also mentioned Ben White as a potential call-up if fit, and has Jarell Quansah in the mix, though he started the Wembley Czechia game at centre-back rather than right-back, ahead of Trevoh Chalobah and Jarrad Branthwaite. [Branthwaite's own England journey has been fascinating to follow](/uprise/football/branthwaite-reveals-brain-study-helped-him-conquer-injuries-and-earn), and he will want regular game time here too. The right-back question remains gloriously unresolved.
The players left on the platform
Then we come to the harder conversations. Kobbie Mainoo was absent through injury, which Tuchel acknowledged with sympathy, particularly given that Mainoo did not get a single minute at the World Cup. But with Rice returning, Scott pushing when fit, Lewis-Skelly established and James Garner in the frame, the space available to Mainoo has shrunk. Jordan Henderson, meanwhile, was not up to speed after his broken arm at the tournament. Both men have work to do, and the clock is not friendly.
The Cole Palmer and Phil Foden situations are the ones that will generate the most noise. Palmer's withdrawal from this squad had already put him under a harsh spotlight, with Tuchel publicly questioning whether he wanted to be part of it. That is a serious thing for an international manager to say about a player. Foden was also absent. When Tuchel brought in Morgan Gibbs-White on a late call-up in preference to either of them, the message was clear enough without needing to be spelled out. "I don't know if they are an easy fit," Tuchel said of the two. "They were not here. This team took another step." In the context of building towards [a new international cycle that feels genuinely competitive](/uprise/football/football-daily-klopp-xavi-zidane-mancini-big-nations-ready-to), that kind of directness from a manager is actually refreshing, even if it is uncomfortable for the players involved.
The verdict: this window mattered more than it looked
Before a ball was kicked in September, this block of fixtures looked like a holding pattern. Patch up the squad, blood a few fringe players, keep the engine ticking over before the bigger tests arrive. Instead, it has become genuinely consequential. England found a new midfielder in Scott who, when fit, looks capable of transforming how the team flows. Hall has a left-back shirt with his name on it. Lewis-Skelly has a new position and a growing role. Tuchel has a clearer sense of who will carry this project forward, and who represents a risk he cannot afford.
The train is rolling. Some players have found their seat. Others are watching it pull away from the station. Tuchel is not interested in sentiment about who deserves a spot based on reputation or history. He said he wants players who will give their full energy to the camp, and this window showed he means it. Euro 2028 is two years away, but the selection picture is already tightening. November will tell us more. For now, the direction is unmistakable.