Ex-Chelsea star Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s England shock recall makes sense – and hints at Tuchel’s new tactics

When Adam Wharton picked up a groin injury during the second half of Crystal Palace’s 3-0 win over Aston Villa on Sunday evening, he didn’t just give Thomas Tuchel a headache – he also handed Ruben Loftus-Cheek an opportunity that few saw coming.

The 29-year-old AC Milan midfielder now returns to the England set-up for the first time in seven years as the Three Lions prepare for World Cup qualifying matches against Andorra and Serbia – and his return to the international fold is not only a testament to his performances in Serie A but an indication of how Tuchel’s England will play going forward.

Why Ruben Loftus-Cheek has earned his England call-up

Loftus-Cheek was only just breaking into the Chelsea squad when he was first called up by Gareth Southgate, eventually earning 10 caps, four of which came during the 2018 World Cup – but the midfielder hasn’t played for the national side since a friendly against the United States later that same year.

Since then, Loftus-Cheek has spent much of his time on the treatment table. Injuries have continuously hampered his progress and his luck has scarcely improved since he signed for AC Milan in 2023. In Serie A he has quietly worked hard and done his best with his limited opportunities, but largely fallen out of the collective mind of English football.

Loftus-Cheek’s recall comes despite the fact that he has only been able to start 12 league matches for Milan since the start of last season – and despite the fact that he only made 13 starts during his one season under Tuchel at Stamford Bridge, when the German manager shuffled him around the pitch.

While Tuchel and Loftus-Cheek were together at Chelsea, he was deployed not just as a midfielder but as a right wing-back and on one occasion as a centre-half, with Tuchel using him frequently as a rotational player without ever appearing to view him as more than a useful back-up to the regular starters. Had one picked an England manager to give Loftus-Cheek a second chance, it would not have been the German.

But his recall is a reflection of his form when fit and available, even if that isn’t as often as he would have liked – and a reflection of the qualities that Tuchel is looking for. Loftus-Cheek may not be a great creative force, but he is dogged, strong in one-on-one situations and a dynamic ball-carrier who can get the ball forward quickly on the run, all qualities he has demonstrated in spades at the San Siro when given the chance.

Those fitness issues linger, sadly, and the midfielder missed much of last season thanks to back-to-back muscle injuries, which were followed almost immediately by an appendectomy. Between early December and late April, Loftus-Cheek played for Milan just once.

But he’s fit to face Andorra and Serbia and there’s no reason to believe he wouldn’t specifically be fit for the World Cup next summer, so Tuchel has turned to a midfielder whose work on and off the ball mirrors what he now seems to believe is necessary to win.

What Loftus-Cheek’s recall says about Thomas Tuchel’s tactics

The 3-1 friendly defeat to Senegal over the summer (and the listless performance against Andorra that preceded it) seems to have encouraged something of a rethink by Tuchel, who has yet to give the sense of a manager entirely certain of the right way to go about his famously impossible job.

So far, Tuchel has typically paired a more defensively-minded midfielder with a naturally progressive player in midfielder – Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham, when available – behind a number ten, but the make-up of his latest squad suggests a change of direction.

Alongside Rice and Jordan Henderson, Tuchel has now called up Loftus-Cheek, Wharton and Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson, all midfielders who are equally capable of harrying opposing players and forcing turnovers while quickly contributing towards fast counter-attacks.

Calling up so many players with a similar profile suggests a switch to a deeper midfield pairing, likely a double pivot, with players such as Bellingham operating further forward instead. It would make little sense for Henderson, Rice, Anderson and Loftus-Cheek to all be competing for one space in the starting XI.

The implication is that Tuchel not only wants to see more defensive mettle out of possession but also to make his team more compact off the ball and more direct on it. These aren’t just midfielders who can play the defensive role to a high level but who can carry it downfield quickly and hit accurate, fast long passes.

You don’t call up Anderson and Loftus-Cheek if you plan to play tiki-taka, but if you want some blood and thunder backed up by dynamism, then they’ll do just fine. The signs are that Tuchel is shifting away from a possession-based 4-3-3 system and towards a more direct 4-2-3-1. It certainly aligns his natural inclinations towards high-pressure football.

Whether it works remains to be seen, but based on the rather flimsy display against Senegal it makes sense to look to toughen up the midfield ahead of what could be a decisive journey to Belgrade.

As for Loftus-Cheek, it’s hardly easy to bet on a late call-up with a lengthy history of injury problems sticking around in the England squad for long. But he has shown a remarkable amount of resilience over the course of his career to go along with the technical and physical traits to make him precisely what Tuchel needs to complete the tactical transition he appears to have planned. This could easily be a comeback story with a deservedly happy ending.