Jordan Henderson’s recall to the England squad means Thomas Tuchel has become the fifth England manager to select the midfielder for national-team duty.
Now 34, Henderson had not had an England call-up since November 2023 but last Friday, he was selected in Tuchel’s maiden 26-strong group after subsequently being dropped by Gareth Southgate, then ignored in the three autumn 2024 by interim boss Lee Carsley.
It is a remarkable change of fortune for a player who left Liverpool for Saudi Arabian side Al Ettifaq in July 2023 before signing for Ajax of the Netherlands six months later, and is the sole link to the first England squad of a previous manager: Roy Hodgson.
Henderson had just one cap — earned under Fabio Capello, during a friendly defeat by France in November 2010 — when he was named on a five-man standby list by Hodgson when he replaced the Italian late on in the preparations for the 2012 European Championship. He made the final 23 after Frank Lampard withdrew through injury, and is now looking to earn his 82nd cap as the Tuchel era begins with the opening 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia over the next week.
Back then, Hodgson may have viewed Henderson to be the future of his England side and he did play 26 times during his four years in charge, but that probably isn’t the case 13 years later with Tuchel having succeeded Southgate.
Elsewhere, the new coach also restored Marcus Rashford, who hadn’t made a squad since last March, while handing first call-ups to 32-year-old Dan Burn and teenager Myles Lewis-Skelly. So, what do the first squads of recent England bosses tell us about their approach to arguably the toughest, most impossible job in football management?
Roy Hodgson, 2012-16
Having agreed to an 18-month contract, it is clear what Tuchel’s task is: to win the World Cup being co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico in just over a year’s time. That is the end goal.
When Hodgson succeeded Fabio Capello in May 2012, after the Italian’s decision to resign over the stripping of the captaincy from John Terry while the Chelsea defender faced allegations that he racially abused Queens Park Rangers’ Anton Ferdinand, winning a major tournament was his headline task.
Stuart Pearce, then the England Under-21s head coach, took charge of just one game, a home defeat by the Netherlands in the February, before Hodgson was given the immediate job of winning Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine.
He initially selected two players who had not been called upon before — Norwich City goalkeeper John Ruddy and Arsenal midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Ruddy injured his hand and had to be replaced by Birmingham City’s Jack Butland, but he wasn’t a long-term pick anyway. Oxlade-Chamberlain, then aged 18, certainly was seen as a bigger part of England’s future after bursting onto the scene at Southampton. He came on as a substitute to make his debut in Hodgson’s first game in charge, a 1-0 friendly win away to Norway.
Oxlade-Chamberlain never fulfilled his huge promise to match the expectation. He was capped 35 times, scoring seven international goals, and now plays in Turkey with Istanbul’s Besiktas.
Also coming on in Hodgson’s first game was a player with similarly high expectations at the time in Manchester City winger Adam Johnson. Four years later, and by then with Sunderland having played 12 times for England, Johnson was sentenced to six years in prison for sexual activity with a girl of 15.
Just like Tuchel’s, Hodgson’s first squad was beset with injuries, with defender Gary Cahill forced to pull out because of a broken jaw suffered in his second game in charge against Belgium and Wayne Rooney having an injured toe and being suspended for the first two matches of the tournament.
For his debut, England lined up in the 4-4-1-1 system that Hodgson favoured, despite criticism later on that his approach was too cautious and defensive. Andy Carroll led the line, with Ashley Young playing off him.
Ashley Young played an attacking midfield role in Roy Hodgson’s first England game (Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
Hodgson’s first game was the last appearance in an England shirt for both Robert Green (12 caps) and Gareth Barry (53), and Liverpool defender Martin Kelly won his one and only cap.
The England squad Hodgson named was actually the preliminary squad for the 2012 European Championship, and included a five-man standby list.
Roy Hodgson’s first England squad:
Goalkeepers: Robert Green (West Ham), Joe Hart (Manchester City), John Ruddy (Norwich).
Defenders: Leighton Baines (Everton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Phil Jones (Manchester United), Joleon Lescott (Manchester City), John Terry (Chelsea). Martin Kelly (Liverpool) was called in as cover.
Midfielders: Gareth Barry (Manchester City), Stewart Downing (Liverpool), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), James Milner (Manchester City), Scott Parker (Tottenham), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Ashley Young (Manchester United).
Forwards: Andy Carroll (Liverpool), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Daniel Welbeck (Manchester United), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham).
Standby list: Jack Butland (Birmingham), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Adam Johnson (Manchester City), Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea).
Sam Allardyce, 2016
Who would have known that when Allardyce was appointed as Hodgson’s successor in July 2016, his tenure would last just one game?
It was a life’s dream for him to become manager of England but Allardyce was out after just 67 days due to “inappropriate” conduct, according to the FA’s statement at the time, related to his comments during two “business meetings” filmed by undercover reporters from the UK’s Daily Telegraph newspaper.
It had been so different when he was initially appointed after the team’s poor showing at Euro 2016, losing to Iceland in the round of 16, and Hodgson’s subsequent departure. Many England fans wanted a more positive approach, and Allardyce’s first/only squad was certainly full of attacking talent.
Sam Allardyce’s England tenure lasted 67 days (Chris Brunskill/Getty Images)
Michail Antonio was the only uncapped player called up, and was included as a midfielder (he was more of a winger in those days before moving up front in more recent seasons) along with Rooney. Harry Kane, Daniel Sturridge and Jamie Vardy were all included as the strikers. Vardy’s Leicester team-mate Danny Drinkwater was also included in midfield after their Premier League title win four months earlier.
Allardyce’s one game in charge was an away World Cup qualifier against Slovakia and he had to wait until the fifth minute of added time to get his one-and-only winner when Adam Lallana scored his first international goal.
Sam Allardyce’s first (and only) England squad:
Goalkeepers: Fraser Forster (Southampton), Joe Hart (Manchester City), Tom Heaton (Burnley)
Defenders: Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Nathaniel Clyne (Liverpool), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Danny Rose (Tottenham), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), Chris Smalling (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Kyle Walker (Tottenham)
Midfielders: Dele Alli (Tottenham), Michail Antonio (West Ham), Eric Dier (Tottenham), Danny Drinkwater (Leicester), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Adam Lallana (Liverpool), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Theo Walcott (Arsenal)
Forwards: Harry Kane (Tottenham), Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool), Jamie Vardy (Leicester).
Gareth Southgate, 2016-24
Continuity was the buzzword when England Under-21s boss Gareth Southgate was asked to step up — initially on an interim basis — after Allardyce’s sudden departure. His first four games included three World Cup qualifiers against Malta, Slovenia and Scotland.
As usual, there were some important absentees through injury, including Kane and Luke Shaw, but while Southgate promoted Rashford and Jesse Lingard from the under-21s, there was surprise that more young players didn’t follow the same pathway.
There was also a shock return to the squad for full-back Glen Johnson, then at Stoke City. Johnson’s previous cap had been during the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil.
Gareth Southgate initially took charge of England in a caretaker capacity (Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
That continuity saw England begin the Southgate era in a familiar formation, a 4-4-1-1, with Rooney playing off front man Sturridge, but it was two of the young up-and-coming stars who gave the manager a winning start against Malta: Dele Alli and Lingard, with the former scoring his first international goal.
The midfield that day at Wembley was anchored by that perennial presence, Henderson, who then captained the side in a 0-0 draw away to Slovenia a few days later.
After a further home win against Scotland and a drawn Wembley friendly with Spain, Southgate was given the job permanently and his eight years in charge would be the most successful since Sir Alf Ramsey’s World Cup winners of 1966, with England reaching successive European Championship finals and a World Cup semi-final.
Gareth Southgate’s first England squad:
Goalkeepers: Fraser Forster (Southampton), Joe Hart (Torino, on loan from Manchester City), Tom Heaton (Burnley)
Defenders: Ryan Bertrand (Southampton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Glen Johnson (Stoke), Danny Rose (Tottenham), Chris Smalling (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Kyle Walker (Tottenham).
Midfielders: Eric Dier (Tottenham), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool) Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), Michail Antonio (West Ham), Jesse Lingard (Manchester United), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Dele Alli (Tottenham).
Forwards: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool), Jamie Vardy (Leicester).
Lee Carsley, 2024
After Southgate stepped aside last July following a second consecutive defeat in a European Championship final, the FA wanted to repeat the formula of using its coaching pathway and promoting from within, and while Carsley was given the job for just six games, similar to Southgate replacing Allardyce in 2016, it seemed like an interview for the full-time position.
But unlike Southgate, the current England Under-21s boss did bring more new young faces into his first squad, including Angel Gomes, Tino Livramento, Morgan Gibbs-White and Noni Madueke. Gomes and Gibbs-White both made their senior debuts in a 2-0 win over the Republic of Ireland in Dublin as English-born Carsley kicked off his interim stint against the country he represented 40 times as a player.
Carsley was certainly a different type of national-team manager, even placing out the cones himself for the warm-up before that first game in charge.
Lee Carsley, left, had six games in charge of England on an interim basis (Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images)
Although Southgate’s approach had evolved to a 4-2-3-1 system, which Carsley continued with, the former manager had been accused of being overly cautious towards the end of his reign, like previous England managers.
Carsley certainly wasn’t that in his third game in charge, at home against Greece, when he went with an incredibly attacking line-up that could only be described as a 4-1-1-4, including a false nine.
A 2-1 defeat at Wembley that night blighted his copybook and England stepped up their search for a manager that they felt could lead them across the finish line and finally lift another major trophy.
Lee Carsley’s first England squad:
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Newcastle)
Defenders: Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), John Stones (Manchester City), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Rico Lewis (Manchester City), Tino Livramento (Newcastle), Harry Maguire (Manchester United)
Midfielders: Conor Gallagher (Atletico Madrid), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest), Angel Gomes (Lille), Phil Foden (Manchester City)
Forwards: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Noni Madueke (Chelsea), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa).
Thomas Tuchel, 2024-present
So, the Tuchel era begins and it is clear from his first squad that this is a manager who is not thinking too far into the future, bringing back former stalwarts Rashford and Henderson.
While there have been call-ups for rising stars Lewis-Skelly and Livramento, the fact that Newcastle’s experienced defender Burn has received his first senior England nod at the age of 32 demonstrates Tuchel sees experience, albeit not at international level in Burn’s case, as crucial.
However, with so many potential choices out injured, including Bukayo Saka, Kobbie Mainoo, Lewis Hall, Madueke, John Stones, Ollie Watkins, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Luke Shaw, it is too early to read too much into the German’s approach, other than that it is going to be tough for Jack Grealish and James Maddison to get back in.
But if those two find form that means they can’t be ignored, as Aston Villa rookie Morgan Rogers has done, then they have a chance.
Thomas Tuchel’s first game in charge of England will be against Albania on March 21 (Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
Thomas Tuchel’s first England squad:
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Southampton), James Trafford (Burnley)
Defenders: Dan Burn (Newcastle), Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Reece James (Chelsea), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal), Tino Livramento (Newcastle), Jarell Quansah (Liverpool), Kyle Walker (Milan, on loan from Manchester City)
Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), Jordan Henderson (Ajax), Curtis Jones (Liverpool), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa)
Forwards: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Marcus Rashford (Aston Villa, on loan from Manchester United), Dominic Solanke (Tottenham).
(Top photos: Gareth Southgate, left, and Roy Hodgson/Getty Images)
