Thomas Tuchel's World Cup squad: Gambles, tough calls, and a departure from Southgate's conservatism

England head coach Thomas Tuchel has never hidden from taking tough decisions or throwing down wild cards, so his eyebrow-raising World Cup squad follows true to form.

Whether it was leaving Jude Bellingham out of England's squad when Real Madrid's superstar wanted to be included, or announcing Harry Maguire was only fifth choice in central defence after an impressive return to international duty in March, Tuchel refuses to bend to the popular mood or a star system.

If predecessor Gareth Southgate was criticised for being cloaked in conservatism and playing it safe, Tuchel's iron will in following his instincts has now effectively positioned himself as the anti-Southgate.

As ever, Tuchel had iron-clad confidence in his selection, saying: "We have specialists with us. Specialists for all kinds of different scenarios - when we are leading, when we are chasing a game, a result.

"We've always said we want to be a strong set-piece team, so we have specialists for that and we want to be a strong penalty team, we have specialists for that."

Tuchel has mentioned "proof of concept" in the past, which will come in a matter of weeks, but there is no doubt there is a heavy element of a gambler's roll of the dice in almost every position with this England squad.

Ivan Toney's sudden return to England's squad after a year out is both a remarkable act of faith – or change of heart - on Tuchel's part as well as a condemnation of others who had claims on being Harry Kane's understudy.

It is also another sign of what is surely England and Tuchel's biggest fear – how can they cope should misfortune befall all-time record goalscorer Kane?

Quite how 30-year-old Toney has worked his way back into Tuchel's consciousness is intriguing, given he was summoned from Saudi Arabia a year ago for a World Cup qualifier away to Andorra then a friendly at home to Senegal, given two minutes as a substitute in the latter as England lost 3-1, then was dispatched never to be seen again.

Until now. Until Tuchel laid out his World Cup masterplan.

Toney has scored 42 goals for his Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli this season, not necessarily the acid test of international quality, but this pick has not come from left field. It has come from a different continent.

It may be that Toney has the cool temperament required in the heat of World Cup combat, and he is a penalty expert of course, but why has Tuchel left his selection until now after trying Dominic Calvert-Lewin and ignored the claims of Brighton veteran Danny Welbeck?

If he felt Toney was going to be part of his World Cup plans for those March friendlies, why not pick him then?

Tuchel has come up with an emphatic answer to the question of whether Manchester City's Phil Foden or Chelsea's Cole Palmer should make his squad – neither.

In reality, Foden or Palmer can have no complaints based on form this season. Nottingham Forest's Morgan Gibbs-White and Bournemouth's Alex Scott can be equally, if not more, aggrieved.

And Crystal Palace's Adam Wharton, a smooth mover and passer but maybe not quite intense enough for Tuchel's liking, might just be the most disappointed of all.

England's midfield has great talent, but could Tuchel not have made room for one more creator in that area rather than effectively pick two understudies to Harry Kane in Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins, who deserves to go on current form, and Toney?

Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson will form the bedrock of England's midfield, but there was certainly a strong case for either Wharton or Gibbs-White to make the plane.

Kobbie Mainoo's renaissance under Michael Carrick at Manchester United in the second half of the season got him a place in the squad, as did his previous successes at club level.

"We have a huge chunk of youthfulness in the squad" said Tuchel. "We have six players who have won titles with the under-21s.

"We have Kobbie Mainoo, who is still young and has won his titles, we have Nico O'Reilly on top who is young and already won his medals."

Further thorny issues will become clearer soon, such as who gets the nod between Bellingham or Aston Villa's outstanding Morgan Rogers in the number ten role.

Tuchel has never swayed from his belief the influence Brentford's Jordan Henderson, who will be 36 on the day England play their first game against Croatia, has on his squad. It is hard, though, to see him getting many minutes at the World Cup.

Once again, as he has done since he took over, Tuchel has conviction in his principles and has stuck to them firmly.

He said: "The squad has a significant number of players that will compete for starting minutes and starting places, that also gives us the chance to rotate on a high level and a significant number of players who carry the sportive responsibility on the highest level."

Burn's giant stature would make him an obvious weapon for Tuchel at set-pieces, but he has looked uncomfortable in possession and against mobile forwards for England. He would be a target for the opposition should he play at the World Cup.

Djed Spence's inclusion – another who can play left or right – will only fuel the argument about Trent Alexander-Arnold once more.

Alexander-Arnold was never going to make England's World Cup squad, his ship sailed when he was not included in a 35-man squad for friendlies against Uruguay and Japan, then overlooked for the previously self-exiled Ben White from Arsenal, when Tuchel needed replacements.

The simple question, however, is whether Spence would offer more to England's squad than Real Madrid's Alexander-Arnold, in either a defensive or attack context?

This, once more, is another Tuchel gamble.

And as with all rolls of a dice, the stakes on whether you win or lose are huge for Tuchel – as we will discover once the World Cup gets under way.