Henderson recalled as Tuchel opts for tried and tested

LONDON : England coach Thomas Tuchel ended his press conference on Friday by saying he prefers to stay offline and not worry about the opinions of millions of armchair managers, and judging by reaction to his first squad announcement it is a wise strategy.

There were several surprises among the 26 names the 51-year-old German selected for England's opening World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia.

None more so than a recall for former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, the 34-year-old currently struggling to earn a starting place for Ajax Amsterdam who he joined in a bid to salvage his international career following a brief and much-criticised spell in the Saudi Pro League.

By the time Tuchel sat down in the bowels of Wembley to address the assembled press, England's fans and pundits had swarmed social media to offer their thoughts and the majority of them were not especially flattering.

"Bizarre", "regressive" and "baffling" were some of the words used to describe Henderson's return while 88 per cent of responders to a poll on the BBC Sport website disagreed with the decision.

While Tuchel's squad offered a first call for Arsenal's exciting 18-year-old Myles Lewis-Skelly and Newcastle United's experienced defender Dan Burn, the fact that he opted against a shake-up showed his focus is very much on the next 18 months rather than England's longer term evolution.

Former Paris St Germain, Chelsea and Bayern Munich coach Tuchel, named as Gareth Southgate's successor in October for one of soccer's most scrutinised roles, was prepared for a grilling.

"I would be surprised if there was not a surprise in the debate," he told reporters. "It comes with this job. I guess you would have loved to be in our meetings room in the last