FootyChatter.com

Kyle Walker and Jordan Henderson should be nowhere near the England squad. That's the view of ex-Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Jamie O'Hara, who has had his say on the Three Lions following Tuesday night's shock 3-1 defeat to Senegal at the City Ground. England lost their first game under Tuchel's tutelage following three consecutive World Cup qualifying victories under the German. Tuchel had created England history by becoming the first manager to win his opening three games while keeping a clean sheet following victories over Albania, Latvia and Andorra. While England seem nailed on for a place in next year's World Cup, fans and pundits have been left slightly underwhelmed by their performances. Boasting one of the most exciting squads in world football, supporters are keen for energetic displays to showcase their immense talent. And for talk SPORT co-host O'Hara, he doesn't believe England can reach the heights expected of them if they have to keep relying on veterans Walker and Henderson, who are 35 and 34 respectively. The pair boast a combined 180 appearances for England, but their form has taken a dip in the last 18 months. Manchester City shipped out Walker to AC Milan for the second half of the 2024/25 season, while Henderson is currently on the books at Ajax following a spell in Saudi Arabia with Al Ettifaq. Despite concerns over their role in the England squad, Henderson started in the 1-0 win at Andorra last weekend, while Walker was named in the line-up for Senegal's comeback victory after Harry Kane opened the scoring. Speaking on talk SPORT Drive, former Chelsea defender Jason Cundy insisted that England are currently a level below World Cup rivals such as Argentina, France and Spain, stating Tuchel has 'a year to get this right. ' His comments led O'Hara to say: "I think he needs to bin some of the old heads. "I think he needs to accept that this is a new era of new, fresh, young players. "Morgan Gibbs-White, [Eberechi] Eze, Cole Palmer, these players are the future of England now. "And I think you've got to make some big decisions going into this World Cup next year and go, 'Kyle Walker, thank you mate, It's time to move on. ' "There's certain players. .. 'Jordan Henderson, sorry, it's time to move on. '" He added: "We've got to perform to get there [World Cup 2026], and you've got to perform when you get there as well. "But you've got to have fresh, young players, vibrant, who want to play for England, know what it's about. "And I saw tonight with some old heads who really, truthfully, haven't got the legs anymore. " It was a view shared by Cundy, who went on to criticise Walker for his role in Senegal's equaliser through Crystal Palace winger Ismaila Sarr. He remarked: "That's his job, between now and the World Cup, to get the decisions right, whether it be the squad players and his first XI. "Today was just a friendly, and the reason he made ten changes was to look at other players. I get why he's done that. "It wasn't his best side put out. It wasn't his strongest XI. There were some strange decisions. "Playing Reece James at left-back. Don't fully grasp [why], but he'll learn. Starting XI Dean Henderson - 3 Myles Lewis-Skelly - 3 Levi Colwill - 3 Trevoh Chalobah - 3 Kyle Walker - 2 Anthony Gordon - 4 Declan Rice - 4 Conor Gallagher - 6 Bukayo Saka - 5 Eberechi Eze - 6 Harry Kane - 7 Substitutes Curtis Jones - 3 Morgan Rogers - 7 Morgan Gibbs-White - 7 Jude Bellingham - 6 Noni Madueke - 5 Ivan Toney - N/A Manager Thomas Tuchel - 2 "Kyle Walker, their equaliser, Kyle Walker's gone to sleep and that Kyle Walker that I saw winning major honours for Manchester City, he don't sleep in those situations. He reads that. "He's too experienced, too good a right-back, and today he got done. And that cost us. "That was the goal that got them back into it. Deserved, by the way. " England have to wait until September for their next set of fixtures when they take on Andorra and Serbia in World Cup qualifiers. And Tuchel knows he has big decisions to make if he wishes to be the first manager to end England's 60-year trophy drought at the World Cup next year. © 2025 talk SPORT Limited

Registered in England No. 2806093. Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, SE1 9GF

talk SPORT is a registered trade mark of Wireless Group Media (GB) Limited.

This service is provided on talk SPORT Limited's Terms of Use in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy.